Miss Universe 2004

Miss Universe 2004
Date 1 June 2004
Presenters Billy Bush and Daisy Fuentes
Entertainment Gloria Estefan
Venue Centro de Convenciones CEMEXPO Quito, Ecuador
Broadcaster NBC
Entrants 80
Placements 15
Debuts Ethiopia, Georgia, Vietnam
Withdraws Albania, Argentina, Mauritius, Namibia, New Zealand
Returns Austria, Botswana, Chile, Denmark, Ghana, Kenya, Lebanon, Paraguay, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Turks & Caicos, Uruguay
Winner Jennifer Hawkins
 Australia
Congeniality Laia Manetti
 Italy
Best National Costume Jessica Rodríguez
 Panama
Photogenic Alba Reyes
 Puerto Rico

Miss Universe 2004, the 53rd Miss Universe pageant, was held in Centro de Convenciones CEMEXPO, Quito, Ecuador on 1 June 2004.

Delegates arrived in Quito from May 12, 2004 and participated in three weeks of events, rehearsals and preliminary competitions prior to the final televised competition. Events took place in Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca, Riobamba and Latacunga.[1]

For the second consecutive year, Billy Bush and Daisy Fuentes hosted the final televised pageant, with entertainment from Gloria Estefan.[2]

At the conclusion of the final competition, outgoing titleholder Amelia Vega of Dominican Republic crowned her successor, Jennifer Hawkins of Australia, as Miss Universe 2004.[3]

Hawkins was the first Australian titleholder since Kerry Anne Wells won in 1972. She was also the first blonde Miss Universe since Michelle McLean in 1992.[4]

Host city

Quito, Ecuador was announced as host city of the pageant on 19 August 2003. The city paid $5 million for the right to host the event, although it anticipated recouping this through visitors and promotion of the country during the televised competition.[5]

In March Ecuador's foreign trade minister was forced to reject rumours that the pageant was at risk of being moved to China, and he urged Ecuadoreans to back the pageant.[6] As an added incentive for tourists, Ecuador American Airlines, official airline sponsor of the pageant, offered 5% off airfares to Quito for travel to the pageant, as well as 10% off for those who booked a month in advance.[7] The attempted use of the pageant to promote Ecuador threatened to be derailed just prior to the telecast, when a corruption scandal led to growing demands for the removal of President Lucio Gutierrez in the politically unstable country.[8]

Prior to the arrival of delegates in early May, officials in Quito attempted to renovate areas where they would be visiting, which involved temporarily removing beggars and homeless people from certain areas of the city.[9] Similar action was taken in Bangkok, Thailand prior to Miss Universe 1992[10] and in Manila, Philippines prior to Miss Universe 1994.[11] The event was protested by native Indian activists and environmentalists who accused the government of concealing the nations poverty whilst the pageant was being hosted.[12]

The delegates, judges, media and tourists were heavily protected by a security detail involving over 5000 police officers.[13] On 16 May, just hours before delegates were expected to participate in a parade in Cuenca, a pamphlet bomb was deactivated by police. Although it was protesting the economic policies of the Ecuadorean government, police suspected that the bomb, found just six blocks from the parade route, was timed specifically to coincide with the event.[14]

Results

Countries and territories which sent delegates and results.

Placements

Final ResultsContestant
Miss Universe 2004
1st Runner-Up
2nd Runner-Up
3rd Runner-Up
4th Runner-Up
Top 10
Top 15

Special awards

AwardContestant
Best National Costume

Top 10 National Costume Presentation During Telecast:

Miss Congeniality
Miss Photogenic

Order of announcements

Top 15

  1. Puerto Rico
  2. Norway
  3. Trinidad and Tobago
  4. Ecuador
  5. India
  6. Australia
  7. Angola
  8. Jamaica
  9. Colombia
  10. Switzerland
  11. Costa Rica
  12. Chile
  13. USA
  14. Paraguay
  15. Mexico

Top 10

  1. Costa Rica
  2. Trinidad and Tobago
  3. USA
  4. Puerto Rico
  5. Jamaica
  6. Paraguay
  7. Ecuador
  8. Australia
  9. India
  10. Colombia

Top 5

  1. Paraguay
  2. USA
  3. Puerto Rico
  4. Australia
  5. Trinidad and Tobago

Judges

Telecast Judges

The judging panel for the final competition included:

Note: Kwame Jackson, runner-up on the first season of The Apprentice, was initially chosen as a judge, but he was disqualified because he inadvertently visited the hotel where the delegates were staying and interacted with some of the contestants.[15]

Delegates

Contestant notes

National competitions

International Broadcasters

These are some of the networks outside the United States (telecasted on NBC and Telemundo) that showed the 2004 Miss Universe pageant live (or recorded earlier) in their respective countries and territories:

References

  1. "Ecuador assigns 8,500 police to safeguard Miss Universe pageant". Associated Press. 2004-05-14.
  2. "Access Hollywood's Billy Bush and Model Daisy Fuentes to Co-Host the 53rd Annual MISS UNIVERSE(R) Pageant Live on NBC Gloria Estefan, the World's Most Celebrated Latin Artist, to Perform" (Press release). Miss Universe Organization. 2004-05-12.
  3. "Australian model becomes Miss Universe 2004". Agence France Press. 2004-06-01.
  4. "Aussie wins Miss Universe - Entertainment". www.smh.com.au. 2004-06-03. Retrieved 2012-11-06.
  5. "Ecuador picked to host 2004 Miss Universe pageant". Reuters News. 2003-08-19.
  6. "Minister scolds Ecuadoreans for not being excited about Miss Universe". Associated Press. 2004-03-23.
  7. "Enjoy the sights and sounds of the Miss Universe pageant in Ecuador thanks to discounts offered by American Airlines Take Advantage of a Bonus Discount When Booking the Trip 30 Days in Advance" (Press release). American Airlines. 2004-04-07.
  8. Hayes, Monty (2004-05-31). "Ecuador looks to Miss Universe pageant to improve image tainted by political crisis". Associated Press.
  9. "Quito primps for Miss Universe pageant by clearing out beggars". EFE News Service. 2004-05-12.
  10. Shenon, Philip (1991-08-25). "Thailand Evicting the Poor: Coming Events Spur Leaders to Level Slum". Los Angeles Daily News.
  11. "Police roundup of Manila street children under probe". Straits Times. 1994-05-02.
  12. "Activists say poor Ecuador no place for Miss Universe contest". EFE News Service. 2004-05-31.
  13. "Ecuador to assign 5,250 police to safeguard Miss Universe pageant". Associated Press. 2004-05-31.
  14. "Police deactivate pamphlet bomb in Ecuador town hosting Miss Universe parade". Associated Press. 2004-05-16.
  15. "U.S. Miss Universe judge disqualified for visiting contestants". EFE News Service. 2004-05-31.
  16. "Miss Universe Slovakia Won by 17-Year-Old from Trnava". Tlacova Agentura Slovenskej Republiky. 2004-03-21.
  17. "Miss Universe Ethiopia to Participate in Miss Universe Pageant". All Africa. 2004-04-20.

External links