Miss Universe 1979

Miss Universe 1979
Date	20 July 1979 (local time)
Presenters	Bob Barker, Helen O'Connell and Jayne Kennedy
Entertainment	Donny Osmond
Venue	Perth Entertainment Centre, Perth, Australia
Broadcaster	CBS, TVW
Entrants	75
Placements	12
Debuts	Bophuthatswana, Fiji, Transkei
Withdraws	Bonaire, Curaçao, Lebanon, Lesotho, New Hebrides, Nicaragua, Samoa
Returns	Antigua, British Virgin Islands, Portugal
Winner	Maritza Sayalero  Venezuela
Congeniality	Yurika Kuroda  Japan
Best National Costume	Elizabeth Busti  Uruguay
Photogenic	Carolyn Seaward  England

Countries and territories which sent delegates and results.

Miss Universe 1979 was held at Perth Entertainment Centre, Perth, Australia on 20 July 1979. 18-year-old Maritza Sayalero earned Venezuela's first Miss Universe crown. First runner-up Gina Swainson would go on to win the rival Miss World 1979 later in the year. Seventy-five contestants competed in the 1979 Miss Universe Pageant.

Results

Placements

Semifinal Scores

Country Preliminary Average Interview Swimsuit Evening Gown Semifinal Average  Venezuela 8.461 (1) 9.362 (1) 9.135 (1) 9.416 (1) 9.305 (1)  Bermuda 7.578 (9) 8.872 (2) 9.027 (2) 9.100 (2) 9.000 (2)  England 8.227 (2) 8.671 (3) 8.591 (4) 8.936 (3) 8.733 (3)  Brazil 7.715 (5) 8.509 (4) 8.764 (3) 8.818 (4) 8.697 (4)  Sweden 7.800 (4) 8.300 (5) 8.127 (7) 8.409 (6) 8.279 (5)  South Africa 8.103 (3) 7.918 (10) 8.330 (5) 8.454 (5) 8.234 (6)  Belize 7.654 (7) 8.118 (7) 8.279 (6) 8.118 (10) 8.172 (7)  USA 7.676 (6) 8.100 (8) 7.709 (12) 8.335 (7) 8.048 (8)  Germany 7.542 (10) 8.125 (6) 7.882 (10) 8.118 (10) 8.042 (9)  Scotland 7.609 (8) 7.764 (11) 8.118 (8) 8.218 (8) 8.033 (10)  Argentina 7.515 (11) 8.009 (9) 8.045 (9) 8.021 (12) 8.025 (11)  Wales 7.345 (12) 7.380 (12) 7.818 (11) 8.150 (9) 7.783 (12)

Winner      First Runner-up      Second Runner-up      Third Runner-up      Fourth Runner-up      Top 12 Semifinalist (#) Rank in each round of competition

Special Awards

Contestants

Preliminary Swimsuit Scores

Trivia

• Bophuthatswana, Fiji, and Transkei competed in Miss Universe for the first time.
• Belize and Bermuda made the semi-finals for the first (and in Belize's case, only thus far) time. Bermuda placed 1st runner-up in Miss Universe and was also crowned as Miss World 1979 four months later.
• England, Scotland and Wales had made into the semi-finals in Miss Universe for the second time after 1976. England, however, placed as 2nd runner-up in Miss Universe. She also became the 1st runner-up in Miss World 1979 four months later, represented as Miss United Kingdom.
• Other than Bermuda and England, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mauritius also competed in Miss World four months later. Germany, Andrea Hontschik made into the semi-finals in both Miss Universe and Miss World at the same year. Austria's Karin Zorn made the semi-finals here and later the finals of Miss World that same year. She also won the award for Miss Photogenic in Miss World.
• 20 contestants were involved in the collapse of part of the stage after contestants and news photographers rushed to the throne of the new Miss Universe. Costa Rica, Carla Facio Franco, and Philippines, Criselda Flores Cecilio, had suffered bruises. Malta, Dian Borg Bartolo, and Turkey, Fusin Tahire Dermitan, had leg injuries.

Panel of Judges

External links

• Pageantopolis Miss Universe 1979
• Jimmy's Pageant Page