Miss Universe 2020 was the 69th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, United States, on 16 May 2021.
At the end of the event, Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa crowned Andrea Meza of Mexico as Miss Universe 2020. It was Mexico's first victory in ten years and the third victory for the country in the pageant's history.
Contestants from seventy-four countries and territories competed in this year's pageant, featuring the smallest number of candidates at the pageant since 2003. The competition was hosted by Mario Lopez and Miss Universe 2012, Olivia Culpo. Miss Universe 2014, Paulina Vega and Miss Universe 2017, Demi-Leigh Tebow served as expert analysts, while Miss USA 2019, Cheslie Kryst served as a backstage correspondent. Puerto Rican singer, Luis Fonsi performed in this year's pageant.
This edition, to date, is the only time the pageant has been broadcast on FYI after Fox, its regular broadcaster, backed out due to uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Background
Location and date On 3 March 2021, the Miss Universe Organization announced that the competition would be at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, United States, on 16 May 2021. Denying rumors that the pageant would be canceled or that the first runner-up in the previous pageant Madison Anderson from Puerto Rico would be crowned Miss Universe 2020.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition was postponed three times between November 2020 and May 2021. This edition was the third time in the pageant's history that the event was held after the calendar year ended; this previously occurred during Miss Universe 2014 and Miss Universe 2016, when both took place in January of the following year. The 2020 edition in May of the following year makes it the latest edition in the competition's history. Due to the pandemic, this edition only allowed 1,750 spectators, around a quarter of the venue's seating capacity.
Selection of participants Contestants from seventy-four countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Due to the pandemic, numerous national pageants were postponed or canceled entirely, resulting in multiple former runners-up or participants from previous national pageants being appointed or casting processes taking place instead. Twenty-eight of the delegates were in this condition and they were: Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Cameroon, the Cayman Islands, Curaçao, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Haiti, Honduras, Kazakhstan, Laos, Mauritius, Panama, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, and Ukraine.
Replacements Three contestants were designated after the withdrawal of the original contestant. Miss Belgium 2020, Céline van Ouytsel, was expected to represent her country but was replaced by the second runner-up of Miss Belgium 2018, Dhenia Covens, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Miss France 2021, Amandine Petit, was appointed to represent France instead of Miss France 2020, Clémence Botino. The switch happened due to a potential dates conflict between Miss Universe 2021 and Miss France 2022 in December 2021. Botino competed in the 70th edition of the pageant. Miss Polski 2019, Magdalena Kasiborska, was expected to represent Poland but was forced to withdraw after suffering from a spinal disc herniation. She was replaced by the first runner-up of Miss Polski 2019, Natalia Piguła.
Señorita Colombia 2019, María Fernanda Aristizábal, was originally scheduled to participate in this edition, but she was replaced as the Miss Colombia Organization lost the franchise to Miss Universe in June 2020. A new organization called Miss Universe Colombia, led by Natalie Ackermann, became in charge of selecting the representative for Miss Universe. Laura Olascuaga was the winner of the first edition of the pageant and represented Colombia in Miss Universe. On April 6, 2022, due to a change in the Miss Universe rules, Aristizábal was appointed Miss Universe Colombia 2022 and represented Colombia at Miss Universe 2022.
Debuts, returns, and withdrawals This edition marked the debut of Cameroon and the returns of Ghana and Russia, which last competed in 2018.
Tangia Methila of Bangladesh withdrew from the competition less than a month prior due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh and the imposition of additional lockdowns and travel restrictions. Aya Abdelrazik of Egypt withdrew for undisclosed reasons. In addition to Bangladesh and Egypt, seventeen other countries and territories withdrew due to the franchise owners change or the restrictions caused by the pandemics including Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Georgia, Germany, Guam, Kenya, Lithuania, Mongolia, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Saint Lucia, Sierra Leone, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey, and the United States Virgin Islands. The withdrawal of Germany marked the first time it had not competed in the competition since its debut in 1952.
Results
Placements Placement Contestant Miss Universe 2020 – Andrea Meza 1st Runner-Up – Julia Gama 2nd Runner-Up – Janick Maceta 3rd Runner-Up – Adline Castelino 4th Runner-Up – Kimberly Jiménez Top 10 – Maria Thattil – Ivonne Cerdas – Miqueal-Symone Williams – Estefanía Soto – Amanda Obdam Top 21 – Alina Akselrad – Laura Olascuaga – Chantal Wiertz – Amandine Petit – Jeanette Akua – Ayu Maulida – Thuzar Wint Lwin – Ana Marcelo – Rabiya Mateo – Asya Branch – Khánh Vân Nguyễn § § – Voted into the Top 21 by viewers
Special awards Award ContestantBest National Costume – Thuzar Wint LwinFan Vote Winner – Khánh Vân Nguyễn Social Impact Award – Lenka NemerSpirit of Carnival Award – Kimberly Jiménez
Pageant Format Due to restrictive measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Miss Universe Organization implemented specific changes to the format of this edition. The number of semi-finalists was increased to twenty-one—the biggest since the pageant's inception in 1952. The results of the preliminary competition and closed-door interviews determined the twenty semi-finalists. The semi-finalists were selected in a round-robin system instead of the continental format used between 2017 and 2019. Internet voting returned, with fans being able to vote for one candidate to advance into the semi-finals, making the number of semi-finalists twenty-one. The twenty-one semi-finalists then competed directly in the swimsuit competition and were narrowed down to ten afterward. The ten semi-finalists competed in the evening gown competition, and the five finalists were later announced. The five finalists competed in the question-and-answer round and the closing statement.
Selection committee Sheryl Adkins-Green – American marketing executive Arden Cho – American actress Christine Duffy – American businesswoman Keltie Knight – Canadian television host Brook Lee – Miss Universe 1997 from the United States Deepica Mutyala – American entrepreneur Tatyana Orozco – Colombian businesswoman Zuleyka Rivera – Miss Universe 2006 from Puerto Rico
Contestants Seventy-four contestants competed for the title. Country/Territory Contestant Age Hometown Albania 23 Tirana Argentina Alina Akselrad 22 Córdoba Armenia Monika Grigoryan 21 Yerevan Aruba Helen Hernandez 20 Oranjestad Australia Maria Thattil 28 Melbourne Bahamas Shauntae Miller 28 Long Island Barbados Hillary-Ann Williams 25 Christ Church Belgium Dhenia Covens 27 Antwerp Belize Iris Salguero 24 San Pedro Bolivia Lenka Nemer 24 La Paz Brazil Julia Gama 27 Porto Alegre British Virgin Islands Shabree Frett 24 Tortola Bulgaria Radinela Chusheva 25 Sofia Cambodia Sarita Reth 26 Phnom Penh Cameroon Angèle Kossinda 28 Douala Canada Nova Stevens 28 Vancouver Cayman Islands Mariah Tibbetts 27 Bodden Town Chile Daniela Nicolás 28 Copiapó China Jiaxin Sun 23 Beijing Colombia Laura Olascuaga 25 Cartagena Costa Rica Ivonne Cerdas 28 San José Croatia Mirna Marić 22 Zadar Curaçao Chantal Wiertz 22 Willemstad Czech Republic Klára Vavrušková 21 Kostelec nad Orlicí Denmark Amanda Petri 23 Copenhagen Dominican Republic Kimberly Jiménez 24 La Romana Ecuador Leyla Espinoza 25 Quevedo El Salvador Vanessa Velásquez 25 San Salvador Finland Viivi Altonen 24 Tampere France Amandine Petit 23 Caen Ghana Chelsea Tayui 25 Keta Great Britain Jeanette Akua 29 London Haiti Eden Berandoive 24 Aquin Honduras Cecilia Rossell 25 Copan Ruinas Iceland Elísabet Snorradóttir 22 Reykjavík India Adline Castelino 22 Udupi Indonesia Ayu Maulida 23 Surabaya Ireland Nadia Sayers 26 Belfast Israel Tehila Levi 19 Yavne Italy Viviana Vizzini 27 Caltanissetta Jamaica Miqueal-Symone Williams 24 Mona Japan Aisha Tochigi 25 Chiba Kazakhstan Kamilla Serikbay 18 Kyzylorda Kosovo Blerta Veseli 23 Gjilan Laos Christina Lasasimma 27 Vientiane Malaysia Francisca Luhong James 25 Kuching Malta Anthea Zammit 26 Żebbuġ Mauritius Vandana Jeetah 29 Flacq Mexico Andrea Meza 26 Chihuahua City Myanmar Thuzar Wint Lwin 22 Hakha Nepal Anshika Sharma 24 Jhapa Netherlands Denise Speelman 24 Groningen Nicaragua Ana Marcelo 24 Estelí Norway Sunniva Frigstad 21 Vennesla Panama Carmen Jaramillo 26 La Chorrera Paraguay Vanessa Castro 28 Asunción Peru Janick Maceta 27 Lima Philippines Rabiya Mateo 24 Balasan Poland Natalia Piguła 27 Łódź Portugal Cristiana Silva 19 Porto Puerto Rico Estefanía Soto 29 San Sebastian Romania Bianca Tirsin 22 Arad Russia Alina Sanko 22 Azov Singapore Bernadette Ong 26 Bukit Timah Slovakia Natália Hoštáková 26 Bratislava South Africa Natasha Joubert 23 Centurion South Korea Hari Park 21 Incheon Spain Andrea Martínez 27 Leon Thailand Amanda Obdam 27 Phuket Ukraine Yelyzaveta Yastremska 28 Kyiv United States Asya Branch 23 Booneville Uruguay Lola de los Santos 23 Paysandú Venezuela Mariángel Villasmil 25 Ciudad Ojeda Vietnam Khánh Vân Nguyễn 26 Ho Chi Minh City
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