Miss Universe 2023 was the 72nd Miss Universe pageant, held at the Gimnasio Nacional José Adolfo Pineda in San Salvador, El Salvador, on 18 November 2023.
At the conclusion of the event, Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua was crowned as Miss Universe 2023 by R'Bonney Gabriel of the United States. This was Nicaragua's first win in the pageant's history, and the country's first ever victory in the Big Four international beauty pageants.
Contestants from eighty-four countries and territories competed in this edition. The competition was presented by Jeannie Mai and Miss Universe 2012, Olivia Culpo for the second consecutive time, along with Maria Menounos. Miss Universe 2018, Catriona Gray and Zuri Hall also served as backstage correspondents for the second time. John Legend performed in this edition.
Background Location and date On 14 January 2023, during the Miss Universe 2022 pageant, Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele announced that the 72nd edition will be held in El Salvador in late 2023, after having last hosted the pageant in 1975. Later, on 27 July 2023, the Miss Universe Organization announced that the pageant will take place on 18 November 2023.
The choice of El Salvador as the host country was met with criticism due to the country's ongoing state of emergency amid the Salvadoran gang crackdown. Protests were staged in the capital San Salvador following the allocation of public funds for the hosting of the pageant amid an economical crisis.
To promote the pageant, the organization offered a "Hello Universe" travel package.
Selection of participants Contestants from eighty-four countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Five of these delegates were appointed to the position after being runners-up in their national pageant, or being chosen through a casting process. For the first time since 1957, the Miss Universe Organization allowed the participation of married women and women with children to compete in the pageant.
This edition's roster of contestants was noted by media outlets for its diversity and inclusivity compared to past pageants. Among the contestants in the edition were Rikkie Kollé of the Netherlands and Marina Machete of Portugal, who became the joint second transgender women to compete in the pageant, after Ángela Ponce of Spain in 2018. Furthermore, the edition also saw the participation of the first married women and mothers to compete in the pageant since 1957, with the participation of Camila Avella of Colombia, Michelle Cohn of Guatemala, and Lorena Santen of Switzerland. Jane Garrett of Nepal was also recognized by media outlets to be the "first plus-sized" delegate to compete in the pageant. Erica Robin, the first delegate to be sent by Pakistan to the pageant, was also cited as another contestant who was "making the pageant more inclusive", though her participation was met with mixed reactions within her country.
Replacements Namuunzul Batmagnai, the second runner-up of Miss Universe Mongolia 2023, was appointed to represent Mongolia after the original winner, Nominzul Zandangiin was deemed unable to compete due to undisclosed reasons. Miss Mauritius 2022/2023 Nilmani Hurlall was supposed to compete in Miss Universe 2023, but it did not happen, she was replaced by the second runner-up of Miss Mauritius 2022/2023, Tatiana Beauharnais. Thảo Nhi Lê, the first runner-up of Miss Universe Vietnam 2022, was initially set to participate in this year's edition. However, the Saigon Universe Joint Stock Company had lost the Miss Universe franchise back in February 2023, and the license was transferred to the Miss Universe Vietnam Trading Joint Stock Company. After the negotiation process between the two companies failed, the latter decided to organize a new contest called Miss Universe Vietnam to choose the new representative of Vietnam at Miss Universe. The winner of the contest was Quỳnh Hoa Bùi.
Debuts, returns and withdrawals This edition marked the debut of Pakistan; and the returns of Denmark, Egypt, Guyana, Hungary, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Mongolia, Norway, and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe, which last competed in 2001; Latvia in 2006; Guyana in 2017; Egypt and Mongolia in 2019; and Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Kazakhstan and Norway last competed in 2021.
Armenia, Belize, Bhutan, Ghana, Haiti, Seychelles, Turkey, and Uruguay withdrew after their respective organizations failed to appoint a delegate, hold a national competition, or lost their national franchise. Maya Turdalieva was appointed to represent Kyrgyzstan after Diami Almazbekova, the original representative of Kyrgyzstan, decided to withdraw from the competition due to lack of preparation. Turdalieva was then replaced by Akylai Kalberdieva due to undisclosed reasons. However, Kalberdieva also decided to withdraw due to undisclosed reasons, leading to Kyrgyzstan's withdrawal from the competition. Miss Universe China 2023, Qi Jia withdrew due to logistical problems and competed at Miss Universe 2024, making the Top 30. Nadeen Ayoub of Palestine was initially expected to compete, but she withdrew from the pageant, citing the ongoing conflict in Gaza as her reason.
Results
Placements Placement ContestantMiss Universe 2023 – Sheynnis Palacios1st Runner-Up – Anntonia Porsild2nd Runner-Up – Moraya WilsonTop 5 – Camila Avella – Karla GuilfúTop 10 – Isabella García-Manzo – Camila Escribens – Michelle Dee § – Athenea Pérez – Diana SilvaTop 20 – Princesse Issié – Celeste Viel – Shweta Sharda – Jordanne Levy – Jameela Uiras – Jane Garrett – Erica Robin – Marina Machete – Bryoni Govender – Noelia Voigt § – Voted into the Top 20 by viewers
Special awards Award ContestantBest National Costume – Michelle DeeFan Vote WinnerMiss Congeniality – Athenea Pérez
Spirit of Carnival Award Award ContestantSpirit of Carnival Award by Carnival Cruise Line – Michelle Dee
Voice For Change In the run-up to the main pageant, the contestants competed in the Voice For Change competition, where they shared their advocacies in the course of a three-minute video. A sponsored segment with jewelry brand Mouawad and communication platform CI Talks, the winners of the competition was determined through an online vote and by a selection committee. The ten silver finalists were announced during the preliminary competition, while the three gold winners were announced during the finals. Placement ContestantGold Winners – Ana Coimbra – Michelle Dee – Karla GuilfúSilver Finalists – Maria Brechane – Celeste Viel – Maya Aboul Hosn – Priyanka Annuncia – Bryoni Govender – Angelina Usanova – Brooke Bruk-Jackson
Pageant
Format The Miss Universe Organization announced several different changes to the format for this edition. The number of semifinalists was increased to twenty—the same number of semifinalists in 2019. The results of the preliminary competition held on 15 November 2023, which consisted of the swimsuit and evening gown competition, and the closed-door interviews, determined the first nineteen semi-finalists selected at-large. Moreover, online voting was used again in this edition, with the voting public determining the twentieth delegate to advance into the semi-finals. The twenty semi-finalists competed in the swimsuit competition and were narrowed down to ten afterward. The ten semi-finalists then competed in the evening gown competition in which five delegates were chosen to advance as finalists. The five finalists competed in the interview questions, and were narrowed down to three. The three finalists competed in the final question, after which Miss Universe 2023 and her two runners-up were announced.
Selection committee Halima Aden – Somali-American model Mario Bautista – Mexican singer (only as final telecast judge) Giselle Blondet – Puerto Rican actress and television host Janelle Commissiong – Miss Universe 1977 from Trinidad and Tobago Nadia Ferreira – Paraguayan model, Miss Universe Paraguay 2021 and Miss Universe 2021 first runner-up (only as final telecast judge) Avani Gregg – American social media personality (only as final telecast judge) Carson Kressley – American actor, designer and television personality (only as final telecast judge) Connie Mariano – Filipino-American physician Iris Mittenaere – Miss Universe 2016 from France Sweta Patel – Vice President of Growth Marketing and Merchandising at Roku (only as final telecast judge) Denise White – American businesswoman and Miss Oregon USA 1994
Contestants Eighty-four contestants competed for the title. Country/Territory Contestant Age Hometown Albania 25 Tirana Angola 23Benguela Argentina 27 Buenos Aires Aruba Oranjestad Australia 22 Melbourne Bahamas 26 Long Island Bahrain 19 Hamala Belgium 22 Elewijt Bolivia 26 Trinidad Brazil 19 Rio Grande British Virgin Islands 28 Tortola Bulgaria 30 Kerch Cambodia 23 Kampong Cham Cameroon 22 Douala Canada 25 Greater Sudbury Cayman Islands 26 West Bay Chile 24 Santiago Colombia 28 Yopal Costa Rica Uvita Croatia 23 Perušić Curaçao 26 Willemstad Czech Republic 20 Přerov Denmark 21 Valby Dominican Republic 27 Cotuí Ecuador 23 Guayaquil Egypt 22 Cairo El Salvador 20 San Salvador Equatorial Guinea 25 Corisco Finland 22 Helsinki France 26 Paris Germany 24Ravensburg Great Britain 28 Liverpool Greece 20 Athens Guatemala 28 Guatemala City Guyana 26 Pomeroon-Supenaam Honduras 23 Tegucigalpa Hungary 27 Hidegség Iceland 19 Reykjavík India 23 Chandigarh Indonesia Jakarta Ireland 24 Leixlip Italy Vittoria Jamaica 27 Kingston Japan 20 Shizuoka Kazakhstan Almaty Kosovo 22 Ferizaj Laos 28 Vientiane Latvia 29 Riga Lebanon 25 Btekhnay Malaysia 26 Kuala Lumpur Malta 25 St. Julian's Mauritius 24 Souillac Mexico25Venustiano Carranza Mongolia 24 Ulaanbaatar Myanmar 23 Mandalay Namibia Windhoek Nepal Kathmandu Netherlands 22 Breda Nicaragua 23Diriamba Nigeria 27 Ideato North Norway28Oslo Pakistan 25 Karachi Panama 26Las Tablas Paraguay 28 Tobatí Peru 25 Lima Philippines 28 Makati Poland 27 Namysłów Portugal 28 Palmela Puerto Rico 25Patillas Russia 22 Saint Petersburg Saint Lucia 25 Choiseul Singapore 26 Singapore Slovakia 23 Dunajská Streda South Africa 27 Kempton Park South Korea 28 South Gyeongsang Spain 27 Murcia Switzerland Lorena Santen 26 Zurich Thailand 27 Nakhon Ratchasima Trinidad and Tobago 25 San Fernando Ukraine 26 Kyiv United States 24 Park City Venezuela 26 Caracas Vietnam 25 Hanoi Zimbabwe 21Harare
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