Miss Universe 2006 was the 55th

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

pageant, held at the

Shrine Auditorium The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue in Los Angeles, California. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners. It was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (No. 139) in 1975, an ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on July 23, 2006. At the end of the event,

Natalie Glebova Natalie Glebova (; born Natalya Vladimirovna Glebova; 11 November 1981) is a Canadian author and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Universe 2005. She had previously won the Miss Universe Canada 2005 title. Early life and education Glebo ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

crowned

Zuleyka Rivera Zuleyka Jerrís Rivera Mendoza (born October 3, 1987) is a Puerto Rican actress, TV host, dancer, model, and beauty queen who won Miss Universe 2006 in Los Angeles. She was previously crowned Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2006. She made her debu ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

as Miss Universe 2006. It is Puerto Rico's fifth victory in the pageant's history. After the show, Rivera passed out due to the weight of her dress but quickly recovered. Contestants from eighty-six countries and territories competed in this year's pageant, surpassing the previous record of 84 contestants in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

. The pageant was hosted by

Carlos Ponce Carlos Armando Ponce Freyre Jr. (born September 4, 1972) is a Puerto Rican actor, musician, model, and television personality. Ponce began his acting career by participating in Spanish language soap operas for Televisa and Telemundo. Ponce contin ...

and

Nancy O'Dell Nancy O'Dell (born Nancy Evelyn Humphries; February 25, 1966) is an American television host and entertainment journalist. She served as co-anchor of the syndicated entertainment news show ''Entertainment Tonight'' from January 3, 2011, to Augus ...

, with ''

Queer Eye ''Queer Eye'' is a television franchise based upon a team of gay professionals (the "Fab 5") giving lifestyle and fashion makeovers to guests. ''Queer Eye'' may refer to: * ''Queer Eye'' (2003 TV series), an American reality television series on ...

Carson Kressley Carson Kressley (born November 11, 1969) is an American television personality, actor, and designer. Beginning in 2003, he appeared in the Bravo series '' Queer Eye for the Straight Guy''. He was also the motivational host of the TV show '' How ...

and

Miss USA 2004 Miss USA 2004 was the 53rd Miss USA pageant, held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on April 12, 2004. The winner of the beauty pageant was Shandi Finnessey, who became the first winner from the state of Missouri. The judges were ...

Shandi Finnessey Shandi Ren Finnessey (born June 9, 1978) is an American actress, model, TV host and beauty pageant titleholder. She is best known for winning the Miss USA title, as Miss Missouri USA. She previously held the title of Miss Missouri 2002 and com ...

providing commentary and analysis throughout the event. American singer-rapper Chelo and Italian operatic tenor

Vittorio Grigolo Vittorio Grigolo (correctly Vittorio Grigòlo, born 19 February 1977) is an Italian operatic tenor. Early life Grigolo was born in Arezzo and raised in Rome. He began singing by the age of four. When he was nine years old he accompanied his moth ...

performed in this year's pageant.

Background

The Shrine Auditorium - Al Malaikah Temple

Location and date

Due to the lack of interest of several cities from hosting the pageant, the Miss Universe Organization decided to hold the pageant in July instead of May. The Miss Universe Organization confirmed that the 2006 edition will be held at the

on July 23, 2006. It is the first time in eight years that pageant took place in the

. The last time that the United States hosted the pageant was in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Selection of participants

Contestants from eighty-six countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Three contestants were appointed to their position after being a runner-up of their national pageant, or to replace the original dethroned winner.

Replacements

Suada Sherfi, Miss Albania 2005, was supposed to represent her country at Miss Universe. However, Sherfi withdrew after declining the request of photographer Fadil Berisha to reduce the size of her nose. Sherfi was replaced by Eralda Hitaj. Gao Ying Hui, the first runner-up of Miss Universe China 2006, was appointed to represent

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

at Miss Universe after Qi Fang, Miss Universe China 2006, was dethroned after violating the rules in her contract.

Debuts, returns and withdrawals

This edition marked the debut of Kazakhstan, and the returns of Argentina, the Cayman Islands, Estonia, Ghana, Iceland, New Zealand, the Northern Mariana Islands, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten, and Sweden. Saint Lucia last competed in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

; Iceland last competed in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

; Sint Maarten last competed in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

; the Northern Mariana Islands last competed in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

; Argentina and New Zealand last competed in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

; while the others last competed in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. Barbados, Belize, Curaçao, Italy, Kenya, the Netherlands, and Vietnam withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate. Silva Shahakian of

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

was set to compete at Miss Universe. However, Shahakian withdrew after hiding from Islamic militants who reportedly threatened to kill her along with other contestants who competed in the Miss Iraq pageant.

Results

Placements

Special awards

Pageant

Format

The Miss Universe Organization introduced several specific changes to the format for this edition. The number of semifinalists was increased to 20 instead of the traditional 15. This is due to the host city not paying for the promotion, which spared the telecast by seven minutes. 20 semifinalists were chosen through the preliminary competition— composed of the swimsuit and evening gown competitions and closed-door interviews. The top 20 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.

Selection committee

Final telecast

James Lesure James Lesure (born September 21, 1970) is an American film and television actor, best known for roles on the NBC/The WB sitcom ''For Your Love'' (1998–2002), and NBC comedy-drama ''Las Vegas'' (2003–2008), ''Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce'' (2 ...

– Actor from NBC's

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Claudia Jordan Claudia Angela Jordan (born April 12, 1973) is an American talk show host, actress, model, businesswoman, and reality television and radio personality. She is known for appearing as a model on the American version of '' Deal or No Deal'' and '' ...

– Model for

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch '' Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this format is the final round (a ...

; former

Miss Rhode Island USA The Miss Rhode Island USA competition is the beauty pageant that selects the representative for the state Rhode Island in the Miss USA pageant. It is currently directed by D&D Productions. Rhode Island made its first placement at Miss USA in 19 ...

and Miss Rhode Island Teen USA *

Sean Yazbeck Sean Yazbeck is a British- American businessman. He is the founder of multiple enterprise software and technology services companies.

– Winner of

season 5 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

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Amelia Vega Amelia Vega Polanco (; born 7 November 1984) is a List of people from the Dominican Republic, Dominican actress, model, author, singer and beauty queen. At the age of 18, she won the Miss Universe 2003 pageant, becoming the first ever Miss Univ ...

–

Miss Universe 2003 Miss Universe 2003 was the 52nd Miss Universe pageant, held at the Figali Convention Center in Panama City, Panama on 3 June 2003. The winner, Amelia Vega of the Dominican Republic was crowned by Justine Pasek of Panama as Miss Universe 2003. ...

from

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

Emmitt Smith Emmitt James Smith III (born May 15, 1969) is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, 13 as a member of the Dallas Cowboys and 2 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals ...

– Former Dallas Cowboys player and

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winner *

Marc Cherry Marc Cherry (born March 23, 1962) is an American television writer and producer. He is best known for creating the ABC dramedy series ''Desperate Housewives'' and Lifetime series ''Devious Maids''. Personal life Early life Marc Cherry was ...

– American writer and producer *

Tom Green Michael Thomas Green (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian and American comedian, show host, actor, filmmaker, podcaster, and rapper. After pursuing stand-up comedy and music as a young adult, Green created and hosted '' The Tom Green Show'', whi ...

– Actor and comedian *

María Celeste Arrarás María Celeste Arrarás Mangual (born September 27, 1960), better known as María Celeste, is a Puerto Rican broadcast journalist, author, and television personality, who has won three national Emmy Awards for journalism. In 2005, she became the ...

– Telemundo host *

Patrick McMullan Patrick McMullan is an American photographer, columnist, television personality, and socialite. His photo work focuses on people, particularly A-list celebrities, superstar fashion designers, Model (person), models, actors, politicians, cultura ...

– Fashion photographer *

Bridgette Wilson Bridgette Wilson Sampras (born September 25, 1973) is an American former actress, singer, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Teen USA 1990. She began her career in acting, playing the character of Lisa Fenimore on the soap opera '' S ...

–

Miss Teen USA 1990 Miss Teen USA 1990, the 8th Miss Teen USA pageant, was televised live from Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, Mississippi, on July 16, 1990. At the conclusion of the final competition, Bridgette Wilson of Oregon was crowned by outgoing ti ...

from

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Santino Rice Santino Quinto Rice (born August 20, 1974) is an American fashion designer and television personality. He is best known for his appearances on the reality television programs ''Project Runway'', ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and '' On the Road with Aus ...

–

Project Runway ''Project Runway'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004. The series focuses on fashion design. It was created by Eli Holzman and was hosted by Heidi Klum from 2004 to 2017. It has a varied airi ...

finalist Note'':'' Actress

Bo Derek Bo Derek (born Mary Cathleen Collins; November 20, 1956) is an American actress and model. She began her career as a child model before deciding to pursue acting on the advice of a talent agent she met through actress Ann-Margret, who was acqua ...

was scheduled to be a judge but was later replaced.

Contestants

Eighty-six contestants competed for the title.

Notes

References

External links

Miss Universe official website
{{Miss Universe 2006 delegates

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2006 in the United States 2006 beauty pageants Beauty pageants in the United States 2006 in Los Angeles Events in Los Angeles July 2006 in the United States