Who will succeed Sheynnis Palacios, Miss Universe 2023? Will Indira Ampiot become the third French Miss Universe? To get the answers to these questions, go to the night of Saturday 16 to Sunday 17 November from 3 a.m. (broadcast exclusively on the Telemundo channel) to follow the 73rd edition of Miss Universe which is being held this year in Mexico City. 128 candidates are vying to win the crown.
The competition started on November 14 by the preliminary show where the beauty queens paraded in an outfit of their choice, then in a swimsuit and an evening dress. This is also the moment when they presented their national costume, an always impressive spectacle that takes the viewer on a journey.
November 16 is election day, the grand finale. All the candidates parade for the first time and then the time comes to announce the top 20 which was decided during the preliminary show. The selected candidates will parade again in swimsuits. Then, the jurors will select a top 10 who will appear in an evening dress. The jury then chooses the five finalists who will answer various questions drawn at random. The name of the winner will be given after more than three hours of broadcasting.
A relaxation of the rules
Created in 1952, the competition has undergone numerous changes in its regulations. Since the arrival of Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip, a transgender woman, in 2022 at the head of the Miss Universe organization, the rules have been relaxed and the competition is intended to be more inclusive.
From 2018, Miss Universe experienced a first breakthrough with Ángela Ponce, Miss Spain, who becomes the first transgender woman to compete. Furthermore, married women, divorced women and mothers can run for the election, which is not the case for Miss France. Cosmetic surgery is permitted, as are tattoos and candidates are no longer required to be at least 1m70 tall to be able to be selected.
There is also no longer any age limituntil then beauty queens had to be between 18 and 28 years old. The abandonment of this rule notably allowed Choi Soon-hwa, an 80-year-old South Korean, to participate in Miss Universe South Korea and reach the final of the competition.
Despite a relaxation of rules to adapt to societal changes, the regulations remain strict on other points. Two Misses paid the price this year. Miss Panama was thus excluded from the competition just four days after arriving in Mexico. The Miss Universe organization explained in a press release that this decision was taken following a “disciplinary committee responsible for maintaining the integrity and values of the competition”. The 19-year-old woman allegedly did not respect the obligation to leave her room.
Miss Armenia also had to bid farewell to the competition even before the start of the competition. The candidate did not have an Armenian passport, a sine qua non condition for participating in the competition.
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