Miss Universe 1977

Miss Universe 1977
Date	July 16, 1977
Presenters	Bob Barker, Helen O'Connell
Entertainment	Trío Los Juglares featuring Fernando Casado
Venue	National Theater, Santo Domingo Dominican Republic
Entrants	80
Placements	12
Debuts	Antigua, British Virgin Islands, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Réunion, Samoa, St. Kitts, St. Lucia
Withdraws	Guatemala, Luxembourg, Turkey
Returns	Belize, Haiti, Lebanon, Tahiti
Winner	Janelle Commissiong  Trinidad & Tobago
Congeniality	Pamela Mercer  Canada
Best National Costume	Kim Sung-Hee  South Korea
Photogenic	Janelle Commissiong  Trinidad & Tobago

Miss Universe 1977, the 26th annual Miss Universe pageant was held at the National Theater, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on July 16, 1977. 24-year-old Janelle Commissiong earned Trinidad & Tobago its first Miss Universe crown as well as becoming the first black woman to win the title. The Miss Universe Pageant was held in the Dominican Republic in 1977 in order to promote tourism to the island.

Miss Universe was then owned by Gulf+Western Industries, an American conglomerate which had large investments in the Dominican Republic, including The Central Romana sugar mill, the Casa de Campo resort, free trade zone, and Consolidated Cigars among others.

The late Charles Bluhdorn, G+W's chairman, was involved in several big projects for the Dominican Republic, a country he loved very much. He was also involved in many future projects related to the country, specifically Altos de Chavón an artists' village located within the Casa de Campo complex.

Holding Miss Universe, with an estimated 200 million viewers, was the perfect vehicle for boosting the Dominican tourist sector.

Results

Placements

Participating Nations and Results.

Final results	Contestant
Miss Universe 1977	Trinidad & Tobago - Janelle Commissiong
1st runner-up	Austria - Eva Maria Düringer
2nd runner-up	Scotland - Sandra Bell
3rd runner-up	Colombia - Aura María Mojica Salcedo
4th runner-up	Germany - Marie-Luise Gassen
Top 12	Argentina - Maritza Elizabet Jurado  Dominican Republic - Blanca Aurora Sardiñas  Holland - Ineke Berends  Nicaragua - Beatriz Obregón Lacayo  Spain - Luz María Polegre Hernández  USA - Kimberly Tomes  Venezuela - Cristal Montañez

Special Awards

Award	Contestant
Best National Costume	South Korea - Kim Sung-Hee  Uruguay - Adriana María Umpierre Escudero  Lebanon - Hyam Saadé
Miss Congeniality	Canada - Pamela Mercer
Miss Photogenic	Trinidad & Tobago - Janelle Commissiong

Contestants

Antigua - Sheryl Ann Gibbons  Argentina – Maritza Elizabet Jurado  Aruba – Margareth Eldrid Oduber  Australia – Jill Maree Minaham  Austria - Eva Maria Duringer  Bahamas - Paulette Rosetta Ogylvie Borghardt  Barbados - Margaret Sonia Rouse  Belgium - Claudine Marie Vasseur  Belize - Dora Maria Phillips  Bermuda - Connie Marie Frith  Bolivia - Liliana Gutiérrez Paz  Brazil - Cássia Janys Moraes Silveira  British Virgin Islands - Andria Dolores Norman  Canada - Pamela Mercer  Chile - Priscilla Raquel Brenner  Colombia - Aura María Mojica Salcedo  Costa Rica - Claudia Maria Garnier Arias Curaçao - Regine Tromp  Denmark - Inge Eline Erlandsen  Dominican Republic - Blanca Aurora Sardiñas  Ecuador - Lucía del Carmen Hernández Quiñones  El Salvador - Altagracia Arévalo  England - Sarah Louise Long  Finland - Armi Anja Orvokki Aavikko  France - Véronique Fagot  French Guiana - Evelyne Randel  Germany - Marie-Luise Gassen  Greece - Maria Spantidaki  Guadeloupe - Catherine Reinette  Guam - Lisa Ann Caso  Haiti - Françoise Elie  Holland - Ineke Berends  Honduras - Carolina Rosa Rauscher Sierra  Hong Kong - Loletta Chu Ling-Ling  Iceland - Kristjana Þrainsdóttir  India - Bineeta Bose  Indonesia - Siti Mirza Nuria Arifin  Ireland - Jakki Moore  Israel - Zehava Vardi  Italy - Paola Biasini

Japan - Kyoko Sato  South Korea - Kim Sung-Hee  Lebanon - Hyam Saadé  Liberia - Welma Albertine Wani Campbell  Malaysia - Leong Li Ping  Malta - Jane Benedicta Saliba  Mauritius - Danielle Marie Françoise Bouic  Mexico - Felicia Mercado Aguado  New Zealand - Donna Anne Schultze  Nicaragua - Beatriz Obregón Lacayo  Northern Marianas - Margarita Benavente Camacho  Norway - Åshild Jenny Ottesen  Panama - Marina Valenciano  Papua New Guinea - Sayah Karakuru  Paraguay - María Leticia Zarza Perriet  Peru - María Isabel Frías Zavala  Philippines - Anna Lorraine Tomas Kier  Puerto Rico - Maria del Mar Rivera  Réunion - Yolaine Morel  Samoa - Virginia Caroline Suka  Scotland - Sandra Bell  Singapore - Marilyn Choon May Sim  South Africa - Glynis Dorothea Fester  Spain - Luz María Polegre Hernández  Sri Lanka - Sobodhini Nagesan St. Kitts - Annette Emelda Frank  St. Lucia - Iva Lua Mendes St. Maarten - Marie Madeleine Boirard  Surinam - Marlene Roesmienten Saimo  Sweden - Birgitta Lindvall  Switzerland - Anja Kristin Terzi Tahiti - Donna Aunoa  Thailand - Laddawan In-Yah  Trinidad & Tobago - Janelle Penny Commissiong  Uruguay - Adriana María Umpierre Escudero  USA - Kimberly Louise Tomes  Venezuela - Cristal del Mar Montáñez Arocha  Virgin Islands - Denise Naomi George  Wales - Christine Anne Murphy  Yugoslavia - Ljiljana Sobajić

Trivia

• Two contestants from this pageant were disqualified. Miss Martinique, Patricia Vatble and Miss Turkey, Manolya Onur, who was not allowed to compete twice.
• Janelle "Penny" Commissiong was the first black contestant to ever win the Miss Universe title.
• Singer Dionne Warwick, one of the judges, broke into tears when Miss Trinidad & Tobago's name was announced as the winner and said later to the press, "I felt as I had won".
• On a biographical sheet prepared for each contestant, Miss Trinidad & Tobago chose Marlon Brando as the greatest living person. Asked why, she said "because of his dedication to the Indian cause".
• Many of the 16 black contestants had complained during the two-week prelimenaries that they were ignored by photographers who concentrated on the white competitors.
• The contestant from Nicaragua, Beatriz Obregón Lacayo was the winner of the Reina Internacional Del Coco in 1973.
• 13 contestants from this pageant went on to compete in the Miss World Pageant that same year, they were:Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Ecuador, France, Holland, Indonesia, Liberia, Nicaragua, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Peru and Uruguay.
• 4 contestants competed at Miss World the previous year, they were: Canada, Ireland, Malta and Spain.
• France, Véronique Fagot, competed in the Miss International pageant the following year.

The Panel of Judges

Armando Bermudez Roberto Cavalli Linda Cristal Robert Evans Oscar de la Renta Yuri Geller

Howard W. Koch Marisol Malaret Gordon Parks Vidal Sassoon Dionne Warwick Wilhelmina Cooper

External links

• Official site
• Pageantopolis coverage of Miss Universe 1977

References

• Pageant Lovers' Page - Miss Universe 1977