Miss World 2005

Miss Iceland, Unnur Birna, became her country's 3rd Miss World after winning the 55th Miss World pageant in Sanya, China, December 10th.

Birna, a 21-year old student of Anthropology with hopes of becoming a Lawyer, won over 101 other contestants from all over the globe in what was one of the longest beauty pageants ever held -almost 5 weeks of activities-.

Miss Iceland was one of the big favorites to win among experts and bookmakers, along with delegates from Philippines, Italy and Canada. They all placed in the finals.

The 1st runner-up was Miss Mexico (Dafne Molina); and the 2nd runner-up was Miss Puerto Rico (Ingrid Rivera).

The "Beauty with a Purpose Award", given to the most charitable contestant, was won by Miss Korea (Eun Young Oh). The "Best Evening Gown Award" went to Miss Turkey (Hande Subasi).

The 102 delegates were distributed in six regional groups. This year, after the presentation of each group, the top 2 most voted delegates were called into the semifinals.

It was the job of nine former Miss World titleholders and Julia Morley, President of the pageant, to select the Continental Queens of Beauty and among them, the new Miss World 2005.

All six Continental Queens of Beauty will represent the Miss World Organization during the whole year, attending special events, fundraisers and national preliminaries.

Unnur's mother, a former Miss Iceland, was a finalist in the Miss World 1983 pageant.

>>> Miss Iceland is indeed one of the few delegates who were expected to do very well in Miss World 2005. However, basing from her reaction upon knowing that she is the new queen, it seems that she didn't even fathom that she would be the enthroned. This is Iceland's third (3rd) Miss World win. The first (1st) win was in 1985 when Hofi Karlsdottir won and again in 1988 when Linda Petursdottier captured the crown. Iceland has won a Miss International title when their delegate, Gudrun Bjarnadottir, was the judges choice. The country has not produced a winner for the Miss Universe or Miss Earth pageants.

>>> Extreme pre-pageant favourites Italy, Philippines & Canada were all in the semifinals (top 15) but Misses Philippines and Canada got the 'short-end' of the stick as they were both left out in the cold when the Continental Miss Worlds were announced. Miss Philippines (Carlene Aguilar) lost to Miss Korea (Eun Young Oh) for the Miss World Asia-Pacific crown and Miss Canada (Ramona Amiri) lost to Miss Mexico (Dafne Molina) for the Miss World America crown . In my opinion, both Philippines and Canada should have advanced to the top 6.

>>> Miss Dominican Republic Elisa Abreu has put an end to the winning streak of her country. The past 4 Misses Dominican Republic all ended in the top 3 with the most recent being Amell Santana in the recently concluded Miss Earth pageant in Manila.

>>> Beauty pageant powerhouse Venezuela has been left out of the semifinals for 2 straight years in a row. The last Miss Venezuela to be in the semifinals was the beautiful Valentina Patruno who placed 7th in the 2003 Miss World pageant.

>>> Surprise semifinalists this year, in my opinion, are the delegates from Tanzania, Northern Ireland, India and Korea. Miss Tanzania (Nancy Abraham Sumary) is a real beauty and she becomes the second (and last) delegate this year from her country to make it in the semifinals of one of the 4 big pageants. Miss Tanzania Earth (Rehema Sudi) was a semifinalist in Miss Earth 2005. Miss Northern Ireland (Lucy Avril Evangelista) was as surprised as I am when she was called into the semis. Miss India (Sindhura Gadde) has an okay body but I didn't really think she would go in the semis. Same goes to Miss Korea whose poor communication skills should really have left her out of the top 6.

>>> Miss World kinda repeats a top 3 resembling that of 2002 when 2 pageant-patty contestants from 2 pageant-patty countries became runners-up to a far from pageant-patty contestant. Miss World 2002 produced Misses Peru and Colombia as the runners-up to Miss Turkey and this year, Misses Puerto Rico and Mexico are the princesses of Miss Iceland.

>>> I really didn't think Miss Puerto Rico (Ingrid Rivera) deserved to be one of the continenetal Miss Worlds. Her semifinal placement was expected, as Puertoricans are so into beauty pageants that they would do anything to get their delegate in the semis. All I can say is that she better be thanking Puertorican judge Wilnelia Merced Forsythe when she gets home coz I think her placing this high is only because of her.

>>> Miss Mexico Dafne Molina is another surprise but I guess she deserves a semifinal placement at the minimum. A 1st Runner-Up placement is too much. Her gown was pathetic but her facial beauty was at its best in the finals.

(Bookies' ultimate favourite Miss Philippines, Carlene Aguilar, was a semifinalist. She, however, lost to Miss Korea for the Miss World Asia-Pacific crown)

Miss World 2005

WINNER: ICELAND, Unnur Birna
1st Runner-Up: Mexico
2nd Runner-Up: Puerto Rico

Finalists:
Korea
Italy
Tanzania

Semifinalists:
India, Philippines, Northern Ireland, Spain, Jamaica, Canada, South Africa, Russia, American Virgin Islands

Best Evening Gown: Turkey