Miss Universe 1960 was the ninth Miss Universe pageant, held at the Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida, on 9 July 1960.
At the end of the event, Akiko Kojima of Japan crowned Linda Bement of the United States as Miss Universe 1960. Bement was the third representative of the United States to win the contest.
Contestants from forty-three countries and territories competed in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Charles Collingwood.
Background Selection of participants Contestants from forty-three countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Two contestants were appointees to their national titles and two other were selected to replace the original dethroned winner.
Replacements Sonja Menzel was originally set to represent Denmark but withdrew for undisclosed reasons, and was replaced by Lizzie Hess.
Miss Luxembourg 1960, Liliane Müller, was also set to represent Luxembourg at the pageant, but was replaced by Miss Elegance Josée Venturi for undisclosed reasons.
Debuts, returns, and withdrawals This edition saw the debuts of Jordan, Portugal, Spain, and Tunisia, and the returns of Chile, Finland, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Morocco, New Zealand, Paraguay, South Africa, Suriname, Switzerland, and Venezuela. South Africa and Switzerland, which last competed in 1953, Hong Kong and New Zealand in 1954, Finland and Lebanon in 1955, Morocco in 1957, while the others last competed in 1958.
Hawaii withdrew after becoming a U.S. state on 21 August 1959, resulting in the Miss Hawaii Universe pageant being downgraded from a national Miss Universe qualifier to a Miss USA state pageant.
Lorena Velázquez of Mexico withdrew for personal reasons. Marzena Malinowska of Poland withdrew to compete in another international pageant. Miss Turkey 1959, Figen Özgür, was replaced by Miss Turkey 1960, Nebahat Çehre, who also withdrew and later competed at Miss World 1960 instead. Guatemala, and Thailand withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.
Julienne Ayissi Eyenga Fouda of Cameroon was disqualified for being underage and replaced by Sale Assouen, who subsequently withdrew for undisclosed reasons. Cluadinette Fouchard of Haiti withdrew due to marriage plans. Madagascar and Martinique intended to participate but did not appear.
Results
Placements Placement Contestant Miss Universe 1960 – Linda Bement 1st Runner-Up Italy – Daniela Bianchi 2nd Runner-Up – Elizabeth Hodacs 3rd Runner-Up – Nicolette Caras 4th Runner-Up – Teresa del Río Top 15 – Gina MacPherson – Stella Márquez – Joan Boardman Greece – Magda Passaloglou – Aliza Gur – Yayoi Furuno – Ragnhild Aass – Miheeja Sohn – Eliane Maurath – Ingrun Möckel
Special awards Award Contestant Miss Amity – Myint Myint May – Judy Fletcher Miss Photogenic Italy – Daniela Bianchi
Pageant Format Same with 1955, fifteen semi-finalists were chosen at the preliminary competition that consists of the swimsuit and evening gown competition. Each of the fifteen semi-finalists gave a short speech during the final telecast using their native languages. Afterwards, the fifteen semi-finalists paraded again in their swimsuits and evening gowns, and the five finalists were eventually chosen.
Selection committee Maxwell Arnow – American film producer Fernando Botero – Colombian painter and sculptor Jane Fisher – Wife of American businessman and philanthropist, Max Fisher Irwin Hasen – American cartoonist Dr. M.M. Hollander – American physician and cosmetic specialist Russell Patterson – American cartoonist Vuk Vuchinich – Yugoslavian-American painter and sculptor Miyoko Yanagita – Japanese fashion designer Roger Zeiler – An official from the Mondial Events Organization through the Miss Europe Committee
Contestants Forty-three contestants competed for the title. Country/Territory Contestant Age Hometown Argentina 22 Buenos Aires Austria 18 Vienna Belgium 19 Brussels Bolivia 19 La Paz Brazil 19 Guanabara Burma 18 Rangoon Canada 19 Galt Chile 19 Santiago Colombia 21 Pasto Costa Rica 18 San José Cuba 18 Havana Denmark 20 Copenhagen Ecuador 21 Quito England 22 Wallasey Finland 21 Helsinki France 21 Paris Greece 24 Athens Holland 19 The Hague Hong Kong 20 Hong Kong Iceland 19 Reykjavík Israel 19 Haifa Italy 18 Rome Japan 19 Fukuoka Jordan 19 Amman Lebanon 18 Beirut Luxembourg 21 Luxembourg City Morocco 19 Rabat New Zealand 21 Wellington Norway 19 Oslo Paraguay 22 Asunción Peru 19 Lambayeque Portugal 19 Lisbon South Africa 19 Johannesburg South Korea 19 Seoul Spain 21 Madrid Suriname 21 Paramaribo Sweden 22 Uppsala Switzerland 19 Geneva Tunisia 21 Tunis United States 18 Salt Lake City Uruguay 22 Montevideo Venezuela 21 Caracas West Germany 18 Düsseldorf
Notes
References
External links
Miss Universe official website