Miss Universe 2015

Miss Universe 2015
Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, Miss Universe 2015.
Date	20 December 2015
Presenters	Steve Harvey, Roselyn Sánchez
Entertainment	Charlie Puth, The Band Perry, Seal
Venue	The AXIS, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Broadcaster	Fox, TV Azteca
Entrants	80
Placements	15
Withdrawals	Egypt, Ethiopia, Guam, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lithuania, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos
Returns	Cayman Islands, Denmark, Montenegro, Vietnam
Winner	Pia Wurtzbach  Philippines
Congeniality	Whitney Shikongo  Angola
Best National Costume	Aniporn Chalermburanawong  Thailand

Miss Universe 2015, the 64th Miss Universe pageant, was held on 20 December 2015 at the The AXIS in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Paulina Vega of Colombia crowned her successor Pia Wurtzbach of the Philippines at the end of the event. 80 contestants competed for the crown.

This was the first edition of the Miss Universe pageant to be held under the ownership of WME/IMG, which purchased the Miss Universe Organization from US President-elect Donald Trump on September 14, 2015, three days after NBCUniversal sold him its 50% interest in the organization in exchange for Trump's dropping a breach of contract lawsuit he filed against the media company in August for terminating NBC's contract to televise the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants. Consequently, it is also the first Miss Universe event to be aired by Fox and Azteca, which replaced NBC and UniMás (the respective parents of both networks, NBCUniversal and Univision Communications, terminated their rights to the pageant as a result of Trump's incendiary statements against Mexican immigrants during his speech announcing his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States on June 16) as the pageant's respective English and Spanish broadcasters.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}

The telecast was most notable for an error in which host Steve Harvey mistakenly announced Ariadna Gutiérrez, who represented Colombia in that year's pageant, as Miss Universe 2015, even though the judges had decided that Pia Wurtzbach from the Philippines had won.^[8][9] Gutiérrez was initially crowned. About three minutes later, following Harvey's admission of his error, the crown was removed by outgoing titleholder Paulina Vega from Gutiérrez and given to Wurtzbach.^[10] The telecast abruptly ended without Wurtzbach's performing the traditional walk with the crown. The closing credits were not shown and the broadcast cut to the closing logos automatically after the apology.^[10]

Results

Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino was the venue for Miss Universe 2015

Placements

Contestants

Countries and territories which sent delegates and results for Miss Universe 2015

80 contestants competed for the title of Miss Universe 2015:^[11]

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age	Height	Hometown
Albania	Megi Luka[12]	19	5'10"	Fushë-Krujë
Angola	Whitney Shikongo[13]	20	5'11"	Huíla
Argentina	Claudia Barrionuevo[14]	24	5'8"	Salta
Aruba	Alysha Boekhoudt[15]	21	5'7"	Oranjestad
Australia	Monika Radulovic[16]	25	5'9"	Sydney
Austria	Amina Dagi[17]	20	5'9"	Vienna
Bahamas	Toria Nichole[9]	27	6'1"	Nassau
Belgium	Annelies Törös[18]	20	5'8"	Antwerp
Bolivia	Romina Rocamonje[19]	23	5'7"	Beni
Brazil	Marthina Brandt[20]	23	5'10"	Vale Real
British Virgin Islands	Adorya Rocio Baly[15]	22	5'8"	Tortola
Bulgaria	Radostina Todorova[21]	20	5'9"	Vratsa
Canada	Paola Nunez[22]	24	5'7"	Toronto
Cayman Islands	Tonie Chisholm[23]	27	5'7"	Grand Cayman
Chile	María Belén Jerez[15]	25	5'10"	Viña del Mar
China	Yun Fang Xue[24]	21	5'7"	Shenzhen
Colombia	Ariadna Gutiérrez[9][25]	21	5'10"	Sincelejo
Costa Rica	Brenda Castro[26]	23	5'6"	Limón
Croatia	Mirta Kuštan[27]	22	5'10"	Krapinske Toplice
Curaçao	Kanisha Sluis[28]	19	5'11	Willemstad
Czech Republic	Nikol Švantnerová[29]	23	5'9"	Šumperk
Denmark	Cecilie Wellemberg[30]	21	5'9"	Copenhagen
Dominican Republic	Clarissa Molina[31]	24	5'9"	Moca
Ecuador	Francesca Cipriani[32]	23	5'7"	Guayaquil
El Salvador	Idubina Rivas[33]	22	5'8"	San Salvador
Finland	Rosa-Maria Ryyti[34]	21	5'10"	Helsinki
France	Flora Coquerel[35]	21	6'0"	Orléanais
Gabon	Ornella Obone[36]	19	5'8"	Oyem
Georgia	Janet Kerdikoshvili[37]	24	5'9"	Tbilisi
Germany	Sarah Lorraine[38]	23	5'8"	Munich
Ghana	Hilda Akua[39]	26	5'8"	Kumasi
Great Britain	Nena France[40]	25	5'9"	London
Greece	Mikaela-Eleni Fotiadi[41]	21	5'10"	Athens
Guatemala	Jeimmy Aburto[42]	21	5'7"	Guatemala City
Guyana	Shauna Ramdyhan[43]	25	5'8"	Georgetown
Haiti	Lisa Drouillard[44]	23	5'7"	Port-au-Prince
Honduras	Iroshka Elvir[45]	24	5'10"	Choluteca
Hungary	Nikoletta Nagy[46]	21	5'5"	Miskolc
India	Urvashi Rautela[47]	21	5'8"	Mumbai
Indonesia	Anindya Kusuma Putri[48]	23	5'9"	Semarang
Ireland	Joanna Cooper[49]	21	5'5"	Derry
Israel	Avigail Alfatov[50]	19	5'6"	Acre
Italy	Giada Pezzaioli[51]	22	5'10"	Montichiari
Jamaica	Sharlene Rädlein[52]	25	5'9"	Kingston
Japan	Ariana Miyamoto[53]	21	5'8"	Nagasaki
Korea	Kim Seo-yeon[54]	23	5'7"	Seoul
Kosovo	Mirjeta Shala[55][56]	21	5'11"	Vučitrn
Lebanon	Cynthia Samuel[57]	20	5'7"	Beirut
Malaysia	Vanessa Tevi Kumares[58]	24	5'8"	Seremban
Mauritius	Sheetal Khadun[59]	26	5'7"	Rose-Hill
Mexico	Wendolly Esparza[60]	24	5'8"	Aguascalientes
Montenegro	Maja Čukić[15]	20	6'0"	Podgorica
Myanmar	May Barani Thaw[61]	25	5'7"	Yangon
Netherlands	Jessie Jazz Vuijk[62]	20	5'9"	Amsterdam
New Zealand	Samantha McClung[63]	20	5'10"	Christchurch
Nicaragua	Daniela Torres[64]	25	5'7"	Managua
Nigeria	Debbie Collins[15]	23	5'8"	Lagos
Norway	Martine Rødseth[15]	24	5'6"	Nord-Odal
Panama	Gladys Brandao Amaya[15]	24	5'5"	Los Santos
Paraguay	Myriam Arévalos[15]	22	5'10"	Asunción
Peru	Laura Spoya[65]	24	5'9"	Lima
Philippines	Pia Wurtzbach[66]	26	5'6"	Cagayan de Oro
Poland	Weronika Szmajdzińska[67]	21	5'9"	Szczecin
Portugal	Emília Araújo[68]	24	5'9"	Angra do Heroísmo
Puerto Rico	Catalina Morales[69]	25	5'9"	Guaynabo
Russia	Vladislava Evtushenko[70]	19	5'9"	Chita
Serbia	Daša Radosavljević[71]	19	5'5"	Kragujevac
Singapore	Lisa Marie White[72]	22	5'7"	Singapore
Slovak Republic	Denisa Vyšňovská[73]	21	5'9"	Prievidza
South Africa	Refilwe Mthimunye[74]	24	5'8"	Bronkhorstspruit
Spain	Carla García[75]	25	5'10"	Las Palmas
Sweden	Paulina Brodd[76]	21	5'9"	Stockholm
Tanzania	Lorraine Marriot[77]	21	5'9"	Dar es Salaam
Thailand	Aniporn Chalermburanawong[78]	21	5'9"	Lampang
Turkey	Aslı Melisa Uzun[79]	20	5'7"	Ankara
Ukraine	Anna Vergelskaya[80]	27	5'7"	Kiev
Uruguay	Bianca Sánchez[81]	19	5'10"	Montevideo
USA	Olivia Jordan[82]	27	5'11"	Tulsa
Venezuela	Mariana Jimenez[83]	22	5'10"	Caracas
Vietnam	Huong Pham[84]	24	5'8"	Haiphong

Judges

Miss Universe 2015 contestants were evaluated by panels of judges.

Preliminary competition

• Erika Albies – Vice President of Global Fashion Communications at IMG^[85][86]
• Erin Brady – Miss USA 2013 from Connecticut^[86][87]
• Julio Caro – Independent film and television producer and talent manager^[85][86]
• Keiko Uraguchi – Director of Digital Partnerships for WME/IMG^[85][86]
• Nischelle Turner – Correspondent for Emmy Award-winning Entertainment Tonight^[85][86]
• Rocky Motwani – Entrepreneur who recently co-founded his first fintech company, Jiko Services^[85][86]
• Zak Soreff – Entertainment marketing expert^[85][86]

Final telecast

• Emmitt Smith – Former college and professional football player^[88][89][90]
• Niecy Nash – Emmy Award-nominated actress^[87][88][89]
• Olivia Culpo – Miss Universe 2012 from USA^[87][88][89]
• Perez Hilton – Blogger, columnist and television personality^{[88][89][91][92][93]}

Notes

Returns

Designations

•  Bulgaria – Radostina Todorova was appointed "Miss Universe Bulgaria 2015" by Mega Talent Group, franchise holders for Miss Universe in Bulgaria, as the pageant was not held due to lack of time to organize it.
•  Chile – María Belén Jerez was appointed to represent Chile by Luciano Marocchino, the national director of Miss Universo Chile, after the pageant was not held due to time constraints in organizing the pageant.
•  El Salvador – Idubina Rivas was appointed to represent El Salvador by Liz De Castaneda, national director for Miss Universe in El Salvador, after the national pageant was postponed. Rivas was crowned Reinado de El Salvador International 2014.^[94]
•  France – Flora Coquerel was appointed "Miss Universe France 2015" by the national director of Miss France, Sylvie Tellier. Coquerel was crowned Miss France 2014 and was supposed to compete at the 2014 edition of both Miss World and Miss Universe pageants, but she was not sent to Miss Universe 2014 as the pageant was shifted to January 2015. She was replaced by the newly crowned Miss France 2015 Camille Cerf.
•  Georgia – Janet Kerdikoshvili was appointed to represent Georgia by IC Model Management franchise holders for Miss Universe in Georgia. Kerdikoshvili was chosen to compete at Miss Universe 2013 but had to withdraw at the last minute due to unexpected health problems. She was crowned Miss Georgia 2011.^[95]
•  Greece – Mikaela Fotiadi was appointed "Star Hellas 2015" at a closed-door event organized by Vassilis Prevelakis, national director for Miss Universe in Greece.^[96]
•  Haiti – Lisa Drouillard was appointed "Miss Haiti Universe 2015" at a casting call organized by Magali Febles, national director of Miss Haiti Universe pageant.
•  Italy – Giada Pezzaioli was appointed "Miss Universo Italia 2015" after a casting call was organized by Max Baratono, national director of Miss Universo Italia pageant.
•  Kosovo – Mirjeta Shala was appointed to represent Kosovo by Fadil Berisha, national director of Miss Universe Kosovo. Shala was crowned Miss Universe Kosovo 2013 but was forced to withdraw because Russia, the host country of the Miss Universe 2013 pageant, does not recognise Kosovo as an independent nation and hence denied her visa for entry.
•  Poland – Weronika Szmajdzińska was appointed "Miss Universe Poland 2015" by Gerhard Parzutka von Lipinski, the new national director for Miss Universe in Poland. Szmajdzińska was crowned Miss Polski Teen 2011 and was also appointed to compete at Miss World 2012.
•  Portugal – Emilia Araújo was appointed "Miss Universo Portugal 2015" at a casting call organized by Isidro de Brito, national director of Miss Universo Portugal.
•  Singapore – Lisa Marie White was selected "Miss Universe Singapore 2015" by Nuraliza Osman, the new national director of Miss Universe Singapore at a casting call held due to time constraints in organizing the pageant. The Miss Universe franchise was previously held by Derrol Stepenny Promotions.^[97]

Replacements

•  Austria – Amina Dagi was chosen as "Miss Universe Austria 2015" by Silvia Schachermayer, national director of the Miss Austria pageant, as a replacement to Annika Grill who was sent to Miss World 2015 and hence was unable to participate in Miss Universe as the finale dates of Miss World and Miss Universe for the 2015 edition overlap. Dagi was crowned Miss Austria 2012.^[98]
•  Croatia – Barbara Ljiljak was replaced by Mirta Laura Kustan, the 2nd runner-up of Miss Universe Croatia 2015, because Ljiljak had to withdraw due to an arm injury. The news was officially revealed by Ivana Delač Đolo, Miss Universe Croatia Organisation, Director of Public Relations.
•  Gabon – Ornella Obone was appointed to compete at Miss Universe 2015 by the Miss Gabon Organization after they decided to send the winner of the Miss Gabon 2015 pageant, Reine Ngotala, to Miss World 2015. This year, the winner of the Miss Gabon pageant was crowned to participate at both Miss Universe and Miss World contests but this was not possible because of the conflicting dates of the 2015 Miss Universe and Miss World pageants. Obone was the 3rd runner-up at the Miss Gabon 2015 pageant.^[99]
•  Lebanon – Cynthia Samuel was appointed to represent Lebanon by Antoine Macksoud, the national director of the Miss Lebanon pageant, as a replacement to Valerie Abou Chacra, Miss Lebanon 2015, who will only compete at Miss World 2015 due to the conflicting dates of the Miss World and Miss Universe pageants. The Miss Lebanon winner traditionally competes at both Miss World and Miss Universe. Samuel was the 1st runner-up at the Miss Lebanon 2015 pageant.
•  Mauritius – Sheetal Khadun was appointed "Miss Universe Mauritius 2015" by Primerose Obeegadoo, national director of the Miss Mauritius pageant, as the original winner, Kushboo Ramnawaj, withdrew for personal reasons. Khadun was the 1st Runner-up at the Miss Mauritius 2013 pageant and also competed at Miss World 2014.
•  Paraguay – Myriam Arévalos was designated to compete at Miss Universe 2015 by Promociones Gloria, franchise holders for Miss Universe in Paraguay, as a replacement to Laura Garcete who was dethroned after it was reported that she was pregnant. Arévalos was appointed to compete at Miss Earth 2015 but took over the Miss Universe title. She competed at Miss World 2014.^[100]
•  Russia – Vladislava Yevtushenko was appointed "Miss Universe Russia 2015" by the Miss Russia Organization as a replacement for Sofia Nikitchuk, the winner of the Miss Russia 2015 pageant, who competed only at Miss World 2015 due to the conflicting dates of the Miss Universe and Miss World pageants. The winner of the Miss Russia pageant usually participates at both Miss Universe and Miss World pageants. Yevtushenko represented Chita at Miss Russia 2015 and was the 1st runner-up at the pageant.^[101]
•  South Africa – Refilwe Mthimunye was chosen "Miss Universe South Africa 2015" by Melinda Bam, national director of the Miss South Africa pageant, as a replacement for Liesl Laurie, who will be sent to Miss World 2015 and hence will not be able to participate in Miss Universe as the finale dates of Miss World and Miss Universe for the 2015 edition are close one another. Mthimunye was 1st runner-up at the Miss South Africa 2015 pageant.

Withdrawals

•  Egypt – No national contest held.
•  Ethiopia – Miss Universe Ethiopia was not held due to lack of sponsorship. The next edition will be held in October 2016.
•  Guam – The Miss Universe Guam pageant was postponed until early 2016.
•  Kazakhstan – Aigerim Smagulova was appointed to replace Regina Valter, Miss Almaty 2015, by the Miss Kazakhstan Organization because of scheduling conflict with the Miss Kazakhstan 2015 finals, but withdrew for personal reasons.
•  Kenya – The Miss Universe Kenya pageant was postponed to next year.
•  Lithuania – The Miss Lietuva pageant was postponed.
•  Slovenia – Miss Universe Slovenia Ana Haložan suffered an accident when she arrived in Las Vegas, which resulted in hospitalization, preventing her from participating in registration activities, interviews and pictorials. She was not present at the first official events but stayed in Las Vegas until the pageant was over.^[102]
•  Sri Lanka – The Miss Universe Sri Lanka Organization plans to have its national contest in 2016.
•  St. Lucia- Miss Universe St. Lucia was not held, hence there was no delegate this year.
•   Switzerland – No national contest held.
•  Trinidad & Tobago – Miss Universe Trinidad and Tobago was cancelled after several major sponsors of the pageant withdrew because of the Donald Trump controversy and the upcoming general elections.^[103]
•  Turks & Caicos – The Miss Turks and Caicos pageant was not held due to lack of funding and sponsorship. The next edition of Miss Turks and Caicos will be held in 2016.

References

External links

• Official website