Miss Universe 1954 was the third Miss Universe pageant, held at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, on 24 July 1954.
At the conclusion of the event, Christiane Martel of France crowned Miriam Stevenson of the United States as Miss Universe 1954. It was the first victory of the United States in the history of the pageant. Stevenson became the first Miss Universe to concurrently hold both Miss USA and Miss Universe titles.
Contestants from thirty-three countries and territories competed in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Bob Russell. This edition also featured the Star of the Universe crown, which consisted of one-thousand Oriental cultured and black pearls set in solid gold and platinum, and was worth $500,000 USD. This crown would be eventually used for the next six editions.
Background
Selection of participants Contestants from thirty-three countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Two contestants were selected to replace the original dethroned winner.
Replacements Sun-hee Kae, first runner-up of Miss Korea 1954, was appointed to replace Miss Korea 1954 Rak Hi Pu after the latter's visa was denied due to alleged communist ties. Similarly, Rika Dialina, Star Hellas 1954, was initially replaced by first runner-up Efi Androulakakis after Dialina posed for a book by a Greek communist, despite having no communist sympathies. However, U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles intervened, allowing Dialina temporary entry. Dialina arrived days before preliminaries, causing Androulakakis to withdraw. Organizers asked Androulakakis to remain as representative of Crete, but she declined. Though not an official candidate, she was still named Miss Friendship. Amara Asavananda, runner-up of Miss Thailand 1953, replaced Miss Thailand 1953 Anong Atchawatthana due to financial issues.
Debuts, returns, and withdrawals The 1954 edition saw the debuts of Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and the West Indies, and the returns of Chile, Cuba, Hong Kong, and Israel, which last competed in 1952.
Gertrude Kapi'olani Miller of Hawaii withdrew due to undisclosed reasons. Berta Elena Landaeta of Venezuela also withdrew after pageant organizers were unable to determine her whereabouts. Austria, Denmark, South Africa, Switzerland, and Turkey withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or designate a contestant.
Contestants from Guatemala and Nicaragua were expected to compete but were prohibited by their respective governments due to political instability in Central America. Both countries debuted in the following edition.
Results Placements Placement Contestant Miss Universe 1954 – Miriam Stevenson 1st Runner-Up – Martha Rocha 2nd Runner-Up Hong Kong – Virginia Lee 3rd Runner-Up – Regina Ernst 4th Runner-Up – Ragnhild Olausson Top 16 Argentina – Ivana Kislinger – Gloria Leguisos – Marian Esquivel – Jacqueline Beer Greece – Rika Dialina Italy – Maria Paliani – Mona Stornes Panama – Liliana Torre – Isabella Dancourt – Blesilda Ocampo – Ana Moreno
Special awards Award Contestant Miss Friendship Greece – Efi Androulakakis Miss Popular Girl – Martha Rocha
Pageant Format Same with 1953, sixteen semi-finalists were chosen at the preliminary competition that consists of the swimsuit and evening gown competition. Each of the sixteen semi-finalists gave a short speech during the final telecast using their native languages. Afterwards, the sixteen semi-finalists paraded again in their swimsuits and evening gowns, and the five finalists were eventually chosen.
Selection committee Piper Laurie – American actress Julia Adams – American actress Suzan Ball – American actress Earl Wilson – American columnist and journalist Tom Kelley – American photographer
Contestants Thirty-three contestants competed for the title. Country/Territory Contestant Age Hometown Alaska 18 Fairbanks Argentina 22 Temperley Australia 20 Narrandera Belgium 19 Nodebais Brazil 21 Salvador Canada 20 Toronto Chile 21 Santiago Costa Rica 18 San José Cuba 20 Havana El Salvador 20 San Salvador Finland 18 Helsinki France 21 Bois-Colombes Greece 22 Heraklion Honduras 21 Tegucigalpa Hong Kong 20 Hong Kong Israel 18 Tel-Aviv Italy 18 Rome Japan 18 Nagoya Mexico 19 Mexico City New Zealand 18 Auckland Norway 19 Oslo Panama 18 Panama City Peru 18 Lima Philippines 18 Manila Puerto Rico 23 San Juan Singapore 21 Singapore South Korea 19 Seoul Sweden 19 Stockholm Thailand 18 Phra Nakhon United States 21 Winnsboro Uruguay 22 Montevideo West Germany 18 Bremen West Indies 18 Kingston
Notes
References
External links Miss Universe official website