Miss Colombia

Miss Colombia (Concurso Nacional de Belleza de Colombia, National Beauty Contest of Colombia in Spanish) is a national beauty pageant in Colombia. The winner, Señorita Colombia, is sent to Miss Universe and the first runner-up, Señorita Colombia Internacional or Virreina, to Miss Miss International. This pageant is not related to Miss Mundo Colombia and Miss Earth Colombia

History

The Miss Colombia pageant is held annually in Cartagena. Coverage is given by the media to the contest, including by Cromos magazine which devotes entire issues to the individual contestants favored to win, and four covers of the magazine are devoted to the pageant in a 4-week period.

Every major network sends news crews, and have sets built by the beach in Cartagena to report live for at least fifteen minutes every day towards the end of the news broadcast on the goings-on of the contestants. Aspirants must compete in their respective Departments to earn a title for the pageant.

Rules

Colombia has strict rules regarding participation of any Miss Universe preliminary: once a contestant registers for the pageant, she is confined to her own Department and cannot move to other states/provinces. However, she can participate more than once for the same department; the winner of the pageant in 2003 had already come in fourth place at the Miss Valle pageant the year before she won and eventually went on to win the national crown.

Perhaps this rule is the reason for the intense rivalries that have developed between departments (states) to win the most crowns, a couple of them have garnered a significant number, starting with Atlántico (11), Valle (10), Santander (7), Antioquia (6), Bolívar (6).

Ariadna Gutiérrez, Señorita Colombia 2014, 1st runner-up to Miss Universe 2015

Prelude to the pageant

Paulina Vega, Señorita Colombia 2013, Winner of Miss Universe 2014

Taliana Vargas, Señorita Colombia 2007, 1st runner-up to Miss Universe 2008

Luz Marina Zuluaga, Señorita Colombia 1957, Winner of Miss Universe 1958

The pageant itself always around 11 November, and many of the activities, such as the entire production of the Cromos magazines devoted to the pageant take place in the weeks preceding the pageant.

There are a number of preliminary events involving the sponsors, such as the election of the Figura Bodytech (the Bodytech Figure) which confers free gym membership at the Bodytech franchise for five years to the contestant with the most toned, harmonious and healthy body of the pageant.

List of winners of Figura Bodytech prize

• 2005 – Valerie Dominguez (Atlántico)
• 2006 – Laura Montoya Escobar(Antioquia)
• 2007 – Maria Cristina Diaz-Granados (Bogotá)
• 2008 – Stephanie Garcés Aljure (Valle del Cauca)
• 2009 – Natalia Navarro Galvis (Bolívar)
• 2010 – Natalia Valenzuela Cutiva (Huila)
• 2011 – Thael Lisney Osorio Redondo (Cundinamarca)
• 2012 – María Alejandra Valencia Guerra (Cauca)
• 2013 – Tania Valencia Cuero (Valle del Cauca)
• 2014 – Viviana Alexandra Dávila Giraldo (Bogotá)

Since the prize was first awarded, the winner of the Bodytech Figure prize has gone on to win Miss Colombia each year except for in 2006 and 2007 when they became Runners-up. There are also prizes for the contestant with the best hair (Silueta Schwarzkopff brand), the most photogenic candidate (Sony), the most punctual (who receives an Edox watch), most beautiful costume, and even the mothers of the delegates must compete in a talent show to select the "Queen Mother."

Regional rankings

Titleholders

Initially, the pageant's winners held the title for a biennial period; Yolanda Emiliani Roman, Miss Colombia 1934, held her title for the longest reign in the pageant's history. The winner of Senorita Colombia represents her country at Miss Universe. On occasion, when the winner does not qualify (due to age) for either contest, a runner-up is sent.

Representatives at Big Four pageants

The following are the representatives from Colombia to the Big Four international beauty pageants:

Representatives at Miss Universe

The winner of Señorita Colombia represents her country at Miss Universe. On occasion, when the winner does not qualify (due to age) for either contest, a runner-up is sent.

Representatives at Miss World

Since 1963 Colombian representatives selected by Miss Colombia Organization. In 1990 the another organization was taken the license for the Miss World pageant. It called as Miss Mundo Colombia pageant.

Representatives at Miss International

The 1st Runner-up of Senorita Colombia represents her country at Miss International. On occasion, when the candidate does not qualify (due to age) for either contest, another girl is sent.

Representatives at Miss Earth

The Miss Earth Colombia Organization^[2] used to appoint a Colombian woman to represent Colombia in Miss Earth. Starting 2014, a national competition was held. The first competition was won by María Alejandra Villafañe Osorio and the competition was held in Armenia, Colombia. On occasion, when the winner does not qualify (due to age) for either contest, a runner-up is sent.

Year	Miss Earth Colombia	State	Placement
2001	Natalia Botero Argote
2002	Diana Patricia Botero Ibarra	Top 10	Best in Swimsuit
2003	Emily de Castro Giacometto
2004	María Fernanda Navia Cardona
2005	Lia Patricia Correal Lopera
2007	Mileth Johana Agámez López
2008	Mariana Rodríguez Merchán	Top 8
2009	Alejandra Castillo Múnera	Top 8	Finalist in Evening Gown Finalist in Swimsuit Competition
2010	Diana Marín Varela
2011	Andrea DeVivo Creazzo		Miss Hannah Resort
2012	Cindy Kohn-Cybulkiewicz		01 ! Miss Friendship
2013	Diana Carolina Ortegón Vega		Top 15 Swimsuit Top 15 Talent 02 ! Most Child Friendly
2014	María Alejandra Villafañe Osorio	Top 16	02 ! Best in Swimsuit
2015	Estefanía Muñoz Jaramillo	Top 8	01 ! Best in Swimsuit 02 ! Evening Gown
2016	TBA	TBA

Hosts

• Fernando González Pacheco: 1970, 1979, 1993-1995
• Gloria Valencia de Castaño: 1979-1984
• Patricia Janiot: 1996
• Inés María Zabaraín: 1997
• Carolina Gómez: 1999
• Cecilia Bolocco: 2000
• Ruddy Rodríguez: 2001
• Miguel Varoni: 2005
• Andrea Serna: 2007

Controversies

David Letterman on Miss Colombia

In May 2001, David Letterman joked about the 'special talent' which the then-reigning Miss Colombia Andrea Noceti possessed – that she was able to "swallow 50 balloons full of heroin" for the (non-existent) talent competition in the Miss Universe 2001 pageant. The remark not only infuriated the beauty queen, but also the people in Colombia.^[3]

Miss Colombia openly threatened to sue Letterman but later withdrawn the statement after Letterman formally apologised to her in the Late Show with David Letterman about the quip made. Letterman had invited the beauty queen to appear on his show as a gesture of appeasement.^[4]

References and footnotes

External links

• Official site: Concurso Nacional de Belleza – srtacolombia.org
• Pageantopolis.com: Lists of Miss Colombia Universe Delegates and Placements
• Pageantopolis.com: Lists of Miss Colombia International Delegates and Placements
• Miss Colombia History