Miss World 1989

By Julio Rodríguez Matute. PAYPAL.ME/RODRIGUEZMATUTE2

FACTS THAT TOUCHED THE PLANET.-

                This year is historic for the events that marked the collapse of the communist states of Eastern Europe. The Berlin Wall falls and East Germany opens its borders. The US invasion of Panama occurs, overthrowing General Manuel Noriega. The Soviets withdraw from Afghanistan in the middle of the Afghan war, Cuban troops begin to leave Angola, where a war has also been developing since 1975, while in El Salvador the conflagration worsens as in Lebanon; Beirut is subjected to continuous bombardment by Syria. On the other hand, the first civil war in Liberia also begins. The Baltic Republics rise up in search of independence from the USSR; there are also revolutions in Czechoslovakia and Romania (the dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife end up being executed). In Venezuela, Carlos Andrés Pérez decrees an “economic package” that causes a civil revolt known as “El Caracazo” with hundreds of deaths and thousands of disappeared. The Tiananmen massacre occurs in China with hundreds of victims. The Medellín Cartel carries out several terrorist attacks in Colombia, including the explosion of an Avianca flight and the DAS Building with hundreds of victims. The Loma Prieta earthquake occurs in San Francisco (USA). Other major earthquakes were felt in Tajikistan, Algeria, Australia, Malawi and West Papua. Hurricane Hugo affects Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and South Carolina (USA) while Bangladesh suffers the worst tornado in its history and Typhoon Gay devastates southern Thailand. Ayatollah Khomeini offers a reward and asks the Muslims of the world to kill the British writer Salman Rushdie for the publication of his book “The Satanic Verses”. Carlos Menem and Fernando Collor de Mello are elected Presidents of Argentina and Brazil, the dictator Alfredo Stroessner is overthrown after a coup in Paraguay and Prince Akihito becomes Emperor of Japan. There are also changes of non-communist governments in Poland and Hungary. The Senegambia confederation is dissolved, Burma changes its name to Myanmar, race riots occur in Miami, Iceland lifts the ban on the consumption of beer in its country and in Denmark civil unions of people of the same sex are approved, the first country in the world to do so. In England the “Hillsborough Tragedy” occurs in which 96 Liverpool fans are crushed while the Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer enters into force, the Dalai Lama wins the Nobel Peace Prize, High Definition TV is invented and in Caracas, Venezuela, the Eurobuilding Hotel is inaugurated.

                Dutch Angela Visser is crowned Miss Universe in Cancun, Mexico; Iris Klein from Germany wins the title of Miss International in Japan, while Yugoslavia wins the Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland with the song “Rock Me” by the group Riva and Analí wins for Mexico the OTI Festival held in Miami with their song “One song is not enough.” The film “Rain Man” takes the Oscar for Best Picture. The cinema premieres “Driving Miss Daisy”, “Born on July 4”, “Batman”, “Back to the Future II”, “Cinema Paradiso”, “Lethal Weapon II”, “License to Kill”, “The Little Mermaid “,”Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, “Ghostbusters II”, “The Club of the Dead Poets” and “Tango & Cash”. “The Simpsons” begin airing on FOX; “Baywatch” and “Saved by the Bell” are also released in the US TV. On the radio you hear “Like a Prayer” and “Express Yourself” by Madonna, “This Time I Know It’s For Real” by Donna Summer, “Dangerous” and “The Look” by Roxette, “Lambada” by Kaoma, “Straight” by Paula Abdul, “Simply The Best “by Tina Turner, “I Beg Your Pardon” by Kon Kan, “Blame it on the Rain” by Milli Vanilli, “London Nights” by London Boys, “Blame it on the Boogie” by Big Fun, “Sowing the Seed of Love” by Tears for Fears, “Pump Up the Jam” by Technotronic, “Juana la Cubana” by Las Chicas del Can, “Al Norte del Sur” and “Te Amo” by Franco De Vita, “Beginning to Live” by Jerry Rivera and “Wonderful Heart, Wonderful” by Raphael. This year, the Venezuelan Miss World Ivian Sarcos, the Chinese Miss World Yu Wenxia, the Philippine Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach, the English actor Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), the Mexican singer Belinda, the also singers Gusttavo Lima, Prince Royce and Taylor Swift and Australian actor Brenton Thwaites are born. The actresses Lucille Ball and Bette Davis, the actors Guy Williams (El Zorro) and Laurence Olivier, the Mexican singer Pedro Vargas, the Spanish artist Salvador Dalí, the Venezuelan entertainer Amador Bendayán, the singer Alfredo Sadel, the Ayatollah Khomeini, the Japanese Emperor Hirohito and Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos died.

THIS HAPPENED BEFORE MISS WORLD.-

                The organization led by Eric Morley, now associated with the socialist telecommunications businessman, Owen Oyston, continued with its expansion plans. They had already acquired some radio stations in 1988 (see article Miss World 1988) and in February 1989 they announced that they wanted to buy the third most important radio station in the United Kingdom, Piccadilly Radio, which, at that time, was about to join with Midlands Radio. If they succeeded, Miss World’s partnership with Oyston would become Britain’s second-largest radio company. Radio companies had attracted considerable speculative interest in the wake of the broadcast white paper issued by the British government. Piccadilly initially turned down the £ 34.6 million offer for the purchase, which they viewed as hostile. In March, Miss World and Oyston bid the purchase again, this time for £ 39.5 million and by the end of the same month, Owen Oyston achieved his desired purpose, turning his company into one of the largest independent radio stations in the country, and reaching a 101% increase in earnings over the previous year.

               And although Miss World continued to operate under that name, the union of the company with the different acquired radio stations, caused the group to change the corporate name that would be used in the London Stock Market. The change, which was announced in August, was to “Transworld Communications PLC,” with Eric Morley as Director, Julia Morley as Miss World President and Owen Oyston as Chief Executive Officer.

                At the end of March, Eric Morley let his national directors know to advance their local contests because the Miss World finals, initially, would also be advanced and would take place during the summer in London. The reasons are not entirely clear, it could have been the imposition of the new channel with which Morley had negotiated or to avoid the trip to a second country and take the swimsuit shots outdoors, enjoying the English summer. Morley had reached an agreement with the “British Satellite Broadcating” to produce and broadcast the contest once again in the British capital, but the delay in the launch of the satellite and the first broadcast of the channel changed the date of the contest scheduled for summer. The date was then changed to Thursday, November 16 and it would be held again at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

                In May 1989, at the International Variety Club Convention held in Australia, Julia Morley was invited and was the first woman to be elected Vice President to serve on the Variety Club Board, which had previously been an all-male Board.

                In August, the BSB informed Morley that, for technical reasons, the launch of the satellite would be postponed again to March 1990, so now Morley would have to do Miss World in the UK without television or look for another country where to do it. Although they had the resources to send the signal to some fifty countries in the world, it would not be seen in Great Britain and that would negatively affect local sponsors. Days later they had an offer to carry out the contest in New Zealand, but, a little earlier, Morley had signed an agreement with Formosa Airlines to carry the outdoor segment (opening, national costumes and swimsuit) that would be filmed on locations in Taipei and Hong Kong. Therefore, and since the contestants would travel to these cities, Morley decided to take the entire event to one of these two venues. Morley contacted Mr. Hsin, director of Formosa Airlines for him to make the final decision and thus it was concluded that most of the outdoor shots would take place in Taipei and the final in Hong Kong, but a week after the scheduled. Morley was satisfied because, despite everything, the event would maintain its English touch coupled with the exoticism of the millennial far east, since the contest would be held in a British colony, a prosperous city considered one of the great economic centers of Asia. Hong Kong’s ATV channel won the bid to produce the event on TVB, Morley’s original choice. TVB decided to withdraw as it did not agree with some clauses of the contract.

                On the other hand, the Miss World pageant was trying to update its British image by now supporting ecology. The contest, subtitled “Beauty with a Purpose,” now sought hundreds of thousands of pounds of sponsorship from eco-friendly makeup manufacturers. Eric Morley said: “It would give a huge boost to the cause if Miss World went green. All contestants will be asked what they have done for the environment in their country and if they use green cosmetics.”

NATIONAL COMPETITIONS.-

                This year, and due to the fact that Miss World lost the economic income that Thames Television paid for exclusive broadcasting rights in the United Kingdom, the Morleys began to charge a modest franchise to the participating countries, as Miss Universe had done since 1987, but a sum less than what they charged in the North American contest. For this reason, Antigua, Western Samoa and Sierra Leone declined the franchise. The director of Miss Isle of Man stopped holding the contest because he was arrested for illegal acts, while five other countries and territories, despite having their queens elected, gave up participating this year due to the economic issue. The first five casualties of the contest were Miss BARBADOS (Tanya Cathrow), Miss BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS (Viola Marguerite Joseph), Miss SAINT KITTS & NEVIS (Rosie Hodge), Miss TONGA (Siuafu Malia Tangata´iloa) and Miss TURKS & CAICOS (Karen Been). The civil wars in Lebanon and Liberia suspended the election of their beauty queens, while other countries such as Brazil, Bulgaria, Swaziland and Uruguay did not hold their national pageants for Miss World this year either, perhaps because of the franchise issue. For its part, India excused itself because its event was postponed for the month of December and did not nominate any candidate due to the economic crisis in the country and because part of the filming would be done in Taiwan, the country that India did not recognize due to the political conflict between the government of Taipei and the People’s Republic of China. On the other hand, Aruba, Czechoslovakia and Puerto Rico were returning to the contest after being absent for several years. In the latter, the franchise passed to Ana Santisteban, director of Miss Puerto Rico. On the other hand, the Soviet Union, Hungary, Namibia and Latvia debuted in Miss World. Estonia and Lithuania would also debut and chose their respective beauty queens but, in the end, they did not get permission from their governments to participate. Likewise, the debut of the People’s Republic of China was expected but, at the last minute, its participation was suspended. Although Miss Spain was elected on October 6, the organizers decided to send the 1988 titleholder Eva Pedraza to Miss World. In Germany, the national pageant was held at the end of the year, so the organizers decided to send the third runner-up of Miss Germany 1988, Miss Hessen, Jasmin Beil to Miss World. In Hong Kong, Morley gave the rights to Asia Television as they would broadcast the event and they chose Ewong Yung, the girl who had won the “Miss Asia” contest (organized by said channel), as their representative. Belinda Bodden was appointed by Channel 5 in Honduras and Ximena Correa in Ecuador through a casting for Miss World. Among the 84 countries expected were the following:

* MISS COLOMBIA.- María Teresa Egurrola, Miss Guajira, was elected on November 13, 1988 at the Cartagena Convention Center, then representing her country in Miss Universe. The Vice-Queen, Mónica María Isaza (Antioquia), was chosen to attend Miss World and the 1st. Princess, Clelia Alexandra Ablanque (Valle) was sent to Miss International. The remaining princesses were Flor Bonilla (Tolima) and Mónica Ocampo (Caldas). 19 candidates participated.

* MISS FRANCE.- It was held on December 29, 1988 in Saint-Denis among 41 contestants, winning Miss Aquitaine, Peggy Zlotkowski aged 16 years and 9 months, who fainted on stage upon hearing the verdict issued by Sacha Distel. She was disqualified from Miss Universe for being a minor and returned home, but participated in Miss World. The finalists were Dorothée Lambert (Alsace), Teumere Pater (Tahiti), Pascale Meotti (Franche-Comté, who went to Miss Universe) and Corinne Luthringer (Côte d’Azur). Again the election was made by telephone vote of the public.

* MISS VENEZUELA.- After 14 years, the Poliedro of Caracas once again hosted the great event of Venezuelan beauty on Thursday, February 16, with the participation of 28 young ladies, the largest group up to that time. The winner was Miss Lara, Eva Lisa Ljung, of Swedish origin, who attended Miss Universe and Miss Globe. As Miss World Venezuela, Fabiola Candosín (Federal District) was crowned, who also went to Miss Hispanidad Internacional. Other winners were Beatriz Carolina Omaña (Nueva Esparta) as Miss Venezuela International (she also attended the Mother and Daughter International pageant); Luicira Marcano (Táchira) as Miss Wonderland Venezuela and Heidi Gorrín (Aragua) as Miss Venezuela Latina. The finalists were Michelle Chilberry (Zulia and winner of Miss Piel Canela Internacional), Patricia Velásquez (Goajira Peninsula and who participated in Miss Hawaiian Tropic International and Queen of the World); Ericka Correia (Mérida, to Miss Independence of America), Meribel Suárez (Yaracuy and winner of the Bolivarian Reign of the Sea) and Gladys Cardoso (Anzoátegui, to the Bolivarian Reign). The event was conducted by Gilberto Correa along with Carmen Victoria Pérez and the Mexican Raúl Velasco. This was the last contest hosted by Pérez and Velasco.

* MISS USA.- It was held on Tuesday, February 28 at the Civic Center Theater in Mobile, Alabama. It was the fifth consecutive time that a Miss Texas (Gretchen Polhemus) won the beauty crown. She participated in Miss Universe in Cancun, Mexico. The first runner-up was Miss Oklahoma, Jill Scheffert who was sent to Miss World. The Top 5 was completed by Debra Lee Husti (New Jersey), Elizabeth Primm (Louisiana) and Michelle Nemeth (Georgia). It was the first Miss USA hosted by Dick Clark.

* MISS LITHUANIA.- The first “Miss Lithuania” in history was elected on March 8 at the Vilna Sports Palace with 14 girls. The winner was Liucija Gruzdytė who would go to Miss World. She also earned 3,000 rubles and a trip to Canada. The finalists were Ingrida Mikelionytė and Erika Meškauskaitė.

* MISS DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.- The Hotel Jaragua in Santo Domingo was the headquarters of the Dominican national beauty contest on Wednesday, March 8, International Women’s Day, in which angry women protested the holding of the event outside the aforementioned hotel. The winner, heading to Miss Universe, was Anny Canaán. Irma Guillermina Mauriz was crowned as Miss Dominican World and the finalists were Lisbeth Santana, Eitzel Puras and María Silverio.

* MISS UNITED KINGDOM.- The contest brought forward dates and was held on Friday, April 7 at the Albany Hotel in Birmingham with 24 contestants. Miss Wales and Miss Scotland participated again in the event as before and Miss England was also chosen that night. And it was precisely these three who made up the honor roll. The winner was Miss Wales, Suzanne Younger, and the runner-ups were Miss England, Raquel Marie Jory and Miss Scotland, Victoria Lace.

* MISS CZECHOSLOVAK SOCIALIST REPUBLIC.- The Palace of Culture and Sports in Ostrava was the setting for the final of the first edition of the contest (previous contests held in Czechoslovakia in the late sixties were called “Girl of the Year”). The event took place on Saturday, April 8, with 24 finalists, and where the winner was Ivana Christová, who initially was going to attend Miss World. Her triumph was not well received by the audience, who preferred a blonde as their queen. She was awarded a wedding dress, a sewing machine and a trip to Japan. The finalists were Jana Hronkova, Michaela Polívková, Vlasta Peterová and Radka Polášková.

* MISS PERU.- Mariana Sovero from Lima was crowned “Miss Peru 1989” on Sunday, April 16 at the Teatro Coliseo Amauta, for which she won the right to represent her country in Miss Universe. The finalists were Maritza Zorrilla (to Miss World), Mariela Bisbal, Macarena Leguía and Carmen Luisa Abad.

* MISS IRELAND.- It was held on Monday, April 17 at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin with 34 entrants. It was won by Barbara Curran (Miss World and Miss Universe) and the finalists were Louise Kelly and Sharon Plant.

* MISS THAILAND WORLD.- Helen Headlee, 17 years old and who lived in Brandon, Mississippi, followed in the footsteps of her fellow Porntip Nakhirunkanok, Miss Universe 1988, and decided to return to her country to register in “Miss Thailand World”, title she won in Bangkok on Saturday April 22 under the name of Prathumrat Woramali (a mixture of the names of her mother and grandmother) still without speaking the Thai language well. Second was Narisara Suriyawong who went to Maja International. The other finalists were Warangkana Pratanasiri, Banjonporn Tongnim, and Atcharaporn Wiratiya.

* MISS ESTONIA.-Cathy Korju was elected “Miss Estonia 1989” on May 11 at the Sakala Center in Tallinn, heading for Miss World. The finalists were Ingrid Nigola and Mari-Liis Ilover.

* FEGURÐARDROTTNING ÍSLANDS.- Reykjavik’s Iceland Hotel was once again the venue for the pageant that saw Hugrun Linda Gudmundsdóttir crowned by her predecessor, the reigning Miss World Linda Petúrsdóttir. The finalists were Hildur Dungal (for Miss Universe) and Gudrun Eysjólfsdóttir (for Miss International). The contest was held on Monday, May 15.

* MISS USSR.- Yulia Sukhanova, 17, made history as the first woman chosen as Miss USSR being crowned by the reigning Miss World, Linda Petúrsdóttir of Iceland. Sukhanova triumphed among 35 finalists from across the Soviet Union, winning her crown on Sunday, May 21 after a two-day competition at the Central Concert Hall in Moscow. The finalists of this first edition of Miss USSR were Anna Gorbunova and Ekaterina Meshcheryakova. Among the semifinalists was Evia Stalbovska of Latvia, who was appointed to represent the Soviets at Miss Universe the following year. Yulia Sukhanova not only won the hearts of the judges but also the television audience, according to a telephone survey conducted during the finals. The contestants for the event emerged from more than 500 regional contests held throughout the Soviet Union. Yulia participated in the first edition of Miss Moscow in 1988, although according to the rules of the contest, she was a year underage. Still, even after that inconvenience was discovered, she was not disqualified and made it to the semi-final. Yulia would be the first Soviet candidate to compete in Miss World, but a series of events that you will read later, prevented her participation in the contest.

* MISS LATVIA.- It was held on June 11 at the Riga National Opera with 12 participants. It was won by Ina Magone who traveled to Miss World. The finalists were Lauma Zemzare (who was later Miss USSR in Miss World ’90) and Evia Staļbovska (Miss Soviet Union in Miss Universe ’90).

* MISS COMMONWEALTH BAHAMAS.- Carolyn Moree won the title on Monday, July 10 at the Cable Beach Hotel and Casino. The finalists were Yannique Whylly, Cylestina Cooper, Shanta Kerr and Simone Ambrose. 16 young ladies participated.

* MISS POLAND.- It took place on Saturday July 15 at the Forest Opera in Sopot with 16 finalists. The winner was Aneta Kreglicka while the runner-ups were Agnieszka Angelo, Żaneta Katkowska, Monika Łazowska and Małgorzata Obierzalska. Stephanie Kuehne, Miss Texas USA and Miss Wonderland 1989 was invited as a special guest.

* MISS PUERTO RICO.- The twenty-eighth edition of Miss Puerto Rico, organized by Ana Santisteban, was held in the Ballroom of the San Juan Hotel on Saturday, July 22, with the participation of 44 candidates and hosted by Deborah Carthy-Deu (Miss Universe 1985) and Pedro Zervigón. The crown went to Miss Guaynabo, María Luisa Fortuño, who was booed by the audience as the “Condesa del Bochinche” had proclaimed her the winner days before. She traveled to Miss Universe 1990 in Los Angeles. The finalists became the Puerto Rican representatives heading to other international competitions. Miss Orocovis, Tania Collazo to Miss World; Leslie Torres, Miss Gurabo, to Miss Wonderland; Miss International, Miss Toa Alta, Michelle Cotto and Miss Intercontinental, Miss Lares, Elba Morales. The event was attended by Bárbara Palacios, Miss Universe 1986.

* MISS MEXICO.- It was held at the Acapulco Convention Center on Sunday July 23 with 32 participants. It was won by Marilé del Rosario Santiago, Miss Tlaxcala, who went to Miss Universe 1990. The finalists were Angélica Rendón Moreno (Sonora), Érika Salúm Escalante (Quintana Roo), Gladys López Ibarra (Sinaloa), Nelia Ochoa Arteaga (Veracruz) and Beatríz Iracheta Gómez (Guerrero). Nelia Ochoa from Veracruz won the special award for “Miss Dorian Gray” which gave her the passport to Miss World.

* MISS SWITZERLAND- It was held on Saturday August 26 at the House of Congress in Zurich. It was won by Catherine Mesot, from Bulle. The finalists were Francoise Bezzola and Priscilla Leimgruber.

* MISS SINGAPORE WORLD.- The Miss World franchise for Singapore changed hands. Now it was organized by the firm Vanda Tours Promotions on Sunday, August 27 and held at the Neptuno Theater-Restaurant with 15 contestants. The lucky one was Jacqueline Ang. The runner-ups were Serene Lee, Celia Teh, Angela Woo and Cynthia Hoon.

* MISS GUAM WORLD.- Seventeen candidates participated in the finals of the contest held on Monday, August 28 at the facilities of the University of Guam. The crown went to Cora Tricia Yanger while her finalists were Stephanie Jean Cruz and Tina Marie Raagas.

* MISS JAMAICA.- It was held on Saturday, September 2 at the National Arena in Kingston among 18 candidates, with Miss Natasha Lee Marcanik winning the title on the way to Miss World. The finalists were Raquel Hernández (Miss Jamaica Wonderland), Anna-Kay Pullen (Miss Jamaica Maja), Patrice Bromfield (Miss Jamaica International) and Ann Marie Lyew.

* MISS WORLD CANADA.- Leanne Caputo won the title on Sunday, October 1 at the Diamond Club at the Garden City Inn in Winnipeg, beating 22 other contestants.

* MISS HUNGARY.- After four years the Miss Hungary pageant was held again. On this occasion, it took place in Budapest on Monday, October 2, where Magdolna Gerloczy was elected to Miss World. The finalists were Anita Bali and Dorottya Geszler.

* MISS WORLD NEDERLAND.- Hans Konings and Pieter Stokkink obtained the rights in Holland and organized the “Miss World Nederland” held in the Breda Peat Boat on Saturday 14th October. The winner was Liesbeth Caspers and the finalists were Karin van den Gaarden and Carina Jongkind.

Hans Konings and Pieter Stokkink obtained the rights in Holland and organized the “Miss World Nederland” held in the Breda Peat Boat on Saturday 14th October. The winner was Liesbeth Caspers and the finalists were Karin van den Gaarden and Carina Jongkind.

PROBLEMS WITH MISS U.S.S.R.-

                The Soviet Union’s first beauty queen, Yulia Sukhinova, said her fantasy of being named the most beautiful woman in the country had turned into an ugly nightmare of threats and blackmail by unscrupulous organizers. The organizers of the Miss U.R.S.S. had threatened to strip her of the title and send another contestant to the Miss World pageant if she did not submit to their contractual demands, what Yulia, 17, called “slavery.” Before the final of the pageant held on May 21, the Venets organization “insisted, by way of threats and blackmail, that the girls sign a bondage agreement, limiting their legal rights and capacities,” said Ms Sukhanova, from Moscow, in a letter published on Sunday August 27 in the Sovietskaya Rossiya newspaper. Some of the contestants refused to sign, but she did, she said. Ms Sukhanova added that Yuri Koshnerev, the director of Venets, refused to allow her to bring an escort to her international engagements. He wanted her to travel abroad with him because according to Yulia, he wanted to be alone with her. The Soviet beauty queen was preparing to leave for the United States on August 13 after signing an agreement with an unidentified American company when Kushnerev, through his lawyer, “openly promised to use all his contacts up to the Central Committee of the Communist Party to make sure she would never go anywhere”, She said. The Moscow Cultural Fund, sponsor of the trip, hastily withdrew and the trip to the United States was canceled. Due to the impasse and also because Yulia’s parents refused to sign the participation permit because she was a minor, the organizers decided not to send her to Miss World. Her place was taken by the first runner-up of the contest, Anna Gorbunova.

OTHER REPLACED GIRLS:

                Yulia Sukhinova was not the only contestant to be replaced in Miss World 1989. In Aruba, the right to represent the island belonged to Adeline Geerman, who had finished second in the contest held in December 1988 and who, in addition, had taken almost all the special awards. For unknown reasons, Geerman was not sent and had to be replaced by another of the finalists, Dilailah Odor-Wever, who had finished in fifth place. Miss Belgium, Anne De Baetzelier, attended Miss Universe, but in Miss World she was replaced by the first runner-up, Greet Ramaekers, without knowing the reasons for her replacement. Fatou Jarra, Miss Gambia, resigned weeks after her triumph for family reasons and was replaced by her first runner-up, Ade Clarke, however, due to visa problems, she was unable to travel to Hong Kong for the Miss World contest. And the brand new Miss Czechoslovakia, Ivana Christová, was hired exclusively by the main sponsor of the event and he did not allow her to travel to Miss World or Miss Universe due to the strict contracts that these contests have with their winners. She was replaced at these beauty events by the first runner-up, Jana Hronkova. However, Ivana was sent to participate in “Maja Internacional 1989” contest in October in the Dominican Republic, an event that she won handsomely.

MISS HOLLAND’S NATIONAL DIRECTOR LOST THE FRANCHISE.-

                It is also worth mentioning that Frans Verlinden, organizer of the official Miss Holland, lost the rights of Miss World due to his conduct that was criticized by numerous queens, in addition to the financial strangulation suffered by the rigorous contract that linked them to him. On the other hand, Miss Holland 1987, Angelique Cremers, filed a summary action against him for defamation, since he accused her of being immersed in drugs and called her “misfit”. Also, according to Cremers, all the money she made went to Verlinden. One of the main sponsors of the beauty pageant, the River Diamonds company, also criticized Verlinden. The spokesman, M. van der Bruggen, blamed any negative publicity on the organizer, who he also accused of not complying with the agreed agreements.

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ARRIVAL IN HONG KONG AND PREVIEWS IN TAIPEI.-

                The candidates for Miss World 1989 began arriving in Hong Kong on Wednesday, October 18. It was the longest concentration in history, as the candidates were in the contest for 5 weeks. Of the 84 girls originally expected, 78 arrived. Miss COOK ISLANDS (Angela Manarangi), Miss EGYPT (Neiryn Ahmad Salem), Miss ESTONIA (Cathy Korju), Miss GAMBIA (Ade Clarke), Miss LITHUANIA (Liucija Gruzdyte) and the representative from the PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, a country that did not elect or it was not known who the candidate was. Miss Hong Kong was in charge of receiving the young women at the airport but after welcoming two groups of candidates, she withdrew saying that she was a beauty queen and not a flower girl … Once they all got together, they flew on a Formosa Airlines flight to Taipei on Sunday, October 22, and had a press conference the next day. 12 days were spent in Taiwan, where the filming of the contestants’ introductions, their evening gowns and most of the outdoor swimsuits were made. In the same way, a musical number was recorded with the theme “Chinatown” written by Roy Wood, and in which the candidates danced dressed in Chinese costumes designed by the Long Light firm, along with the Miss World Dancers, with choreography by Ken Warwick at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial. There was also time to hold “Beauty with a Purpose” activities and visit children from various schools in Taipei and inland Taiwan. In fact, a group of girls flew to the south of the island. On Sunday, October 29, they had a great welcome party, where each of them performed before an audience of hundreds of people. The filming stage concluded on Thursday, November 2, when the candidates filmed the national costume segment at the Taipei Palace Museum.

                On Friday, November 3, the 78 contestants returned to Hong Kong, where they stayed at the 5-star New World hotel, located in Kowloon and opened in 1988. In Hong Kong, the girls visited numerous tourist spots and performed the customary Press Presentation at the aforementioned hotel on Thursday, November 9. Another group of girls filmed outdoors in bathing suits at Lai Chi Kok Park. The last days were of arduous rehearsals, as the girls had to put on three musical numbers, the opening with the national costumes, the closing of the central number “Chinatown” on stage and the last with a group of Hong Kong children.

                Some of the girls competed in Miss Universe held in Cancun. They were the representatives of Spain, Luxembourg, Nigeria and Finland, the latter was a semifinalist. In the 1988 edition Miss Norway participated, who also managed to be one of the semifinalists. Miss Poland was the first runner-up of the 1989 Miss International contest where Miss Costa Rica also participated. In this same event but of 1987 Miss Ireland competed. The Costa Rican also went to Miss Wonderland 1989. Miss Panama had just won the Miss Hispanidad Internacional where the Venezuelan girl had finished second. Miss Ecuador had won the 1988 World Banana Queen and Miss Colombia the 1989 International Queen of Flowers. Miss Paraguay was the 4th runner-up of Miss Latin America 1989. Miss Nigeria was in Miss Charm International and had won Miss Intercontinental but resigned from the title to go to Miss Universe and Miss World while Miss Macau was in Miss Chinese International, where she was the 2nd runner-up. Miss Germany was second runner-up in Miss Globe that year and Miss Hong Kong was a semi-finalist in Miss Asia Pacific. For her part, Miss Australia had been a semifinalist in the contest “Most Beautiful Girl in the World 1985” where she was the hostess and had also competed in Miss Young International in 1983.

                The shortest contestants, at 5′ 3”, were Miss Guam and Miss Guatemala, while the tallest contestants, at 5’11”, were Miss Germany, Miss Israel, Miss Greece and Miss Namibia. The oldest, at 24, were Miss Poland, Miss Malaysia, Miss Papua New Guinea, Miss Guatemala and Miss Sweden, and the youngest, at 17, were Miss France, Miss Bahamas, Miss Yugoslavia, Miss Thailand, Miss Italy, Miss Hungary, Miss Chile and Miss Argentina. The Latinas who were mentioned the most likely to win the crown were Miss Colombia and Miss Mexico. Other press favorites were contestants from the USSR, USA, UK, Finland, Germany, Norway, Holland, Poland, Thailand, Australia and Canada. Interestingly, this year London bookmakers did not accept bets for the Miss World pageant. The interest in the event in Great Britain had been completely lost and British newspapers did not cover the incidents of the event that was being held on the other side of the planet. The following is the table with the most outstanding data of the 78 contestants of Miss World 1989:

	COUNTRY	NAME	AGE	HOMETOWN	OCCUPATION
01	AMERICAN VIRGIN ISLANDS	Vanessa “Vania” Thomas	19	Charlotte Amalie	Mass Communications student
02	ARGENTINA	Patricia Wiedenhofer	17	Santa Rosa, La Pampa	Student
03	ARUBA	Dilailah Odor-Wever	20	Oranjestad	Stewardess
04	AUSTRALIA	Natalie Tania McCurry	23	North Bondi	Organizer of Charity Events and an Actress
05	AUSTRIA	Marion Amann	20	Vienna	Florist
06	BAHAMAS	Carolyn Moree	17	Nassau	Student and a model
07	BELGIUM	Greet Ramaekers	18	Limbourg	Beauty Therapist, Drama Student and Model
08	BELIZE	Martha Elena Badillo	20	San Pedro	Fashion Marketing Student
09	BERMUDA	Cherie Tannock	23	Warwick	Accounts clerk
10	BOLIVIA	María Victoria Julio	19	Tarija	Law student
11	CANADA	Leanne Caputo	23	Milton, Ontario	Director of her own dance academy
12	CAYMAN ISLANDS	Michele Garcia	20	Grand Cayman	Accounting Student
13	CHILE	Claudia Bahamonde Celis	17	Santiago	Student
14	CHINA-TAIPEI	Min-Yei Wang	22	Taipei	Dental technician
15	COLOMBIA	Mónica María Isaza Mejía	20	Medellin	Dentistry student
16	COSTA RICA	María Antonieta Sáenz Vargas	18	San José	Marketing student
17	CURACAO	Supharmy Sadji	19	Willemstad	Employee of an Engineering Company and Model
18	CYPRUS	Irma Voulgari	17	Larnaca	Painting Student
19	CZECHOSLOVAKIA	Jana Hronkova	22	Horšovský Týn	Metempsychosis student
20	DENMARK	Charlotte Pedersen	19	Holstebro	Model
21	DOMINICAN REPUBLIC	Irma Guillermina Mauriz Pimentel	23	Santo Domingo	Dentist
22	ECUADOR	Ximena Paulett Correa Jarre	19	Machala	Economy student
23	EL SALVADOR	Ana Estela Aguilar Arévalo	20	San Salvador	Mass Comunications student
24	FINLAND	Åsa Maria Lövdahl	20	Helsinki	Economy student
25	FRANCE	Peggy Zlotkowski	17	Monflaquin	Student and Model
26	GERMANY	Jasmin Beil	23	Frankfurt	Photographic model
27	GHANA	Afua Amoah Bonsu	23	Accra	Psychology and Sociology student
28	GIBRALTAR	Audrey Gingell	19	Gibraltar	Courier
29	GREECE	Katerina Petropoulou	19	Athens	Model
30	GUAM	Cora Tricia Taitano Yanger	18	Mangilao	Student
31	GUATEMALA	Rocío Lerma de la Vega	24	Guatemala City	Works for an international company
32	GUYANA	Lyla Ryhaan Shalimar Majeed	21	Georgetown	Works in a family business
33	HOLLAND	Liesbeth Caspers	21	Noordwijk	Works for the local government
34	HONDURAS	Belinda Bodden Álvarez	18	San Pedro Sula	Model
35	HONG KONG	Ewong “Ivonne” Hung Yung	21	Hong Kong	Actress
36	HUNGARY	Magdolna Gerloczy	18	Budapest	Student
37	ICELAND	Hugrun Linda Gudmundsdóttir	20	Reykyavik	Grammar School graduate
38	IRELAND	Barbara Ann Curran	23	Foxrock, Dublin	Accounting Student and Model
39	ISRAEL	Ronit Sutton	19	Jerusalem	Music student
40	ITALY	Paola Mercurio	17	Naples	Model and Art student
41	JAMAICA	Natasha Lee Marcanik	19	Kingston	Supervisor
42	JAPAN	Kaori Muto	22	Tokyo	Music student
43	KENYA	Grace Chabari	22	Mombasa	Secretary student and Model
44	KOREA	Hai-ri Kim	19	Seoul	Hostess of a Television Musical Show
45	LATVIA	Ina Magone	18	Liepaja	Art student
46	LUXEMBOURG	Chris Scott	23	Luxembourg	Law student
47	MACAU	Guilhermina Madeira da Silva Pedruco	19	Macau	Law student
48	MALAYSIA	Vivien Shee-Yee Chen	24	Kuching, Sarawak	Employee of a finance company
49	MALTA	Marika Micallef	18	Gharghur	Electrical Machinist and Styling Student
50	MAURITIUS	Jeanne-Françoise “Nathalie” Clement	20	Beau Bassin	Bank clerk
51	MEXICO	Nelia María Ochoa Arteaga	19	Veracruz	Accountant student
52	NAMIBIA	Emarencia “Emsie” Esterhuizen	22	Windhoek	Teacher student
53	NEW ZEALAND	Helen Rowney	19	Auckland	Art student
54	NIGERIA	Bianca Odinaka Onoh	22	Ngwo, Enugu	Law Student
55	NORWAY	Bente Charlotte Rosenkilde Brunland	22	Oslo	Professional model
56	PANAMA	Gloria Estela Quintana Peláez	19	Panama City	Accounting student
57	PAPUA NEW GUINEA	Joycelin Leahy	24	Morobe Province	Journalist and Works in Public Relations
58	PARAGUAY	Alicia María Jaime Villamayor	20	Asunción	Professional model and works on TV
59	PERU	Maritza Matilde Zorrilla Priori	20	Lima	Architecture student
60	PHILIPPINES	Estrella Singson Querubin	20	Manila	Journalist
61	POLAND	Aneta-Beata Kreglicka	24	Gdansk	Student of Business Administration and Tourism
62	PORTUGAL	Maria Angélica Mira Rosado	18	Lisbon	Journalism and Tourism Student
63	PUERTO RICO	Tania Collazo Barreiro	18	Orocovis	Political Science Student
64	SAINT VINCENT & THE GRENADINES	Anna Young	19	Kingstown	TV News Reporter
65	SINGAPORE	Jacqueline Ang Bie Lian	18	Singapore	Model
66	SPAIN	Eva María Pedraza López	18	Córdoba	Chemistry student
67	SRI LANKA	Serena Danvers	21	Colombo	Stewardess
68	SWEDEN	Lena Marie-Anne Berglind	23	Gothemburg	Model
69	SWITZERLAND	Catherine Mesot	23	Bulle	Real estate agent
70	THAILAND	Prathumrat Woramali (Helen Headlee)	17	Bangkok	Student
71	TRINIDAD & TOBAGO	Samantha Bhagan	22	Goodwood Park	Medical student
72	TURKEY	Burcu Burkut	19	Izmir	Student of Public Relations and Model
73	UGANDA	Doreen Lamon-Opira	20	Kampala	Engineering student
74	UNITED KINGDOM	Suzanne Younger	23	Shrewsbury, Shropshire	Broadcaster and Model
75	UNITED STATES	Jill ReNee Scheffert	21	Oklahoma City, OK	Communication Disorders Student
76	U.S.S.R.	Anna Gorbunova	22	Moscow	Secretary
77	VENEZUELA	Fabiola Shiara Candosín Marchetti	19	Caracas	Social Studies Student
78	YUGOSLAVIA	Aleksandra Dobras	17	Banja Luka, Bosnia	Model

BEAUTY WITH A PURPOSE.-

                At first, Julia Morley feared that when the contest moved from London to Hong Kong, they would lose the solidarity lunch and the children’s party, which they always gave every year. But a few words with the Rotary Club of Hong Kong, the Army and the Police of the colony were enough and it was shown that what could be done in England could certainly be done in Hong Kong. In eight days, the Rotary Club hosted a sold-out dinner where the proceeds were shared between a local charity and the International Variety Club. At this dinner the national gifts that each contestant brought from their countries of origin were auctioned.

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                The children’s party was successfully held on Sunday, November 12 at the Jockey Club stadium. “We had heard a lot about the ‘Boat Children’ (refugees from Vietnam). Whatever the adult policy, there were children here who had never known any life except inside a ‘prisoner’ camp. Getting them released for one afternoon to attend a party jointly staged by the Rotary Club and ourselves was no easy task but in the end I managed to persuade both the Army and the Chief of Police to allow 500 to attend. It was the largest party we had ever given. The contestants were wonderful, many stayed up all the previous night making decorations applicable to their own countries, so we had a really international atmosphere”, said Julia Morley excitedly. “At first, the children were bewildered, not a smile, not a response, but after a while it got to them, the ice cream, the cakes, the sandwiches and the laughter. It was sad to see them leave and even sadder to see them taking any souvenir they could lay their hands on, which British children would leave behind as rubbish. Yes, it was sad but it also left us with a happy thought that we really were living up to our slogan of Beauty with a Purpose”, she concluded.

DRESS REHEARSAL.-

                The dress rehearsal was held as usual the day before the finals, that is, on Tuesday, November 21, at the Hong Kong Convention Center, one of the largest in the territory and inaugurated in 1988. Portions of what was going to be broadcast were filmed there and the trophies were presented to the winners of the special awards: Miss PHOTOGENIC, who turned out to be Miss U.S.S.R. (Anna Gorbunova), chosen by photojournalists on the day of the presentation to the media and Miss PERSONALITY, chosen by the contestants themselves, title that went to Miss BELGIUM (Greet Ramaekers). In that final week, two days had been set aside for the judges to evaluate the contestants in the two stages of the competition, the swimsuit stage and the evening gown and interview stage. The votes were entered into Walters International’s computer to issue the list of the 10 semi-finalists, which comprised the top six for each continent (for the first time the Caribbean Islands were included as one of the continental queens) and the next four candidates in order of score regardless of the continent they came from.

PROGRAM BOOK

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THE FINALS.-

                The finals of the thirty-ninth edition of Miss World was held on Wednesday, November 22 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, on the north coast of the territory, with a live broadcast at 7:00 p.m. local time) through the screens of Asia TV and broadcast to some 700 million people in 50 countries via satellite. The first fifteen minutes of the local broadcast were dedicated exclusively to Hong Kong with commentary narrated by two Chinese presenters, while, in the Convention Center, adorned with a large Chinese pagoda, stone lion figures and a gigantic gong, the contestants paraded in evening wear. The event and the worldwide broadcast began at 7:15 pm for 105 minutes, with the opening musical number, the song “The Wonder of Hong Kong” written by Bobby Heath, with all the candidates on stage dancing and wearing their national costumes, along with numerous children carrying the flags of the participating countries, a presentation that was recorded the night before during the dress rehearsal.

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                The comperes of the evening, Peter Marshall, Alexandra Bastedo and John Davidson immediately arrived at the proscenium, who after the welcoming words presented the prerecorded video in Taiwan with the introduction of the 78 competitors, who said their names, occupation and city from where they came, and meanwhile, images of their national costumes and evening dresses were shown on the screen. After the first commercial cut, Alexandra Bastedo presented the nine members of the judging pannel. They were:

01- Krish Naidoo, Nationl Director of Ireland.

02- Brian Daniels, President of the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts.

03- Director of Walters International Computers, Rob Brandt.

04- Diane Hsin, wife of the Chairman of Formosa Airlines.

05- Eric Morley, creator of Miss World and Chairman of the Judges.

06- Peter Lam Kin Ngok, Director of the Hong Kong TV network ATV.

07- Miss World 1986, Giselle Laronde from Trinidad-Tobago.

08- Richard Caring, British textile entrepreneur based in Hong Kong.

09- George Pitman, President of the Variety Club and Telethon in Canada.

JUDGES

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               While viewers watched images of the candidates in swimsuits filmed outdoors in Taiwan and Hong Kong, the contestants paraded in their swimsuits at the Convention Center. As in previous years, the accumulated scores were displayed on the screen. Here are the individual scores of the nine judges, who had to select their 10 favorites in two presentations (swimsuit and interview / gowns), awarding 2 points to the 10 selected girls in each presentation and one point to the rest:

		J01	J02	J03	J04	J05	J06	J07	J08	J09	TOTAL
1	POLAND	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	2	4	30
2	THAILAND	2	2	2	3	4	4	4	4	4	29
3	CANADA	2	4	4	2	4	2	3	4	4	29
4	IRELAND	4	4	4	2	3	2	2	4	2	27
5	COLOMBIA	2	2	2	4	4	4	3	2	4	27
6	UNITED STATES	2	4	4	2	4	2	2	2	4	26
7	UNITED KINGDOM	2	4	4	2	4	2	2	4	2	26
8	FINLAND	4	4	4	2	2	4	2	2	2	26
9	NORWAY	2	4	2	2	3	4	2	2	4	25
10	HOLLAND	4	2	4	2	2	2	2	4	3	25
11	AUSTRALIA	2	4	2	2	2	2	3	4	4	25
12	U.S.S.R.	4	4	2	2	4	2	2	2	2	24
13	ITALY	4	2	4	2	2	2	2	4	2	24
14	KOREA	2	2	2	4	2	4	2	4	2	24
15	ISRAEL	4	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	4	23
16	LUXEMBOURG	4	4	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	23
17	AMERICAN VIRGIN ISLANDS	4	2	2	2	2	2	4	2	2	22
18	GERMANY	2	4	2	2	2	2	2	4	2	22
19	HUNGARY	2	2	4	2	2	2	2	2	4	22
20	MEXICO	2	2	2	4	2	4	2	2	2	22
21	CZECHOSLOVAKIA	2	2	2	3	2	4	2	2	2	21
22	DENMARK	2	2	2	2	2	4	2	2	3	21
23	PANAMA	4	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	21
24	AUSTRIA	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	2	20
25	BOLIVIA	2	2	2	4	2	2	2	2	2	20
26	HONDURAS	4	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	20
27	MAURITIUS	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	2	2	20
28	PHILIPPINES	2	2	2	4	2	2	2	2	2	20
29	PORTUGAL	2	2	2	4	2	2	2	2	2	20
30	SAINT VINCENT & THE GRENADINES	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	2	2	20
31	VENEZUELA	2	2	2	2	4	2	2	2	2	20
32	ARGENTINA	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	19
33	DOMINICAN REPUBLIC	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	19
34	EL SALVADOR	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	19
35	FRANCE	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	19
36	GUATEMALA	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	19
37	ICELAND	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	19
38	JAPAN	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	19
39	KENYA	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	19
40	MACAU	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	19
41	PERU	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	19
42	SINGAPORE	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	19
43	SWITZERLAND	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	19
44	TRINIDAD & TOBAGO	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	19
45	TURKEY	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	19
46	ARUBA	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
47	BAHAMAS	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
48	BELGIUM	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
49	BELIZE	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
50	BERMUDA	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
51	CAYMAN ISLANDS	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
52	CHILE	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
53	CHINA-TAIPEI	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
54	COSTA RICA	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
55	CURACAO	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
56	CYPRUS	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
57	ECUADOR	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
58	GHANA	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
59	GIBRALTAR	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
60	GREECE	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
61	GUAM	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
62	GUYANA	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
63	HONG KONG	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
64	JAMAICA	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
65	LATVIA	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
66	MALAYSIA	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
67	MALTA	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
68	NAMIBIA	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
69	NEW ZEALAND	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
70	NIGERIA	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
71	PAPUA NEW GUINEA	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
72	PARAGUAY	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
73	PUERTO RICO	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
74	SPAIN	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
75	SRI LANKA	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
76	SWEDEN	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
77	UGANDA	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
78	YUGOSLAVIA	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	18
		176	176	176	176	176	176	176	176	176	1584

                As can be seen, three of the favorites, Miss Finland, Miss Norway and Miss Holland, were sacrificed. If they had been 10 indistinctly from the continent, they would have entered the semifinalists. Due to a triple tie with 26 points, Eric Morley had to do a tiebreaker leaving the Finn girl out. If 15 had been selected as up to 1986, the candidates from the Soviet Union, Italy and Korea would have also entered and also the last place would have been fought by Miss Israel and Miss Luxembourg. Forty-five of the 78 entrants (57.7%) were selected on at least one of the judge’s selection lists. The contest this year had an additional 15 minutes of transmission compared to previous years, so they could well increase the number of semifinalists if they wanted to get represented the six “continents” in the finals, but they did not … At the end of the transmission of the video of the participants in swimsuits outdoors, all the young women were already on stage waiting for the verdict and Peter Marshall prepared to call in random order the 10 lucky ones who were still in the competition. They were:

	COUNTRY	NAME	AGE	HEIGHT	HOMETOWN
01	MAURITIUS	Jeanne-Françoise “Nathalie” Clement	20	5’5.5”	Beau Bassin
02	CANADA	Leanne Caputo	23	5’8”	Milton, Ontario
03	UNITED STATES	Jill ReNee Scheffert	21	5’10”	Oklahoma City
04	POLAND	Aneta-Beata Kreglicka	24	5’7.5”	Gdansk
05	AMERICAN VIRGIN ISLANDS	Vanessa “Vania” Thomas	19	5’5”	Charlotte Amalie
06	UNITED KINGDOM	Suzanne Younger	23	5’9”	Shrewsbury
07	COLOMBIA	Mónica María Isaza Mejía	20	5’7”	Medellín
08	THAILAND	Prathumrat Woramali	17	5’8.5”	Bangkok
09	AUSTRALIA	Natalie Tania McCurry	23	5’8”	North Bondi
10	IRELAND	Barbara Ann Curran	23	5’8”	Foxrock

TOP 10

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                Interestingly, after five consecutive years, the Venezuelan representative did not make it to the semi-finalists. While the girls changed their clothes, Alexandra Bastedo proceeded to interview Julia Morley, who recounted the advances of “Beauty with a Purpose” and a video of the social activities that the candidates carried out in Taipei and Hong Kong was presented, in addition to a musical number with a group of children singing the song “She is so Beautiful” with some fifteen participants, among which were Miss Portugal, Miss Paraguay, Miss Jamaica, Miss Canada, Miss Japan, Miss Honduras, Miss Mexico, Miss Dominican Republic , Miss Iceland, Miss Australia and Miss Italy.

                After a brief commercial break, John Davidson and Alexandra Bastedo interviewed the first five semifinalists, already in their evening dresses, who told details of the work that each of their countries carried out in favor of environmental conservation and the problems they had in this area. While the second group was preparing, Alexandra Bastedo presented the pre-recorded video with the central musical number called “Chinatown” recorded in Taiwan with the contestants and dancers of the organization, composed of Gerry Zuccarello, Robert Wheeler, Anthony Hosier, Nigel Shaw, Preston Phillips and Warren Grant, directed by Ken Warwick. By the way, the fact of presenting a large Taiwanese flag during this musical number caused controversy, due to the political conflict between Beijing and Taipei, for which the show was subtly edited in Hong Kong, eliminating the part where the large Taiwanese flag appeared to thus avoid retaliation from the Chinese government and a major scandal.

                After this presentation, the second group of semifinalists discussed ecology with Alexandra Bastedo and Peter Marshall. Miss Poland said “The environmental problem affects all countries, like mine. We currently have a problem with the pollution of our sea, but our government intends to solve it. They have already bought specialized equipment for this. We also have the intention to change our fuel policy from ordinary to economical. As a tourism student, I would like to encourage everyone to visit my country and after graduation I would like to work on environmental protection”.

                While they were going to commercials, the 10 semifinalists were presented together at the Convention Center in front of the judges. After the third commercial cut, Peter Marshall presented a musical show with Chinese dancers, to show a little of the culture of that side of the world. After another commercial cut, the 10 semifinalists appeared in their parade in swimsuits, to finish posing together on a beautiful Chinese bridge adorned with a waterfall. Next, Alexandra Bastedo introduced the British Reggae group called ASWAD (which means “black” in Arabic), made up of Angus “Drummie Zeb” Gaye, Tony “Gad” Robinson and Brinsley “Dan” Forde, who performed their hit “Don’t Turn Around” which was 1st in the UK music charts in 1988.

                After the presentation of the musical group, they went to the fifth and last commercial cut, and after that they were ready to call the 10 semifinalists on stage showing their evening dresses, introduced by Peter Marshall and with a description of the dresses by Alexandra Bastedo. Then the outgoing Miss World, Icelandic Linda Petúrsdóttir took her final walk while listening to a pre-recorded audio of her parting words. After this, the comperes called Julia Morley to the stage who arrived accompanied by the Director of Formosa Airlines, Hsin Chi-hsiu to present the trophies to the winners and Eric Morley to announce the final results, starting with the continental queens. They were:

AFRICA’S QUEEN OF BEAUTY	Miss MAURITIUS
AMERICAS’ QUEEN OF BEAUTY	Miss CANADA
ASIA’S QUEEN OF BEAUTY	Miss THAILAND
CARIBBEAN ISLANDS’ QUEEN OF BEAUTY	Miss AMERICAN VIRGIN ISLANDS
EUROPE’S QUEEN OF BEAUTY	Miss POLAND
OCEANIA’S QUEEN OF BEAUTY	Miss AUSTRALIA

              After meeting the continental beauty queens, the most anticipated moment of the night arrived. Eric Morley proceeded to announce the final results in reverse order. The SECOND RUNNER-UP was Miss COLOMBIA, Mónica María Isaza Mejía (the best Colombian participation since 1983) and the FIRST RUNNER-UP, Miss CANADA, Leanne Caputo (matching the performance of 1984). Both received the trophies from Julia Morley and Mr. Hsin and were crowned by Julian Morley.

               And, MISS WORLD 1989 was … Miss POLAND, Aneta-Beata Kreglicka, a 24-year-old blonde with blue eyes, with anatomical measurements of 35-23-35, 120 pounds and 5 feet 7 and a half inches tall, student of Business Administration and Tourism at the University of Gdansk, who was fluent in English, Russian and Italian and whose hobbies were gymnastics and jazz dancing. Aneta became the first Miss World of the communist bloc of Eastern European nations, although her country, the People’s Republic of Poland, was in transition to freedom and democracy that same year. Aneta, quite calm, as if she had sensed her triumph and dressed in a purple strapless suit adorned with fox fur at the top, received the sash that accredited her as Miss World from Julian Morley and the trophy from Julia and Mr. Hsin. She sat on the throne to be crowned by the outgoing queen, Linda Pétursdóttir of Iceland, while Julian Morley handed her the royal scepter. After this, the brand new Miss World took her triumphant walk with the official march of the pageant performed by Phil Tate and his orchestra. At the end of the broadcast, Aneta was interviewed by John Davidson, a talk that would be seen on the North American broadcast of the event on a delayed basis. By the way, Morley had managed to get the contest aired in the United Kingdom on Thames Television, a channel that had refused to continue broadcasting it the previous year, but ITV put the program on a delayed basis at dawn on Thursday, November 23. “They said it was old-fashioned, sexist and not appropriate for modern Britain,” Eric Morley said. “I’ve heard that cliche for the past 25 years.”

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                At the subsequent coronation ball at the New World Hotel, the winners were awarded their prizes. Miss United Kingdom and Miss Ireland, having been semi-finalists, won a check for £ 200. Miss Mauritius, Miss Australia and Miss US Virgin Islands all won a £ 500 prize for being Continental Queens. Miss USA was the fourth runner-up for which she received £ 500 and Miss Thailand, for being the third runner-up and Queen of Asia, obtained £ 1,000, the same amount that Miss Colombia received for being the second runner-up. Miss Canada took home £ 2,000 after being the first runner-up. For her part, the new Miss World received a check for a value of £ 5,000 plus an employment contract that would guarantee her a minimum of 25,000 additional pounds sterling, as well as international first class travel during her year of reign with an approximate value of another 100,000 pounds. It should be noted that the checks received by the candidates were in Hong Kong dollars equivalent to the prize mentioned in pounds sterling. (The winner’s prize was about HK $ 370,000, as the exchange rate at that time was HK $ 12.2 per pound.) On the other hand, Morley said he hoped the contest would return to London the following year, but if the plan did not materialize, he could invite Hong Kong to host it again in 1990.

THE REIGN OF MISS WORLD 1989.-

                At a press conference the morning after her win, Aneta said she couldn’t find words to describe how she felt, but said she was extremely surprised by her win. She confessed that behind the stage she cried excitedly when the other contestants hugged her to congratulate her. “From the beginning I was the favorite of the girls who competed with me and in their rankings they had me in the top three.” “I was very happy and proud to be able to bring this title to my country,” she later said in an interview for Asia TV. Two days later she flew to London where she stayed for a few days at the Grosvenor House Hotel before traveling to her first international engagement as Miss World in Germany. On December 1st, Aneta returned to Poland to be received at the Warsaw airport by her family and friends, as well as by the press and hundreds of photographers. She visited a home for children who needed special care, she visited the Minister of Social Affairs, Jacek Kuroń, who welcomed her and Julia Morley at a private dinner at her home and was honored at an event called “Welcome Miss World” with numerous Polish artists. In the city of Torún they gave her a folk reception with bread and salt according to the Polish tradition. Later she returned to the city of Gdansk where she lived, where she was also given a great welcome. She spent Christmas with her family and in January she returned to London to continue her commitments as Miss World. She took her college books with her as she completed her studies and her role as Miss World. In fact, she presented her graduate thesis during her reign so she had to cancel certain appearances in London as Miss World. She handed over the crown to her successor in the British capital in November 1990.

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BIOGRAPHY OF ANETA KREGLICKA.-

                Aneta-Beata Kreglicka was born in the city of Szczecin, in Poland, on March 23, 1965. She was an only child. Her mother, Ewa Kreglicka, was a homemaker and her father, Janusz, was a construction engineer and worked abroad. Her family moved from Szczecin to Gdansk when Aneta was in sixth grade. She graduated from No. Bohaterów Westerplatte Secondary School in Gdansk. She was a member of a contemporary dance group at the University of Gdansk called “Jump”, she worked in a hotel in Italy and was studying Business Administration before entering the Miss Poland pageant, which she won on July 15, 1989. It was her father who urged her to compete. Her first commitment was to participate in Miss International held in Japan on September 17, where she managed to be the first runner-up in the event where the German Iris Klein won. She stayed in Japan for 5 weeks, two weeks in the proper contest and three more weeks accompanying the winner in activities in Japanese lands. She felt tired and did not want to go to Miss World, but as it had already been announced, she had no other way than to fulfill her compromise and travel to Hong Kong and Taiwan to the world pageant. Her mother and a friend made her the purple silk georgette and fox fur dress that she wore in the pageant. It took five more weeks of hard work until on Wednesday, November 22, she won the title of the most beautiful woman in the world at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, in the first Miss World held outside London.

                An interesting fact is that the Asians, unable to cope with the spelling and pronunciation of the exotic name Kręglicka, invented a method with which they tried to remedy it. And that is how she is known by the name of Aneta Keri Rika or Aneta Keri Lika. During her travels as Miss World she continued to study. After concluding her reign in 1990, she graduated with honors from college. Aneta held the record of being the oldest Miss World at the time of winning, at 24 years and 244 days, until 2018, when Vanessa Ponce from Mexico won the crown at 26 years old. After handing over the crown in the late 1990s, she sighed in relief: “This ‘reign’ and the lack of freedom, made me feel tired, not to mention the fact that I was studying all this time. Also, I had lost my privacy and could not walk quietly down the street” she remembers. Sometimes the fans were very persistent: In 1992, an autograph collector sued Kręglicka for neglecting her duties as a public person. He sent her three stamped envelopes with a reproduction of Wyczółkowski’s painting, and Kręglicka not only did not sign anything, she also did not send even the empty envelopes. The Gdansk District Court awarded the plaintiff 100,000 zloties in damages which the victim promised to donate to the “Children’s Memorial Health Institute”.

                After participating in beauty pageants, she received an offer to represent Poland at the Eurovision Song Contest, but turned it down. In the years 1990-1992 she worked in the United States for the Wilhelmina agency in New York. However, this job left her dissatisfied and she returned to Poland without regrets. After returning to Warsaw, she established a foundation to continue her mission as Miss World and in 1991, together with her partner, she opened a public relations advertising agency “ABK Kręglicka”. Aneta was repeatedly encouraged to pursue a political career: “Prime Minister Jan Krzysztof Bielecki proposed it to me first, and then also Prime Minister Donald Tusk. I did not have as much courage as Ewa Wachowicz and probably due to other plans, I did not see me involved in politics, because I valued independence above all else”, she explains and adds: “I also had proposals to take serious positions from global corporations entering Poland, in response, I started my company and fought alone, although years later I can say that those they were the mistakes of my youth, today I would make different decisions”. By going into business, she disappeared from public life for many years. Since 2002 she is co-owner of the film studio “St. Lazare”, and co-author of the film “The Bench” (2004) among others.

                In 2005 she began her doctoral studies at the Warsaw School of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences. After closing her first advertising company, in 2005 she opened the company “Hannah Hooper”. That same year she became president of the jubilee election of Miss Poland. In 2006, she was invited as a co-host to the Miss World 2006 welcome gala in Warsaw and was a member of the judges at the final gala on September 30, 2006 in the Kongresowa Hall in Warsaw. She participated in the entertainment program “Dancing with the Stars III” (2006) with her dance partner, Robert Rowinski, a competition in which they classified in seventh place. Kręglicka was also offered a performance in another celebrity talent show “Stars Dance on Ice” but she refused. Perhaps one of the reasons for such a decision was the media stir that broke out after “Dancing with the Stars.” In 2007, she hosted the Miss Poland gala with Krzysztof Ibisz. She was recognized by Internet users in the Onet.pl votes as the most beautiful blonde, obtaining up to 45% of more than 80 thousand votes. She was Chairwoman of the Judges of “Designers for Start Competition” in 2013. Since 1998, she is married to the director Maciej Żak, with whom she has a son, Alexander, born in 2000. Aneta continues to live in Poland with her family and still does sporadic modeling jobs, staying active on the Instagram social network.

FROM THE OTHER CONTESTANTS.-

                Candidates from Czechoslovakia, Gibraltar, Ireland, Portugal and Switzerland competed in Miss Universe 1990, where the Czech managed to reach the Top 10, while Miss Virgin Islands competed in Miss Universe eight years later, in 1997. The Icelandic and the Finnish girls were 1st. and 2nd runner-ups of Miss Scandinavia 1990, the Greek competed in the Flower’s Queen 1990 contest (which according to is done every 50 years), the Honduran was in the Miss Hispanidad of that year as well as the Mexican, who was also 2nd runner-up at the Queen of the Harvest Intl ’91. Miss Switzerland competed in Miss Europe 1991, Miss Chile won “Latin American Queen of Tourism’90” and the Puerto Rican was Miss Puerto Rico Tourism ’93.

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                Nigerian Bianca Onoh (Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu) was the Nigerian Ambassador in Madrid and is a permanent representative at the United Nations World Tourism Organization. The Spanish Eva Pedraza after passing through the beauty pageants began to work on TV, becoming a famous Spanish model, actress, presenter, politician and businesswoman. She is currently married to Miguel de Miguel with whom she married in 2011 and has three children, one with her current husband (Miguel) and two from her ex-partner (Adrián and Claudia). She was an advisor to the Córdoba City Council from June 2011 to May 2012 when she became part of the city’s government team as Councilor for the Delegation of Women and Equality. In May 2013 she resigned from the position, becoming advisor to the municipal group of PP11 until June 2015. Panamanian Gloria Quintana has a cosmetics brand and offers talks on entrepreneurship in her country.

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               Greet Ramaekers from Belgium became a Journalist, Presenter and was a Hollywood Actress in the 90’s. She lives in Los Angeles. Marion Amann from Austria, today Mrs. Tomasi, married for more than 20 years with two children, runs a personal guidance academy in Ermatingen, where she helps women and men of all ages, as well as children and young people. She specializes in the resolution of family and couple conflicts, as well as parenting problems, search for personal balance, work and family conciliation, as well as reorientation and personal development. The French Peggy Zlotkowski became a Medical Visitor, continued linked to Miss France and was a judge in the 2001 contest. The Italian Paola Mercurio is a renowned model, presenter and TV host in Naples. Joycelin Leahy from Papua New Guinea is an artist and painter living in Brisbane, Australia. Miss USSR, Anna Gorbunova, denounced that her sponsor, Alexander Jamirze of Georgian origin, tried to prostitute her during a tour of Australia in the early 1990s. She currently lives in the city of Zelenograd. The Filipino Estrella Querubin is now known as Star Querubin and is a well-known film actress in her country.

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                Leanne Caputo from Canada married Frank Gigone in 1993 and they live in Mississauga, Ontario. Miss Macau’s sisters, Guilhermina Da Silva Pedruco also won the title and competed in Miss World, they are Isabela (1993), Geraldina (1995) and Guiomar (1996). Puerto Rican Tania Collazo is a real estate sales consultant and lives in Dallas, Texas. Thai Prathumrat Woramali is married to James Berger, has three children and lives in Hudson, Ohio. British Suzanne Younger is a businesswoman, married to David Jenkins, lives in Oswestry and has three children, one of them with a special condition. Miss USA, Jill Scheffert lives in Colorado, is married to Glen McAlister and has a beautiful daughter named Carlie. Colombian Mónica María Isaza is a Consulting Partner at Amrop Top Management, she was married to Pablo Arango Cuartas and has a beautiful daughter, Isabella Arango. She continues to live in Medellín. Miss Aruba, Dilailah Odor-Wever, is the wife of politician and MP Endy Croes. Miss Germany, Jasmin Bail, is a stylist and has a renowned beauty salon called “Jasmin’s Hair & Design” in the city of Neuenhaßlau. Her daughter, Natascha Jasmin, was a semi-finalist for “Germany’s Next Top Model” in 2011 and unsuccessfully auditioned at Miss Universe Germany a few years ago. Martha Badillo from Belize married John Peter Iversen and currently lives in Drammen, Norway.

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               Australian Natalie McCurry was a film and television actress, remembered for her participation in the films “Dead End Drive-In” (1986), “Time Trax” (1993) and “Cassandra” (1987). In September 1990 she suffered an accident at Birkenhead Point (Sydney) when one of the two ropes broke during a 40 meters free fall jump (Bungee Jumping) and she ended up with a broken collarbone. She married Sean Panambalana and had four children: Noah, Finn, Luca, and Tara. She passed away in Sydney on September 27, 2014 of cancer. After fulfilling her commitments with the Miss Venezuela Organization, Fabiola Candosín retired from public life. In 1995, she graduated as a Civil Engineer from Santa María University. Like so many Venezuelans, she emigrated to Italy a few years ago. She died on February 27, 2019 due to cancer in the city of Padua.

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Thanks to Donald West, Daryl Schabinger, Neil Craig, Mario Jérez, Jasol Cabral, Edman Raúl Imagen, Sally-Ann Fawcett, Herluis Rafael, Anond Kul, Michael Knittel, Rafael Mirabal-Linares, Victor Eduardo, Mills Aldorino, Nelia Ochoa, Pita Sáenz, Aneta Kreglicka, Expedito Barros, Oleg Pikitin, Armando México, William Javier Ortega, Tony Hidalgo, Stefan Hoven Lieuw Choy, Christine Dorotheo, Miss Holland Now, Paraiso de Reinas and Glamour Argentino.