Miss Universe 2012 was the 61st

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall St ...

pageant, held at the

PH Live The Bakkt Theater, originally known as Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts, is a mid-sized auditorium located at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. The venue hosts a variety of events, including charity benefits, concerts an ...

Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino Planet Hollywood Las Vegas (formerly the Aladdin) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. The property was previously the site of an earlier resort known as the Aladdin, w ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, United States on December 19, 2012. At the end of the event,

Leila Lopes Leila Luliana da Costa Vieira Lopes Umenyiora (born 26 February 1986) is an Angolan model and beauty queen best known for having been crowned Miss Universe 2011. She had previously won Miss Angola UK 2010 and Miss Angola 2010. Early life Lop ...

of Angola crowned Olivia Culpo of the United States as Miss Universe 2012. It is the United States' first victory in 15 years, and the eighth victory of the country— the most in the pageant's history. Contestants from 89 countries and territories competed in this year's pageant, surpassing the previous record of 86 contestants in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

. The pageant was hosted by

Andy Cohen Andrew Joseph Cohen (born June 2, 1968) is an American radio and television talk show host, producer, and writer. Cohen is the host and executive producer of Bravo's late night talk show, '' Watch What Happens Live!'' He also has a pop culture ...

and

Giuliana Rancic Giuliana Rancic (; ; born August 17, 1974) is an Italian-American entertainment reporter and television personality. She is a co-anchor of ''E! News'' and resides in Chicago and Los Angeles. Early life Rancic was born in Naples, Italy and immig ...

, with

Jeannie Mai Jeannie Mai-Jenkins (born Jeannie Camtu Mai) is an American television host and stylist best known for her work on the makeover show ''How Do I Look?'' and the syndicated daytime talk show ''The Real''. As a fashion expert, she is frequently fea ...

as backstage correspondent. American rock band

Train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

and Australian musician

Tim Omaji Timothy Ugbedo Omaji (born 9 September 1987), better known by his stage name Timomatic, is a Nigerian-born Australian singer-songwriter and dancer. Omaji rose to fame as a contestant on ''So You Think You Can Dance'' (Australia) in 2009 and pl ...

performed in this year's pageant.

Background

Location and date

In March 2012, the Miss Universe Organization announced that the pageant was postponed to mid-December since the broadcaster, NBC, is unable to broadcast the pageant at the same time as the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

and the

United States presidential election The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not dir ...

. In April 2012, it was announced that

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

would host the pageant on December 13, 2012. However, in July, the Bangladeshi president announced that they will not host the pageant because of financial constraints. It was rumored that

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalaj ...

, Isla Margarita, Sun City, and

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital city, capital and list of Indonesian cities by population, largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coa ...

were to host the competition. However, in August 2012, the Dominican government received a proposal from the Miss Universe Organization to host the competition on December 11, 2012. The Dominican Republic had once hosted the Miss Universe pageant in 1977 in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

. The Miss Universe Organization was considering hosting the final night at the Hard Rock Resort and Casino in

Punta Cana Punta Cana is a resort town in the easternmost region of the Dominican Republic. It is part of the Veron–Punta Cana municipal district, in the Higüey municipality of La Altagracia Province. According to the 2010 census, this district had a p ...

. However, The Dominican government said that the country was not able to provide any kind of financial assistance to the pageant. Therefore, the Dominican Republic was not granted the hosting rights due to the country not being able to fulfill the requirements asked by the Miss Universe Organization. The backing out of the Dominican Republic caused the Miss Universe Organization to host the pageant in

in December deviating from the customary mid-year scheduling of the pageant. On September 27, 2012, the Miss Universe Organization confirmed that the 2012 edition of the pageant will be at the

, on December 19, 2012.

Selection of participants

Contestants from 89 countries and territories were selected to compete in the competition. Seven of these delegates were appointees to their positions after being a runner-up of their national pageant or being selected through a casting process, while nine were selected to replace the original dethroned winner. Adwoa Yamoah, the first runner-up of

Miss Universe Canada 2012 Miss Universe Canada 2012 was the 10th edition of the Miss Universe Canada beauty pageant. It was held at St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts in Toronto, Ontario. Controversy The 2012 contest was accused of transphobia after disqualifying a transg ...

, was appointed to represent Canada after Sahar Biniaz, Miss Universe Canada 2012, withdrew due to personal reasons. Ioánna Yiannakoú, the runner-up of Star Cyprus 2012, was appointed to represent Cyprus after Ntaniella Kefala, Star Cyprus 2012, withdrew due to undisclosed reasons.

Carola Durán Carlina Durán Baldera (born January 17, 1987 in Concepción de La Vega) is a Dominican model who won the national crown of Miss Dominican Republic 2012, initially giving her the right to compete in Miss Universe 2012 representing her country in ...

Miss Dominican Republic 2012 Miss República Dominicana 2012 was held April 17, 2012 in ''Renaissance Auditorio de Festival del Hotel Jaragua'', Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The Miss República Dominicana 2012 winner will represent the Dominican Republic in Miss Univ ...

, originally was supposed to compete in Miss Universe. However, Durán was dethroned after it was discovered that she was previously married and is divorced. Due to this, Dulcita Lieggi, the first runner-up of Miss Dominican Republic 2012, replaced Durán as the representative of the Dominican Republic in Miss Universe. Natalie Korneitsik, the first runner-up of Miss Estonia 2012, was appointed to represent Estonia after Kätlin Valdmets, Miss Estonia 2012, withdrew due to lack of sponsorship.

Marie Payet Marie Payet (born 17 August 1992 in Réunion) is a French singer, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Réunion 2011 and second runner-up in Miss France 2012, behind Delphine Wespiser. She went on to place in the top ten in ...

, the first runner-up of

Miss France 2012 Miss France 2012 was the 82nd Miss France pageant, held in Brest on 3 December 2011. Miss France 2012, Laury Thilleman of Brittany crowned her successor Delphine Wespiser of Alsace at the end of the event. It was the first time that the pagea ...

, was appointed to represent France due to a potential date conflict between Miss Universe 2012 and

Miss France 2013 Miss France 2013 was the 83rd Miss France pageant, held in Limoges on 8 December 2012. Miss France 2012, Delphine Wespiser of Alsace crowned her successor Marine Lorphelin of Burgundy at the end of the event. It was the first time that the pag ...

, at which

Delphine Wespiser Delphine Wespiser (born 3 January 1992) is a French model, television presenter and politician. She is a beauty pageant titleholder who was elected Miss Haut-Rhin 2011, Miss Alsace 2011 and Miss France 2012. Biography Delphine Wespiser is from ...

, was contractually obligated to be present. Channa Divouvi, the first runner-up of Miss Gabon 2012, was appointed to represent Gabon due to a potential date conflict between Miss Universe 2012 and Miss Gabon 2013, at which Marie-Noëlle Ada, Miss Gabon 2012, was contractually obligated to be present.

Shilpa Singh Shilpa Singh is an Indian singer, dancer, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She was the runner-up at I AM She – Miss Universe India 2012. She represented India at the Miss Universe 2012 pageant at Las Vegas and became one of the semi-final ...

, the first runner-up of I Am She 2012, was appointed to represent India after Urvashi Rautela, Miss Universe India 2012, withdrew due to being underage as well as being the reigning Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International at that time.

Avianca Böhm Avianca Böhm (born 1 January 1990) is a South African-born New Zealand actress, model and former beauty pageant titleholder. Avianca Bohm was crowned “Miss New Zealand 2012″ by Priyani Puketapu (Miss New Zealand 2011) at the grand finale o ...

, Miss Universe New Zealand 2012, was replaced by her first runner-up,

Talia Bennett Talia Bennett is a New Zealand TV Host, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was 1st runner-up at Miss Universe New Zealand, Miss New Zealand 2012. The winner of Miss New Zealand 2012 was Avianca Böhm. She was subsequently stripped of her ...

, due to citizenship issues. Isabella Ayuk, Most Beautigul Girl in Nigeria 2012, switched pageants with Damiete Charles Granville, Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria Universe 2012, due to being overage at

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss In ...

. Andrea Huisgen, Miss Spain 2011, originally was scheduled to participate in this edition. However, the Miss Spain organization fell into bankruptcy and the license to participate in Miss Universe went to a new organization called Miss Universe Spain. Although the rights to participate at Miss Universe was given to the Miss Universe Spain organization, the organization still allowed Huisgen to compete at Miss Universe after giving up her contract with Miss Spain. The 2012 edition saw the debuts of Gabon and Lithuania, and the returns of Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Namibia, and Norway. Bulgaria, Ethiopia, and Namibia last competed in

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, while Norway last competed in

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. Egypt, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Slovenia, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands withdrew. Aĭnur Tolyeuova of Kazakhstan withdrew due to being underage. Egypt, Portugal, Slovenia, Turks and Caicos, and the U.S. Virgin Islands withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.

Miss Universe allows transgender women to compete

Beginning in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, the Miss Universe Organization allows

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

women to compete in the competition following the consultations with the GLAAD Organization. The changes in the rules came after

Jenna Talackova Jenna Talackova (born October 15, 1988) is a Canadian model, television personality and beauty pageant titleholder who gained media attention in 2012 when she successfully waged a legal battle to be allowed to compete in the Miss Universe Canada ...

, a transgender woman competing at

, was reinstated back into the Miss Universe Canada 2012 pageant. Talackova was initially removed from the competition by the organization because she "did not meet the requirements to compete". However, a month after the disqualification of Talackova, the Miss Universe Organization allowed Talackova to compete provided that "she meets the legal gender recognition requirements of Canada, and the standards established by other international competitions." Talackova eventually placed in the Top 12 of Miss Universe Canada 2012, and is also one of the four contestants to win the Miss Congeniality award. Six years after the pageant rules were changed, Ángela Ponce of Spain made history in

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as the first

contestant competing at Miss Universe.

Results

Placements

Special awards

Best National Costume

Pageant

Format

Same with

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, 15 semifinalists were chosen through the preliminary competition— composed of the swimsuit and evening gown competitions and closed-door interviews. The internet voting is still being implemented, with fans being able to vote for another delegate to advance into the semifinals, making the number of semifinalists 16. However, the winner of the Fan Vote was not revealed during the final telecast. The top 16 competed in the swimsuit competition and were narrowed down to the top 10 afterward. The top 10 competed in the evening gown competition and were narrowed down to the top 5 afterward. The top 5 competed in the question and answer round and the final look.

Selection committee

Preliminary competition

* Carlos Anaya – Host for My Lifestyle Extra * Beverly Frank – Executive Vice-president for Business Affairs for 19 Entertainment * Duane Gazi – International scout with the Trump Model Management * Michael Greenwald – Vice-President of Talent at Don Buchwald & Associates * Jimmy Nguyen – Prominent entertainment and new media lawyer * Corinne Nicolas – President of the Trump Model Management * Amy Sadowsky – Senior Vice-President of Public Relations for Planet Holywood International * Crystle Stewart –

Miss USA 2008 Miss USA 2008 was the 57th Miss USA pageant, held in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 11, 2008. At the conclusion of the final night of competition, Crystle Stewart of Texas was crowned the winner by outgoing titleholder Rachel Smith of Tennessee. ...

from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Final telecast

* Nigel Barker – Fashion photographer and the host of

The Face The face is a part of the body, the front of the head. Face may also refer to: Film * ''The Magician'' (1958 film) or ''The Face'' * ''The Face'' (1996 film), an American television film * ''Face'' (1997 film), a British crime drama by Antonia ...

Diego Boneta Diego Andrés González Boneta (born November 29, 1990) is an American actor, producer and singer. He gained wider recognition after starring in ''Rock of Ages'' (2012) alongside Tom Cruise and the ''Netflix'' biographical series '' Luis Miguel: ...

– Singer, actor and songwriter from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

Scott Disick Scott Michael Disick (born May 26, 1983) is an American media personality and socialite. He is most famous for starring as a main cast member on '' Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' and its spinoffs. Disick's popularity on ''Keeping Up with the ...

– Businessman, entrepreneur and reality star of Keeping Up With the Kardashians * Brad Goreski – Fashion stylist and reality star of

It's a Brad, Brad World ''It's a Brad, Brad World'' is an American reality documentary television series on Bravo. The series debuted on January 12, 2012. On August 29, 2012, Bravo announced that the series has been renewed for a second season which debuted on March ...

* Masaharu Morimoto – Chef and star of

Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, was a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle bu ...

and

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, w ...

from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

* Ximena Navarrete – Miss Universe 2010 from

* Pablo Sandoval – Professional baseball player from

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

* Lisa Vanderpump – Reality star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills *

Kerri Walsh Jennings Kerri Lee Walsh Jennings (born August 15, 1978) is an American professional beach volleyball player, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and a one-time Olympic bronze medalist. She is the beach volleyball leader in career victories as of 2016 hav ...

– Professional beach volleyball player and triple gold medalist in

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

Contestants

89 contestants competed for the title.

Notes

References

External links

Miss Universe official website
{{Miss Universe 2012 delegates 2012 beauty pageants

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2012 in the United States Beauty pageants in the United States 2012 in Nevada December 2012 events in the United States Zappos Theater