Miss Universe 1974

Miss Universe 1974
Date	July 21, 1974
Presenters	Bob Barker
Venue	Folk Arts Theater, Manila, Philippines
Broadcaster	CBS, RPN
Entrants	65
Placements	12
Debuts	Indonesia, Liberia, Senegal
Withdraws	Denmark, Norway
Returns	Bahamas, Iceland, Yugoslavia
Winner	Amparo Muñoz Spain
Congeniality	Anna Bjornsdóttir  Iceland
Best National Costume	Kim Jae-kyu  South Korea
Photogenic	Johanna Raunio  Finland

Participating Nations and Results.

Miss Universe 1974, the 23rd Miss Universe pageant, was held in Manila, Philippines on the early morning of July 21, 1974 (evening of July 20 in the United States) before a live audience of an estimated 10,000 at the Folk Arts Theater and broadcast live by CBS and Radio Philippines Network (RPN). The pageant was hosted by Bob Barker and Helen O'Connell. It was the first time in the Pageant's history that the event was held in Asia.

The pageant opened with the parade of nations of all 65 contestants in their native costumes singing "Let's Be Friends," accompanied by the honor guard cadets of the Philippine Military Academy. The pageant contestants also performed a second musical number based on an Ilocano melody entitled "Pamulinawen," a song considered to be a personal favorite of then Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

First Miss Universe (1952), Armi Kuusela of Finland, Miss Universe 1967, Sylvia Hitchcock of the USA, and Miss Universe 1969, Gloria Diaz of the Philippines graced the event. Outgoing Miss Universe Margarita Moran, of the Philippines crowned the tearful pageant winner, Amparo Muñoz of Spain at the conclusion of the 2-hour telecast. First runner-up Helen Morgan of Wales would eventually win the title of Miss World (representing the United Kingdom) later that year.

Ironically, neither Ms. Muñoz nor Ms. Morgan completed her reign. Citing irreconcilable differences with the pageant, Miss Muñoz abruptly resigned her Miss Universe title a few months after winning her crown. By that time, Miss Morgan had already won the Miss World crown, only to relinquish her title just a few days after winning it after it was revealed she was an unmarried mother. Muñoz was never officially dethroned and the title was not offered to any of the other runner-ups.

Manila again hosted the event 20 years later when it became the host city for the Miss Universe 1994 pageant. Amparo Muñoz went on to pursue a successful acting career in film and television in her native country Spain.

Results

Placements

Special Awards

Contestants

Trivia

• This is the first Miss Universe Pageant to be held in the continent of Asia and the first one to be held in the morning in order to coincide with Eastern Standard Time in the U.S.
• The favorite among all 65 delegates that year by the Filipino audience was Miss Aruba, Maureen Ava Viera. After the pageant was over, Maureen stayed in the Philippines and became an actress.
• Amparo Munoz is the first and still the only Spaniard to ever win the Miss Universe title. Incidentally, the Philippines was colonized by the Spaniards for over 300 years. Because of this, Spanish is the 3rd language in the Philippines and the only predominantly Catholic nation in Asia. To this day, a part of southern Philippines still speaks a dialect derived from Spanish called Chabacano. Because of the Spanish influence in that country, most Filipinos bear Spanish names.
• There were 5 delegates that year that also competed at Miss World the same year. They were Misses Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Mexico, Nicaragua and Wales.
• Ireland (Yvonne Costelloe) and Luxembourg (Giselle Anita Nicole Azzeri) competed at the Miss World pageant in 1973. Honduras (Etelinda Mejía Velásquez) competed the said pageant in 1975, Cyprus (Andri Tsangaridou) in 1976 and Guam (Elizabeth Clara Tudela Tenorio) in 1978.
• There were supposed to be 67 contestants that year. However, two delegates withdrew, namely Miss Denmark, Jane Moller and Miss Norway, Wenche Steen.
• Both hosts, Bob Barker and Helen O'Connell wore native Philippine outfits that year. Bob wore a Barong Tagalog while Helen wore a Philippine Terno.
• Before giving the crown to the 1974 Miss Universe, outgoing Miss Universe Margarita Moran paraded with two crowns on her head. She then gave the second crown to the winner.
• The venue of the event, Folk Arts Theater was commissioned by then First Lady Imelda Marcos and was built in only 90 days in time for this event. It was inaugurated on July 7, 1974.
• Amparo Muñoz died on 27 February 2011, aged 56 from undisclosed causes, in her native Málaga, Spain.

Panel of Judges

References

• Pageant Lovers' Page - Miss Universe 1974

External links

• Miss Universe official website
• Pageantopolis - Official results of Miss Universe 1974