Miss Universe 2008


Miss Universe 2008, the 57th Miss Universe pageant, was held on 14 July 2008 at the Crown Convention Center in Nha Trang, Vietnam. Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela was crowned by Riyo Mori of Japan as her successor at the end of the event. 80 contestants competed in this year which was broadcast and distributed globally via NBC in English and Telemundo in Spanish to TV outlets in more than 180 countries.
This was the first major U.S.-based television production to take place in Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War. This was also the first time that the Miss Universe pageant was broadcast in 1080i High-definition. This pageant is, to date, the only time that a contemporary communist state hosted the Miss Universe live.
The final presentation show was on 8 July, the dress rehearsal on 13 July, and the live telecast on 14 July. Most activities were held successively in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Danang, Hoi An, Ha Long and finally Nha Trang.
Jerry Springer, tabloid talk show host and host of NBC's America's Got Talent, and Melanie Brown, member of the UK pop group Spice Girls and host of TLC's The Singing Office, presented the competition.

Results

Placements

Order of announcements

Top 15

  1. Venezuela
  2. Kosovo
  3. Mexico
  4. Vietnam
  5. South Africa
  6. Australia
  7. Japan
  8. Dominican Republic
  9. Italy
  10. Colombia
  11. Russia
  12. Hungary
  13. Czech Republic
  14. USA
  15. Spain

    Top 10

  16. Kosovo
  17. Australia
  18. Spain
  19. Mexico
  20. Colombia
  21. USA
  22. Dominican Republic
  23. Russia
  24. Italy
  25. Venezuela

    Top 5

  26. Colombia
  27. Venezuela
  28. Dominican Republic
  29. Mexico
  30. Russia

    Contestants

Country/TerritoryContestantAgeHeightHometown
AlbaniaMatilda Mcini19Tirana
AngolaLesliana Pereira20M'banza-Kongo
Antigua and BarbudaAthina James18St. John's
ArgentinaMaria Silvana Belli19Villa Krause
ArubaTracey Nicolaas20Oranjestad
AustraliaLaura Dundovic21Sydney
BahamasSacha Scott19Nassau
BelgiumAlizée Poulicek21Huy
BoliviaKatherine David19San Ignacio de Velasco
BrazilNatálya Anderle22Encantado
CanadaSamantha Tajik26Richmond Hill
Cayman IslandsRebecca Parchment26West Bay
ChinaZiya Wei25Chongqing
ColombiaTaliana Vargas20Santa Marta
Costa RicaMaría Teresa Rodríguez21Alajuela
CroatiaSnježana Lončarević24Zagreb
CuraçaoJenyfeer Mercelina19Willemstad
CyprusDimitra Sergiou23Limassol
Czech RepublicEliška Bučková18Strážnice
DenmarkMarie-Sten Knudsen18Copenhagen
Dominican RepublicMarianne Cruz23Salcedo
EcuadorDomenica Saporitti19Guayaquil
EgyptYara Naoum20Cairo
El SalvadorRebeca Moreno22San Salvador
EstoniaJulia Kovaljova22Tallinn
FinlandSatu Tuomisto21Akaa
FranceLaura Tanguy20Ecouflant
GeorgiaGvantsa Daraselia18Tbilisi
GermanyMadina Taher21Elmshorn
GhanaYvette Nsiah21Accra
GreeceDionissia Koukiou22Athens
GuamSiera Robertson18Yona
GuatemalaJennifer Chiong25Quetzaltenango
HondurasDiana Gabriela Barrasa22Tegucigalpa
HungaryJázmin Dammak24Budapest
IndiaSimran Kaur Mundi22Mumbai
IndonesiaPutri Raemawasti21Blitar
IrelandLynn Kelly20Dublin
IsraelShunit Faragi21Kiryat Tiv'on
ItalyClaudia Ferraris19Bergamo
JamaicaApril Jackson19Ocho Ríos
JapanHiroko Mima21Tokushima
KazakhstanAlfina Nassyrova20Almaty
KoreaSun Lee25Seoul
KosovoZana Krasniqi19Prishtina
MalaysiaLevy Li Sun Lim20Terengganu
MauritiusOlivia Carey19Vacoas
MexicoElisa Nájera21Celaya
MontenegroDaša Živković19Nikšić
NetherlandsCharlotte Labee22Den Haag
New ZealandSamantha Powell21Paraparaumu
NicaraguaThelma Rodríguez19Chinandega
NigeriaStephanie Oforka20Port Harcourt
NorwayMariann Birkedal21Stavanger
PanamaCarolina Dementiev Justavino19Panama City
ParaguayGiannina Rufinelli22Luque
PeruKarol Castillo †18Trujillo
PhilippinesJennifer Tarol Barrientos22San Mateo
PolandBarbara Tatara24Łódź
Puerto RicoIngrid Marie Rivera24Dorado
RussiaVera Krasova20Moscow
SerbiaBojana Borić21Sremska Mitrovica
SingaporeShenise Wong26Singapore
Slovak RepublicSandra Manáková20Bratislava
SloveniaAnamarija Avbelj20Lukovica
South AfricaTansey Coetzee23Johannesburg
SpainClaudia Moro22Madrid
Sri LankaAruni Rajapaksha24Kandy
SwitzerlandAmanda Ammann21Abtwil
TanzaniaAmanda Ole Sululu21Arusha
ThailandGavintra Photijak21Nongkhai
Trinidad & TobagoAnya Ayoung-Chee26Maraval
TurkeySinem Sülün19Istanbul
Turks & CaicosAngelica Lightbourne19Providenciales
UKLisa Lazarus20Swansea
UkraineEleonora Masalab19Kharkiv
UruguayPaula Díaz19Ciudad de la Costa
United StatesCrystle Stewart26Missouri City
VenezuelaDayana Mendoza22Caracas
VietnamNguyễn Thùy Lâm20Thái Bình

Debuts

Miss Photogenic was not awarded.

New crown

For Miss Universe 2008 a new crown was unveiled. The 18k white and yellow gold crown was designed by CAO Fine Jewelry in association with Rosalina Lydster specifically for the event. With over 1,000 precious stones, including of diamonds, the crown has a value of $120,000. The crown will only be awarded as part of the contest this year, the original Mikimoto design was to be awarded again next year but Diamond Nexus Labs designed the crown instead.

Miss USA falls again

, Crystle Stewart, slipped and fell down the stairs during the evening gown competition. This was the second year in a row that a Miss USA delegate fell during evening gown. This is also the first time in pageant history a contestant fell down during the evening gown competition in two consecutive pageants, from the same country, or from any country. Miss USA 2007, Rachel Smith, fell during Miss Universe 2007 in Mexico, and received boos after she made the top five contestants. After Stewart fell, she encouraged the audience to applaud by clapping her hands. She was eliminated after the evening gown competition, finishing in eighth place.

Prizes

received a prize package which included cash, a one-year contract as Miss Universe, world travel, a rent-free, prestigious New York City apartment, a gift bag stuffed with free designer shoes, dresses, and beauty products, and a stipend for a 2-year course at the New York Film Academy. Mendoza spent her year-long reign traveling the world to lecture on humanitarian issues and promote education regarding HIV/AIDS, the official platform of the Miss Universe Organization.

General references