Miss Universe 2003 was the 52nd
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
Figali Convention Center in Panama City, Panama on 3 June 2003.
The winner,
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 ...
of the Dominican Republic was crowned by
Justine Pasek of Panama as Miss Universe 2003. It was the country's first victory in the pageant's history.
Contestants from seventy-one countries and territories competed in this year's pageant. The competition was hosted by
Billy Bush
William Hall Bush (born October 17, 1971) is an American radio and television host. He is a member of the Bush family, a nephew of former president George H. W. Bush and cousin of former president George W. Bush and former Florida governor Jeb B ...
and
Daisy Fuentes
Daisy Fuentes (born November 17, 1966) is a Cuban-American model, television host, actress and former weather presenter. Fuentes became MTV's first Latina VJ (signed to MTV and MTV Latin America simultaneously) and Revlon's first Latina spoke ...
. Musical quartet
Bond and Puerto Rican singer-composer
Chayanne performed in this year's pageant. This was also the first edition of Miss Universe to be aired on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
.
Background
Location and date
At the end of the Miss Universe 2002 pageant, hosts Phil Simms and Daisy Fuentes announced that the next years pageant would be held in Panama City, Panama. It is the second time that Panama hosted the pageant; the first being
Miss Universe 1986.
Due to the ongoing
SARS outbreak at the time,
Juan Carlos Navarro, the mayor of Panama City, required the candidates to show medical certification that they were virus free.
Selection of participants
Contestants from seventy-one countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Five delegates were appointees to their position to replace the original dethroned winner.
Replacements
The winner of
Miss Czech Republic 2002,
Kateřina Průšová was replaced by Kateřina Smržová due to her poor English skills.
Miss Egypt 2003, Horreya Farghally gave up her title following rumors of her secret marriage by the press. Farghally was replaced by Nour El-Semary.
The winner of Eesti Miss Estonia 2003, Maili Nomm was replaced by Katrin Susi as she was underage.
The winner of Miss Poland 2002,
Marta Matyjasik decided not to participate at the pageant for academic reasons. Matyjasik was replaced by Iwona Makuch.
Miss Russia 2002,
Svetlana Koroleva won
Miss Europe 2002 in Lebanon, making her ineligible to participate in the competition. The Miss Russia organization then held a pageant called ''Miss Russia Universe 2003'' which was won by Julia Kova. Kova was also unable to compete due to her being underage. The Miss Russia organization then chose Maria Smirnova, a 22-year-old model from Nizhny Novgorod, as their candidate, but she was rejected for her nude pictures in Playboy Russia. Finally the Miss Universe organization announced that it would accept Oksana Bondarenko, runner-up of Miss Russia 2002.
Returns, and withdrawals
The 2003 edition saw the returns of Argentina, Barbados, Belize, New Zealand, and Chinese Taipei. Barbados last competed in
Miss Universe 1999
Miss Universe 1999 was the 48th Miss Universe pageant, held on 26 May 1999 at the Chaguaramas Convention Centre in Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago. Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana was crowned by Wendy Fitzwilliam of Trinidad and Tobago at the e ...
, Belize in
Miss Universe 2000, while the others last competed in
Miss Universe 2001
Miss Universe 2001 was the 50th anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant, held at the Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez in Bayamón, Puerto Rico on May 11, 2001.
At the conclusion of the event, Lara Dutta of India crowned Denise Quiñones of Puer ...
. The British Virgin Islands, Chile, Ghana, Honduras, Kenya, the Northern Mariana Islands, Portugal, the United States Virgin Islands, and Uruguay withdrew. Bethsaida Smith of the British Virgin Islands and Kimberly Castro of the Northern Mariana Islands withdrew due to lack of sponsorship. Chile, Ghana, Honduras, Kenya, Portugal, the United States Virgin Islands, and Uruguay withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.
Miss Iceland 2002,
Manuela Ósk Harðardóttir withdrew, when
dehydration
In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water that disrupts metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds intake, often resulting from excessive sweating, health conditions, or inadequate consumption of water. Mild deh ...
caused by the weather prevented her from competing in the preliminary competition. Donna Tuara of the
Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...
and Joyce Ramarofahatra of
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
did not compete due to lack of sponsorship. Tiziana Mifsud of Malta did not compete after the Miss Malta pageant lost its Miss Universe franchise. Mounia Achlaf of Algeria and Melanie Putria Dewita Sari of
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
withdrew for undisclosed reasons.
= Participation of Venezuela at Miss Universe
=
On 9 May 2003, the Miss Venezuela Organization announced that
Mariángel Ruiz, Miss Venezuela 2002, would not be competing for the first time since
Miss Universe 1959
Miss Universe 1959 was the eighth Miss Universe pageant, held at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States on 24 July 1959. This was the last year that the pageant was held in Long Beach before it moved to Miam ...
. This was due to the strict foreign exchange controls imposed by then-Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...
to prevent capital flight. According to Osmel Sousa, president of the Miss Venezuela Organization, USD $80,000 was needed for the franchise fee to send Ruiz to the pageant. Venezuelan businessman
Gustavo Cisneros
Gustavo Alfredo Jiménez de Cisneros y Rendiles (1 June 1945 – 29 December 2023) was a Venezuelan businessman and Chairman of '' Grupo Cisneros''.
A onetime billionaire, according to ''Forbes,'' his net worth peaked at US$6.0 billion in 2007 ...
, was able to fund Ruiz to Panama. This is after
Mireya Moscoso, then-President of Panama, urged Cisneros to ensure that a Venezuelan candidate will compete at Miss Universe.
Results
Placements
Special awards
Pageant
Format
The number of semi-finalists at this contest was increased from ten to fifteen. The preliminary competition began with fifteen contestants, and consisted of swimsuit and evening gown competitions and closed-door interviews. After the evening gown competition these were reduced to ten. Then the swimsuit competition reduced them to five. The five finalists then competed in the question and answer round and the final look.
Selection committee
Final telecast
*
Maria Celeste Arraras – Puerto Rican author and broadcaster journalist at
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It provides content ...
*
Deborah Carthy-Deu –
Miss Universe 1985 from Puerto Rico
*
Roberto Cavalli – Italian fashion designer
* Richard Johnson – American field artist and visual journalist at
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
*
Amelia Marshall – American actress
*
Audrey Quock – American model and actress
*
Peter Reckell
Peter Paul Reckell (born May 7, 1955) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing the role of Bo Brady on the NBC soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'' (1983 to 1987, 1990 to 1992, 1995 to 2012, recurring appearances from 2015 to 2 ...
– American actor
*
Mathew St. Patrick – American actor
*
Fernanda Tavares – Brazilian supermodel
Contestants
Seventy-one contestants competed for the title.
Notes
References
External links
Miss Universe official website
{{Miss Universe 2003 delegates
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 ...
2003 in Panama
2003 beauty pageants
Beauty pageants in Panama
Events in Panama City
June 2003 in North America