Miss Universe 1963 was the 12th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida, on 20 July 1963.
At the end of the event, Norma Nolan of Argentina crowned Iêda Maria Vargas of Brazil as Miss Universe 1963. It is the first victory of Brazil in the history of the pageant.
Contestants from fifty countries and territories competed in this edition. The pageant was hosted by John Charles Daly, while Arlene Francis and Gene Rayburn served as backstage correspondents.
Background Selection of participants Contestants from fifty countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Two candidates were appointed to represent their countries after being a runner-up at their respective national pageants, while one candidate was appointed to represent her country to replace the original dethroned winner.
Replacements Maureen Thomas, first runner-up of Miss Wales 1963, was appointed to represent Wales because Miss Wales 1963 Pat Finch was not "Welsh enough" according to pageant organizers. Miss Turkey 1963, Gülseren Esen Kocaman, did not participate for unknown reasons, she was replaced by Miss Turkey 1961, Güler Samuray.
Debuts, returns, and withdrawals This edition saw the debuts of The Bahamas, Curaçao, Okinawa, and Trinidad and Tobago, and the returns of Nicaragua, which last competed in 1955; the British Guiana in 1958; Suriname in 1960; and Denmark and Suriname last competed in 1961.
Francine Marcos of Dahomey withdrew after arriving late to the competition. Susan Pratt of England on the other hand, withdrew after being involved in a car accident which left her with a broken leg.
Nik Azizah Yahya of Malaya withdrew after not reaching the minimum age requirement. Yen-Ping Cheung of Hong Kong, Mona Slim of Lebanon, Maria Penedo of Portugal, and Noela Bernardino of Tahiti withdrew for undisclosed reasons. Haiti, the Republic of China, Singapore, and the United States Virgin Islands withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.
Beatriz Martínez of Mexico was supposed to compete but withdrew after not reaching the minimum age requirement. Enid Marugg of Aruba, Hazel Eastmond of Barbados, Yun-Hiu Ying of Macau, Ana Cecilia Maruri of Panama, and Ruby Thelma Bacot of the Panama Canal Zone were all set to compete, but withdrew for undisclosed reasons.
Results
Placements Placement Contestant Miss Universe 1963 – Iêda Maria Vargas 1st Runner-Up – Aino Korva 2nd Runner-Up – Marlene McKeown 3rd Runner-Up – Lalaine Bennett 4th Runner-Up – Myoung-ja Kim Top 15 Argentina – Olga Galuzzi – Gertrude Bergner – María Cristina Álvarez – Riitta Kautiainen – Monique Lemaire Italy – Gianna Serra – Noriko Ando – Ellen Liebenberg – Marite Ozers – Helga Ziesemer
Special awards Award Contestant Miss Amity – Grace Taylor Miss Photogenic – Marlene McKeown Best National Costume – Sherin Ibrahim
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.
Contestants Fifty contestants competed for the title. Country/Territory Contestant Age Hometown Argentina 23 Buenos Aires Austria 19 Vienna Bahamas 19 Nassau Belgium 19 Liège Bolivia 21 Santa Cruz de la Sierra Brazil 18 Porto Alegre British Guiana 19 Georgetown Canada 24 Regina Ceylon 24 Kandy Colombia 18 Bogotá Costa Rica 18 San José Cuba 19 Havana Curaçao 18 Willemstad Denmark 20 Copenhagen Dominican Republic 19 Santiago de los Caballeros Ecuador 19 Quito Finland 18 Helsinki France 18 Paris Greece 20 Athens Holland 21 Arnhem Iceland 18 Reykjanesbær Ireland 18 Belfast Israel 19 Tel Aviv Italy 19 Rome Jamaica 20 Kingston Japan 23 Tokyo Luxembourg 23 Mertert Morocco 20 Casablanca New Zealand 18 Christchurch Nicaragua 20 Carazo Norway 20 Oslo Okinawa 25 Okinawa Paraguay 18 Asunción Peru 18 Iquitos Philippines 19 Quezon City Puerto Rico 18 San Juan Scotland 20 Motherwell South Africa 20 Cape Town South Korea 20 Seoul Spain 18 Santa Cruz de Tenerife Suriname 18 Paramaribo Sweden 21 Stockholm Switzerland 25 Geneva Trinidad and Tobago 18 San Fernando Turkey 22 Istanbul United States 19 Chicago Uruguay – Montevideo Venezuela 18 Achaguas Wales 22 Pontypool West Germany 19 Nuremberg
Notes
References
External links
Miss Universe official website