Miss World 1978
| Miss World 1978 |
Miss World 1978 Titlecard |
| Date |
16 November 1978 |
| Presenters |
Sacha Distel and Paul Burnett |
| Venue |
Royal Albert Hall, London, England, United Kingdom |
| Broadcaster |
BBC |
| Entrants |
68 |
| Placements |
15 |
| Debuts |
Dominica, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines |
| Withdraws |
Bolivia, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Panama, Papua New Guinea, and South Africa |
| Returns |
India, Italy, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Philippines, Singapore, Swaziland, Tunisia, and Virgin Islands |
| Winner |
Silvana Suárez
Argentina |
| Personality |
Wendy Daykin
Cayman Islands |
| Photogenic |
Martha Eugenia Ortiz
Mexico |
Miss World 1978, the 28th Miss World pageant, was held on November 16, 1978 in the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK. The winner was Silvana Suárez from Argentina. First runner-up was Ossie Margareta Carlsson representing Sweden, second was Denise Coward from Australia, third was Martha Eugenia Ortiz of Mexico, and fourth was Gloria Valenciano from Spain.
Results
Placements
| Final Results |
Contestant |
| Miss World 1978 |
|
| 1st Runner-up |
- Sweden - Ossie Margareta Carlsson
|
| 2nd Runner-up |
|
| 3rd Runner-up |
|
| 4th Runner-up |
- Spain - Gloria Valenciano
|
| Finalists |
|
| Semi-finalists |
|
Special awards
- Miss Personality: Wendy Lorraine Daykin (Cayman Islands)
- Miss Photogenic: Martha Eugenia Ortiz Gomez (Mexico)
- Miss Talent: Louvette Monzon Hammond (Philippines)
68 Contestants
National pageant notes
Returning countries and debuts
- Dominica and St. Vincent & the Grenadines competed in Miss World for the first time.
- Nigeria last competed in 1970.
- India, Malaysia, Mauritius, Philippines, Swaziland, and Tunisia last competed in 1975. India, Malaysia, Mauritius, Philippines, and Swaziland were the contestants who withdrew in two consecutive pageants, Miss World 1976, and 1977, due to a protest against South Africa's participation, consisting of one black and one white delegate.
- Virgin Islands last competed in 1976.
- Italy, Jamaica, and Singapore last competed in 1977. Even though Italy returned to Miss World pageant after the disqualification of its underaged contestant, Jamaica and Singapore were also the contestants who withdrew in previous year's Miss World, due to a protest against South Africa's participation.
Withdrawals and Nations not competing
- This is the first time that South Africa did not participate in Miss World due to an apartheid policy for 14 years.
Other Notes
- Spain, who placed 5th in Miss World 1978, failed to make into the semi-finals in Miss Universe 1979 in Perth, Western Australia, along with Ireland and St. Vincent.
- Austria, Costa Rica, and United Kingdom (representing Wales) failed to make into the semi-finals in Miss Universe 1978 in Acapulco, Mexico. Costa Rica won the award for Miss Photogenic. Belgium, who was the semi-finalist in Miss Universe 1978, failed to make into the Top 15 in Miss World.
- Bolivia from Miss Universe 1977, Guatemala from Miss Universe 1978, Lebanon, and Yugoslavia did not compete in Miss World. Yugoslavia arrived in London the day before the Miss World pageant, but was too late to participate.
- This is also the first time that the award for Miss Talent was given. Philippines, Louvette Monzon Hammond, won the award.
- Tunisia, Malek Nemlaghi was disqualified at the time of her session when she refused to unveil her traditional Moslem yashmak for the T-shirt and shorts. After her disqualification, she changed her mind the next day, wore the outfit without the veil and was allowed to participate in Miss World.
- Costa Rica, Maribel Fernandez Garcia, failed to make into the semi-finals in Miss Universe 1978 in Acapulco, Mexico, but she won the award for Miss Photogenic. She currently lives in Mexico and then became a famous actress in Mexican film industry.
- United Kingdom, Elizabeth Ann Jones was Miss Teenage Intercontinental 1977, she won as Miss England. The current Miss Intercontinental pageant used to be called Miss Teenage Intercontinental.
- 6 out of 15 countries which made it into the semifinals, were not in the semifinals last year: Costa Rica (1965), Sri Lanka (1970), India (1975), and Argentina, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela (1976).
- Sri Lanka placed for the fourth time, last time placing in 1970.
External Sources