Miss Italia is a

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

awarding prizes every year to young, female contestants from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Since the first edition of the contest in 1939 many of the contestants have gone on to notable careers in television and film.

History

The forerunner of Miss Italia was '' Miss Sorriso'' (Miss Smile) started in 1939 by Dino Villani, and sponsored by a brand of toothpaste. Contestants were judged by their photographs rather than competing on a runway. After a break during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the contest resumed in 1946 and adopted the present-day name of Miss Italia. It was held in

Stresa Stresa is a town and ''comune'' of about 4,600 residents on the shores of Lake Maggiore in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, about northwest of Milan. It is situated on road and rail routes to the Simp ...

, which had managed to maintain its hotel infrastructure despite the war. The venue then changed several times before it was established that

Salsomaggiore Terme Salsomaggiore Terme ( Salsese: ; Parmigiano: ) is a town and ''comune'' located in the province of Parma, in the region of Emilia-Romagna. Located at the foot of the Apennines, its warm saline waters made this a popular Spa town. History In the ...

would be the permanent, annual host to the pageant. Like contemporary Italian society itself, Miss Italia has gone through many changes over the years. In 1950 it was first broadcast on the radio. But since 1987 it has been broadcast live on television. As of 1990 the chest, waist, and hip measurements of the contestants are no longer judged, and in 1994 the contest was opened to married women and mothers. (The 1987 winner had been disqualified when it was later discovered she was married.) In 1996, Denny Mendez became the first Miss Italia woman of colour. File:Sophia Loren (third from left) in publicity images from the Miss Italia contest, 1950.jpg File:Naples, Miss Italia 1950 - Sophia Loren.jpg File:A young Sophia Loren, aged 15, at a beauty contest in Naples, Italy.jpg File:Missitalia1971.4.jpg Among the participants finding later success in cinema and the entertainment industry at large (although many not having actually won the crown of Miss Italia itself) include:

Silvana Pampanini Silvana Pampanini (25 September 1925 – 6 January 2016) was an Italian film actress, director and singer. She was also the niece of the well-known soprano of the golden era of opera, Dame Rosetta Pampanini. Silvana Pampanini caused a sensation ...

, Sophia Loren, Marcella Mariani, Lucia Bosè,

Stefania Sandrelli Stefania Sandrelli (born 5 June 1946) is an Italian actress, famous for her many roles in the ''commedia all'Italiana'', starting from the 1960s. She was 14 years old when she starred in '' Divorce Italian Style'' as Angela, the cousin and love i ...

, Mirca Viola, Simona Ventura, Patrizia Deitos, Anna Falchi and

Martina Colombari Martina Colombari (born 10 July 1975) is an Italian film and television actress, model and television presenter. Biography Colombari was born on 10 July 1975 in Riccione in northern Italy. In October 1991, at the age of 16, Colombari won the ...

. Since 1959 the organizer of Miss Italia has been Enzo Mirigliani, to whose work the contest owes much of its current success. The jury groups that elect Miss Italia have included celebrities such as

Totò Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi de Curtis di Bisanzio (15 February 1898 – 15 April 1967), best known by his stage name Totò (), or simply as Antonio de Curtis, and nicknamed ''il Principe della risata ...

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...

Giovannino Guareschi Giovannino Oliviero Giuseppe Guareschi (; 1 May 1908 – 22 July 1968) was an Italian journalist, cartoonist and humorist whose best known creation is the priest Don Camillo. Life and career Giovannino Guareschi was born into a middle-class famil ...

Luchino Visconti Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo (; 2 November 1906 – 17 March 1976) was an Italian filmmaker, stage director, and screenwriter. A major figure of Italian art and culture in the mid-20th century, Visconti was one of the ...

Vittorio De Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Sciuscià'' and ''Bicycle Thieves'' (honorary) ...

Gina Lollobrigida Luigia "Gina" Lollobrigida (born 4 July 1927) is an Italian actress, photojournalist, and politician. She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s, a period in which she was an international sex symbol. As o ...

, Alberto Lattuada, Marcello Mastroianni,

Ugo Tognazzi Ugo Tognazzi (23 March 1922 – 27 October 1990) was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter. Early life Tognazzi was born in Cremona, in northern Italy but spent his youth in various localities as his father was a travelling clerk fo ...

Lina Wertmüller Arcangela Felice Assunta Wertmüller von Elgg Spanol von Braueich (14 August 1928 – 9 December 2021), known as Lina Wertmüller (), was an Italian film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her 1970s art house films '' Seven Beauti ...

Dino Risi Dino Risi (23 December 1916 – 7 June 2008) was an Italian film director. With Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, Nanni Loy and Ettore Scola, he was one of the masters of ''commedia all'italiana''. Biography Risi was born in Milan. He had an o ...

Alberto Sordi Alberto Sordi (15 June 1920 – 24 February 2003) was an Italian actor, voice actor, singer, comedian, director and screenwriter. Early life Born in Rome to a schoolteacher and a musician and the last of five children, Sordi was named in hon ...

, and

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938) is an Italian actress. She has starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and 1970s, acting in Italian, French, and English. Born and raised in La Goulette, a ...

. Besides the title of "Miss Italia", during the pageant other consolation prizes are also awarded, including "Miss Elegance" and "Miss Cinema". In 1991 a separate pageant was instituted, called " Miss Italia Nel Mondo", a competition for Italian women living abroad. Miss Italia will no longer be held in Salsomaggiore Terme, for economic reasons. This was announced in April 2011 and a long list of cities have expressed interest in hosting the pageant. Cities include Sanremo, Rome, Fiuggi, Taormina and many more. It was officially announced that Miss Italia 2011 will be held in Montecatini Terme. Milly Carlucci will not return as host of the pageant. Fabrizio Frizzi has replaced her for Miss Italia 2011. The pageant will only take place over two nights, rather than three. This year the beauty pageant contest, back in a national broadcast television. The contest will be produced by Infront and

rai RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

, The host will be Alessandro Greco. A program by Casimiro Lieto, Luca Parenti and Alessandro Migliaccio. Directed by Francesco Ebner

Regional rankings

The Winners of Miss Italia

Hosts

* Corrado Mantoni: 1946–56 * Nunzio Filogamo: 1952 * Enzo Mirigliani: 1959, 1961–78 * Renato Tagliani: 1960 *

Mike Bongiorno Michael Nicholas Salvatore Bongiorno (; May 26, 1924 – September 8, 2009) was an Italian-American television host. After a few experiences in the US, he started working on RAI in the 1950s and was considered to be the most popular host in Ital ...

: 1970, 1975, 2007 *

Daniele Piombi Daniele Piombi (14 July 1933 – 18 May 2017) was an Italian television and radio presenter and television writer. Life and career Born in San Pietro in Casale, the son of a government employee and a teacher, Piombi graduated in political scie ...

: 1974 * Gabriella Farinon: 1974 *

Pippo Baudo Giuseppe Vittorio Raimondo Baudo (born 7 June 1936), known as Pippo Baudo, is one of the most famous Italian television presenters, with a career spanning six decades. He is often nicknamed "Superpippo" (referencing the Italian name of Super Go ...

: 1976 * Alberto Lupo: 1977 * Vanna Brosio: 1979 * Andrea Giordana: 1980–1981, 1984, 1987 * Memo Remigi: 1982 * Ettore Andenna: 1983 *

Michele Gammino Michele Gammino (born 16 June 1941) is an Italian actor, voice actor and television presenter. Career Born in Rome to parents who originated from Palermo, Gammino began his career during the early 1970s. For his work on Italian television, Gammino ...

: 1983 *

Milly Carlucci Camilla Patrizia "Milly" Carlucci (born 1 October 1954) is an Italian television presenter, actress and singer. Carlucci played the role of Urania in the 1985 film ''The Adventures of Hercules''. In 1996 she became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNIC ...

: 1983, 2009, 2010 * Marco Columbro: 1986 * Fabrizio Frizzi: 1988–2002, 2011, 2012 *

Carlo Conti Carlo Natale Marino Conti (born 13 March 1961), simply known as Carlo Conti, is an Italian television presenter. Life and career Born in Florence, Conti graduated in accountancy, then he was a bank teller from 1981 to 1986.. After some experi ...

: 2003–06, 2008 * Loretta Goggi: 2007 * Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Prince of Venice: 2010 * Massimo Ghini: 2013 * Cesare Bocci: 2013 * Francesca Chillemi: 2013 * Simona Ventura: 2014, 2015 * Francesco Facchinetti: 2016–18 * Diletta Leotta: 2018 * Alessandro Greco: 2019-2020

Notes

External links

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