Miss World 1981

Miss World 1981
Miss World 1981 Titlecard
Date	12 November 1981
Presenters	Peter Marshall, Judith Chalmers
Venue	Royal Albert Hall, London, UK
Broadcaster	Thames Television
Entrants	67
Placements	15
Withdraws	Mauritius, Panama, Paraguay, Swaziland, US Virgin Islands
Returns	Chile, El Salvador, Iceland, Suriname, Tahiti
Winner	Pilín León  Venezuela

Miss World 1981, the 31st edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 12 November 1981 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, UK. The winner was Pilín León from Venezuela, the first titleholder from her country since 1955. She was crowned by Miss World 1980, Kimberley Santos of Guam. Another Venezuelan, Irene Sáez, had been crowned Miss Universe 1981 in July, making Venezuela one of the very few countries to hold both major international titles (Miss Universe and Miss World) in the same year.

Results

Countries and territories which sent delegates and results

Placements

Continental Queens of Beauty

Special awards

Order of announcements

Top 15

Top 7

1. Brazil

2. Colombia

3. United Kingdom

4. Venezuela

5. United States

6. Australia

7. Jamaica

Contestants

EUROPE
Contestant Number	Nation	Contestant
01	Austria	Beatrix Kopf
02	Belgium	Dominique van Eeckhoudt
03	Cyprus	Elena Andreou
04	Denmark	Tina Brandstrup
05	Finland	Pia Irmeli Ann-Marie Nieminen
06	France	Isabelle Sophie Benárd
07	Germany	Barbara Reimund
08	Gibraltar	Yvette Maria Bellido
09	Greece	Maria Argirocastritou
10	Holland	Saskia Lemmens
11	Iceland	Ásdís Eva Hannesdóttir
12	Ireland	Geraldine Mary McGrory
13	Isle of Man	Nicola Jane Grainger
14	Italy	Marisa Tutone
15	Jersey	Elizabeth Sarah Walmsley
16	Malta	Elizabeth Mary Fenech
17	Norway	Anita Nesbø
18	Spain	Cristina Pérez Cottrell
19	Sweden	Carita Gustafsson
20	Switzerland	Margit Kilchoer
21	Turkey	Aydan Şener
22	United Kingdom	Michelle Donnelly
OCEANIA
Contestant Number	Nation	Contestant
23	Australia	Melissa Hannan
24	Guam	Rebecca Arroyo
25	New Zealand	Raewyn Patricia Marcroft
26	Papua New Guinea	Jennfer Abaijah
27	Tahiti	Maimiti Kinnander
28	Western Samoa	Julianna Curry
ASIA & AFRICA
Contestant Number	Nation	Contestant
29	Hong Kong	Winnie Chin Wei-Yee
30	India	Deepti Divakar
31	Israel	Ninnette Asur
32	Japan	Naomi Kishi
33	Korea	Lee Han-na
34	Lebanon	Zeina Joseph Challita
35	Malaysia	Cynthia Geraldine de Castro
36	Philippines	Suzette Nicolas
37	Singapore	Sushil Kaur Sandhu
38	Sri Lanka	Sonya Elizabeth Tucker
39	Thailand	Massupha Karbprapun
40	Lesotho	Palesa Joyce Kalele
41	Zimbabwe	Juliet Nyathi
THE AMERICAS
Contestant Number	Nation	Contestant
42	Argentina	Ana Helen Natali Schoeder Belmut
43	Aruba	Gerarda Hendrine Jantiene Reopel
44	Bahamas	Monique Ferguson
45	Bermuda	Cymone Florie Tucker
46	Bolivia	Carolina Díaz Mansour
47	Brazil	Maristela Silvia Grazzia
48	Canada	Earla Stewart
49	Cayman Islands	Donna Marie Myrie
50	Chile	Susanna Bravo Indo
51	Colombia	Nini Johanna Soto González
52	Costa Rica	Sucetty Salas Quintanilla
53	Curacao	Mylene Mariela Gerard
54	Dominican Republic	Josefina María Cuello Pérez
55	Ecuador	Lucía Isabel Vinueza Urjelles
56	El Salvador	Martha Alicia Ortiz
57	Guatemala	Beatriz Bojorquez Palacios
58	Honduras	Xiomara Sikaffy Mena
59	Jamaica	Sandra Angela Cunningham
60	Mexico	Doris Pontvianne Espinoza
61	Peru	Olga Roxana Zumarán Burga
62	Puerto Rico	Andrenira Ruiz Sáenz
63	Suriname	Joan Boldewijn
64	Trinidad and Tobago	Rachel Ann Thomas
65	United States	Lisa Lynn Moss
66	Uruguay	Silia Marianela Bas Carrese
67	Venezuela	Pilín León

Notes

Returning countries

• Suriname last competed in 1966.
• Chile, El Salvador, Iceland, and Tahiti last competed in 1979.

Withdrawals and Nations not competing

• Panama, Paraguay, and Swaziland did not attend the Miss World.
• Portugal (Paula Dos Santos) who had a dual citizenship, won the Miss Portugal contest held in Johannesburg, South Africa. She flew to London, only to be told by Eric Morley that any girl from South Africa cannot participate, and that the contest has to be held in the country of the girl's origin.

Other notes

• The Continental Queen of Beauty awards were handed out for the very first time.
• United States, Lisa Lynn Moss, was the first woman to compete in Miss World under the Miss USA franchise. She placed as 2nd runner-up in Miss USA, representing Miss Louisiana USA.
• Cayman Islands and New Zealand sent their first black delegates to Miss World.
• This is the first time that there were only two runners-up and Miss World during the crowning ceremony.
• This is also the first time that the award winners for Miss Personality and Miss Photogenic had made into the semi-finals in Miss World since 1973.
• 10 out of 15 countries which made it into the semi-finals, were not in the semi-finals last year: Belgium (1962), Canada (1967), Colombia (1968), Japan (1974), Ireland (1976), Argentina (1978), Australia, Brazil, Mexico, and Trinidad and Tobago (1979).
• The preliminary beachwear competition took place in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.

Crossovers

Miss Universe

• 1978: Peru (semi-finalist)
• 1980: Switzerland
• 1981: Belgium (4th runner-up), Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Denmark (Miss Photogenic), Ecuador (semi-finalist), France, and Thailand
• 1982: Ireland, Spain, and United Kingdom (represented as Wales)

Miss International

• 1981: Belgium (semi-finalist), Denmark, Germany (semi-finalist), and Tahiti

External links

• Pageantopolis - Miss World 1981