Skip to main content

Miss Universe 1992



Namibian glamazon wins
Beauties galore in the Elephant Kingdom 


     The magical kingdom of Thailand welcomed seventy-eight delegates to the capital city of Bangkok for the 1992 contest. The entry into the Queen Sirikit Convention Center was a magnificent display of pomp and splendor. All of the beauty queens attired in their national costumes file behind the reigning Miss Universe (Mexico's Lupita Jones) astride a mighty pachyderm [elephant] adorned in a gold and silver carapace. Lupita - bedecked with her banner and crown as well as calm, cool, and collected under her elegant parasol - winks at the world-wide television audience as the announcer blares out his signature call, "LIVE from Bangkok!"

     The welcoming song was "Sawadee" which means hello in Thai. An ironic twist to this tune was that we learned to say "bongiorno in Italy" in spite of the fact that there was no Miss Italy in the pageant that year! But the Parade of Nations featured some of the most elegant ensembles. Miss France was a medieval queen in golden robes and her face was wrapped in a majestic wimple. Miss Poland braved the humidity in a synthetic (?) full-length fur cloak and a Russian-style fur cap! Miss Mexico represented a "china poblana" in a full-skirted black velvet dress embroidered with large, colorful flowers. Upon her introduction, Miss Panama extended the white folds of her traditional "pollera." Miss Korea wowed the world, though, by displaying an impressive mandarin-orange tiger with bold, black stripes clawing at her pink and baby-blue bell-shaped Korean costume.

     Dick Clark announced the Top Ten who proceeded to participate in the Catalina swimsuit competition. It is no surprise that my favorite competition segments take place in Asian settings. In Taipei 1988, it was evening gowns but Bangkok 1992 showcased the most memorable swimsuits. By the early 1990s, the Catalina swimsuit giving birth to the Miss Universe pageant in 1952 had evolved to emphasize a contestant's tall, slim figure by riding high on the thighs accentuating the legs as slender columns and the hips as voluptuous curves. The bust for whatever reason was somehow neglected by the classic one-panel suit quietly replaced by the bust-enhancing standard tank-ini of today. 

     But the 1992 semi-finalists modeled the classy Catalina's in a candy-pink color and if you observed closely the seams were candy-striped in magenta and carnation pink. The suit's color seemed to be especially selected for the blondes (Australia, Sweden, New Zealand, USA, Belgium, and the Netherlands). Miss Colombia had to rely on her unassuming sweetness, Miss Namibia on her statuesque sophistication, Miss India on her determined athleticism, and Miss Venezuela on her smug confidence to do well against the flaxen, fair-haired girls. All ten semi-finalists strutted across a drum bridge and posed beside an over-sized parasol (with tassels) held steady by a hunky Thai beach - boy to receive their swimsuit scores.

     The on-stage interviews this year with Dick Clark stood out for their serene pleasantness. Miss Australia related her previous travels to Thailand and spoke a little Thai, Miss Sweden advocated world travel to know the rich and the poor, Miss India (a runner) joked about the disciplinary excesses of her father-coach, Miss Netherlands reassured Dick that she was ready to ?hit the road? on her motorcycle, and Miss New Zealand amazed everyone with accounts of her risky, death-defying physical stunts. Miss USA announced her plan to become a child defense attorney, Miss Colombia upheld her pride in her family and her country, Miss Namibia presented a concise (yet enjoyable) lesson on Namibian geography, Miss Venezuela lectured on environmental architecture, and Miss Belgium aspired to become a lawyer-actress (there's one of these in every bunch).

     After the evening gown competition in which the semi-finalists were serenaded by the Little Sisters of Bangkok sitting around a Buddhist temple, the six finalists were chosen to field a round of judges' questions. The severe cut to the Top Three (for the suspenseful final question) was made to include a contestant from Africa, Asia, and the Americas and all three happened to be wearing red evening gowns. The final question was, "If you became leader of your country tomorrow, what would be the first thing you would do?"  Miss Namibia promised to champion the children of her new nation, Miss Colombia promoted a peace-making plan for her troubled country, and Miss India gave a purely whimsical response, "I would build the biggest track and field ground in India because I think we are lacking that!" 

     The judges submitted their final ranking while each Top Three contender stood on a pedestal listening to a gong and mysterious music playing in the background. Then all of the delegates gathered around Lupita Jones' throne as Dick Clark proclaimed Miss India Madhu Sapre the second runner-up, Miss Colombia Paola Turbay the first runner-up, and Miss Namibia Michelle McLean the new Miss Universe. Lupita crowned her successor and the two former Miss Universe winners from Thailand placed the banner and presented the winner's bouquet of native flowers. 


By Juan Prado


Photo courtesy of the Miss Universe Organization 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Trans-Identified Male Crowned “Miss Greater Derry 2023,” Takes Home Women’s Scholarship

A local beauty pageant is attracting ample mockery on social media after a trans-identified male was crowned the winner of the competition and awarded a scholarship intended for young women. Brían Nguyen , 19, was awarded the crown in the Miss Greater Derry pageant, held on November 8 in the Greater Derry area of New Hampshire. The competition is a locally-run event under the national Miss America series of pageants. In addition to winning the crown, Nguyen will receive the  Miss Greater Derry Scholarship , a financial award established to support young women. Nguyen, who is male, is a freshman at Nashua Community College majoring in Business Management. After his win, Nguyen wrote on  Facebook : “ I am ecstatic to be the FIRST transgender woman to be a Miss America local titleholder, and I hope to make everyone proud and become the first to walk the Miss America stage. I am Brían Nguyen, your Miss Greater Derry 2023 .” Nguyen had previously announced on Instagram that he has intention

Miss America CEO & Others Resign Amid Scandal Over Offensive Emails – Update

2nd UPDATE, 12:03 PM:  Miss America Organization  CEO  Sam Haskell  resigned his post today amid an investigation into offensive emails he sent about a pageant winner. In a statement He has resigned along with president and COO Josh Randle and Lynn Weidner, the board chair who sent emails involved in the controversy. Related Two More Ex-Fox News Employees Join Defamation Suit Against Bill O'Reilly - Update According to a Twitter post from Dan Meyers, who is taking over as interim chairman, Weidner will remain on the board during a transition period: View image on Twitter Miss America Org ✔ @MissAmericaOrg Update from the Board of Directors... 3:01 PM - Dec 23, 2017   35 35 Replies     144 144 Retweets     291 291 likes Twitter Ads info and privacy UPDATED, 5:30 PM:  The Miss America Organization suspended its chief executive today, less than 24 hours after emails surfaced in which he disparaged the

Miss USA Vice-President Max Sebrechts Accused Of Sexual Harassment

IMAGE COURTESY: MISS ACADEMY  Max Sebrechts, the husband of Crystle Stewart, President of Miss USA organization (and formerly Miss USA 2008), has been accused of sexual improprieties by several Miss USA 2021 contestants, according to a YouTube video “Miss USA Scandal?” by Natly Denise, a “truther and pop-culture enthusiast.” You can watch the entire video here: https://youtu.be/8xM2jXL6MXw On her video, Natly displays a screenshot  of an anonymous email sent to the affiliates of IMG/Endeavor including to Paula Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization (MUO). The email was cc’d to Crystle and Michael Hannah (franchise director of Miss USA). The author of the email claims that MUO has been sent substantial evidence of Sebrechts’ sexual predatory behavior and Shugart has known about it for a while but didn’t say anything (obviously to cover it up and to protect Crystle). Natly also displays screenshots of direct messages sent to her by former Miss USA contestants (the names hav