Miss Universe 1999

Miss Universe 1999
Date	May 26, 1999
Presenters	Jack Wagner, Ali Landry and Julie Moran
Entertainment	Julio Iglesias Jr
Venue	Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago
Broadcaster	CBS
Entrants	84
Placements	10
Debuts	Botswana
Withdraws	Bulgaria, Guam, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Zimbabwe
Returns	Austria, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Guyana, Suriname, Turks & Caicos, Zambia
Winner	Mpule Kwelagobe  Botswana
Congeniality	Marisa Ferreira  Portugal
Best National Costume	Nicole Simone Dyer  Trinidad & Tobago
Photogenic	Brenda Liz Lopez  Puerto Rico

Countries and territories which sent delegates and results.

Miss Universe 1999 was held at the Chaguaramas Convention Centre, Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago on May 26, 1999. Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana was crowned as Miss Universe 1999 by Miss Universe 1998 Wendy Fitzwilliam of Trinidad and Tobago. A record number of 84 contestants competed in the pageant. This record was broken in the Miss Universe 2006 contest with 86 contestants.

Results

Placements

Semifinal Scores

Country Interview Swimsuit Evening Gown Average Top 5 Finalists  South Africa 9.249 (2) 9.325 (2) 9.133 (7) 9.236 (1) 9.238 (5)  Venezuela 9.230 (3) 9.088 (6) 9.388 (3) 9.235 (2) 9.349 (4)  Spain 8.904 (7) 9.338 (1) 9.450 (1) 9.231 (3) 9.644 (1)  Botswana 9.052 (5) 9.188 (4) 9.366 (4) 9.202 (4) 9.488 (2)  Philippines 8.787 (9) 9.325 (2) 9.428 (2) 9.180 (5) 9.446 (3)  India 9.275 (1) 8.774 (10) 9.160 (6) 9.070 (6)  Mexico 8.616 (10) 9.143 (5) 9.238 (5) 8.999 (7)  Puerto Rico 9.087 (4) 8.800 (8) 9.086 (8) 8.991 (8)  Jamaica 9.000 (6) 8.875 (7) 8.754 (9) 8.876 (9)  Ghana 8.850 (8) 8.788 (9) 8.683 (10) 8.774 (10)

Winner      First Runner-up      Second Runner-up      Top 5 Finalist      Top 10 Semifinalist (#) Rank in each round of competition

Special Awards

Judges

Telecast Judges

• Kylie Bax – New Zealand-born model and actress.
• Patrick Demarchelier – French fashion photographer.
• Melania Knauss – International model
• Charles Gargano – Former U.S. ambassador to Trinidad & Tobago.
• Sirio Maccioni – Le Cirque restaurateur.
• Marcus Schenkenberg – Swedish model.
• Bruce Smith – Former Buffalo Bills football player.
• Diane Smith – senior editor at Sports Illustrated, in charge of the annual Swimsuit Edition.
• Stephanie Seymour – American model and actress.
• Evander Holyfield – Professional boxer.

Significant features

• This was the first time in pageant history that two black women won the title two years in a row. Miss Trinidad & Tobago Wendy Fitzwilliam won the previous year. The year also showed a strong showing for African delegates, being the first time ever to have 3 of the 10 semifinalists. Ghana (marking its first placement ever) placed in the top ten, South Africa in the top five, with Botswana winning the crown.
• Miss Guam, Tisha Elaina Heflin, was disqualified before the prelims for allegedly being pregnant. Although the Miss Guam Universe Organization reported she had fallen ill, she still made the records by becoming the first Miss Guam to ever pull out of the pageant.
• In light of the pageant controversy surrounding Miss Guam's disqualification due to a rumored pregnancy, Miss Botswana Mpule Kwelagobe's final question on the night of the live telecast was whether she thought a Miss Universe who became pregnant should be allowed to continue her reign. Mpule enthusiastically responded that a pregnant Miss Universe should not relinquish her crown, but instead " celebrate her femininity!". Her frank, effortless and spontaneous answer to this controversial question that stumped the two other finalists (Philippines and Spain) would meet with the approval of the audience, as evidenced by the applause she received, and would earn her the title that night.
• This was the first year since 1976 that a candidate from the USA failed to make the semifinals.
• As in the year previous, the candidates from South Africa, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and India also made it into the top 10.
• Miss Northern Marianas Cherilyn Cabrera is now one of the directors for the Miss Marianas Universe Pageant.
• The Philippines placed its highest since Margarita Moran's win in 1973.

Contestant notes

• The candidates for Miss Philippines (1st Runner-Up) and Miss Spain (2nd Runner-Up) were not the original winners of their national pageants. Miriam Quiambao was originally selected to compete at the 1999 Miss World Pageant, but was bumped up to the Universe title after the original winner, Janelle Bautista was dethroned. Diana Noguera was 4th in her national pageant but became the representative for her country because the winner, Lorena Bernal was 17, the 1st runner up, Carmen Fernández, couldn't go to Miss Universe because her father was seriously sick, and the 2nd runner up, Inma Nadal had to participate in Miss Europe.
• Miss Universe Title winner, Mpule Kwelagobe, was Botswana's first-ever candidate to compete at Miss Universe Pageant. She also represented her country in the 1997 Miss World Pageant.
• Miss Philippines candidate Miriam Quiambao tripped on the stage during the evening gown preliminaries but eventually got into the Top 3 and won the first runner-up title.
• Two contestants from Miss Universe 1999 are deceased. Russia, Alexandra Petrova was shot and killed in 2000 by an unidentified gunman in her apartment at the Volga River city of Cheboksary. Zambia, Esanju Kalopa was killed in a car accident in late October 2005.

Contestants

Replaced delegates

•  Philippines - Janelle Bautista (Not a Philippine citizen)
•  Philippines - Miriam Quiambao (Took her place)

Trivia

• The Parade of Nations is similar to 1998's, except that the contestants wore their national costumes this time.

External links

• Miss Universe official website