Miss Earth 2008

Miss Earth 2008 was the eighth edition of the Miss Earth pageant, held at the Clark Expo Amphitheater in Angeles City, Philippines, on November 9, 2008.^[1][2][3]

Miss Earth 2008
Karla Henry
Date	November 9, 2008
Presenters	Billy Crawford Priscilla Meirelles Riza Santos
Venue	Clark Expo Amphitheater, Angeles City, Philippines
Broadcaster	ABS-CBN Studio 23 The Filipino Channel
Entrants	85
Placements	16
Debuts	Bhutan Congo DR Guam Luxembourg Malta Rwanda Scotland Serbia South Sudan
Withdrawals	Belize Cameroon Denmark Fiji Guatemala Iceland Hong Kong Kazakhstan Kenya Nepal Niue Norway Paraguay Sierra Leone Saint Lucia Tibet Trinidad and Tobago Ukraine US Virgin Islands Vietnam Zambia Zimbabwe
Returns	Greece Honduras Hungary Jamaica Kosovo Pakistan Panama Russia Tahiti Turkey
Winner	Karla Henry Philippines
Congeniality	Andrea Leon Janzso, Ecuador
Best National Costume	Shassia Ubillús, Panama
Photogenic	Karla Henry, Philippines
← 2007 2009 →

Jessica Trisko of Canada crowned Karla Henry of the Philippines as her successor the end of the event.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Results

Countries and territories that sent delegates and results

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss Earth 2008	Philippines – Karla Henry
Miss Earth – Air 2008	Tanzania – Miriam Odemba
Miss Earth – Water 2008	Mexico – Abigail Elizalde
Miss Earth – Fire 2008	Brazil – Tatiane Alves
Top 8	Colombia – Mariana Rodriguez  Spain – Adriana Reverón   Switzerland – Nasanin Nuri  Venezuela – Daniela Torrealba
Top 16	Czech Republic – Hana Svobodová  Nigeria – Ezinne Uko  Poland – Karolina Filipkowska  Romania – Ruxandra Popa  Russia – Anna Mezentseva  South Korea – Seol-hee Seo  Thailand – Piyaporn Deejing  United States – Jana Murrell

Special awards

Major awards

Awards	Contestant
Miss Friendship	Ecuador – Andrea Leon Janzso
Miss Photogenic	Philippines – Karla Henry
Miss Talent	Australia – Rachael Margot Smith
Best in National Costume	Panama – Shassia Ubillús
Best in Evening Gown	Venezuela – Daniela Torrealba
Best in Swimsuit	Mexico – Abigail Elizalde

Winning answer

Final Question in Miss Earth 2008: "If you have the chance to speak to the newly-elected US President Barack Obama about the state of the global environment, what would you tell him?"^[9]

Answer of Miss Earth 2008: "What I would tell to the newly elected president of the USA, being one of the most powerful countries in the world, I would encourage him to implement environmental knowledge in the curriculum of all schools whether in the United States or in the Philippines. Environmental knowledge is something that all of us must share, but most importantly we must teach the youth that this is something that we should instill in them so that in the near future they will be the ones to take care of our mother Earth." – Karla Henry, represented Philippines.^[9][10]

Pageant

Format

Starting this year, the format of the finale has changed. In previous years, after the swimsuit competition, there will have only eight delegates. They will compete in the first question and answer section with different questions, then participate in the evening gown competition. After that, the top four was announced and participated in the final question. But from this year, the top eights will only participate in the evening gown competition. After that, the judges will select the final four. They only participated in one part of the only question and answer session before announcing three runners-up and Miss Earth.

Judges

No.	Judge	Background
1	Lourdes Atienza	Philanthropist and Beauty queen
2	Stephan Elsner	Fashion designer (Chairperson of the board of directors, Bonprix Italia)
3	Tom Hansen	Environmentalist
4	Hong Jin	Regional Director, Korean Air
5	Philip Lo	Director
6	Lisa Macuja-Elizalde	Prima Ballerina (Founder of Ballet Manila)
7	Andrea Mastellone	General manager, Traders Hotel Manila
8	Rizalino Navarro	Chairperson of Clark Development Corporation
9	Samuel West Stewart	Environmentalist (President of Philippines Bio Sciences Company Inc.)
10	Leo Valdez	Singer/International musical theatre actor
11	Ping Valencia	Image consultant/former top fashion model

Background music

• Opening: Yves Larock – Rise Up, Pussycat Dolls – When I Grow Up
• Swimsuit Competition: Enur feat. Natasha – Calabria
• Evening Gown Competition: Coldplay – Viva la Vida

Preliminary events

Beauties for a Cause

The delegates of Miss Earth 2008 explored the different islands of the Philippines with the theme "Green Lifestyle" and promoted the use of recyclable materials as part of our collective lifestyle.^[11] In addition, they engaged on different environmental activities including the planting of trees in the provinces of Albay, Batangas, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Palawan, and Rizal. They also had school tours in Taytay, Rizal, and Metro Manila and taught the children the importance of protecting the environment.^[12]

Long gown

Miss Venezuela, Daniela Torrealba was named Best in Long Gown at the competition held at the PAGCOR, Grand Theatre in the city of Parañaque on 3 November 2008.^[12]

Swimsuit

On 25 October 2008, the delegates were divided into three groups which simultaneously competed in the swimsuit preliminary competition in three different locations:

1. Sabang Beach Resort in Puerto Princesa, Palawan
2. Golden Sunset Resort in Calatagan, Batangas
3. Manila

The 15 finalists in each group then competed in the Final Swimsuit Competition held on 2 November at the Fontana Leisure Park in the Clark Freeport Zone, Angeles, Pampanga. Abigail Elizalde of Mexico emerged as the winner of the Best in Swimsuit.^[12]

National costume

The National Costume competition of Miss Earth 2008 was held on 28 October 2008 at the PAGCOR Grand Theatre in the city of Parañaque. And again minor/sponsor awards were also given at that night.^[12]

All of 85 candidates participated in the competition, with Miss Panama winning the coveted Best in National Costume award. Miss Philippines, Karla Henry was unanimously chosen by the members of the press as Miss Photogenic. Minor/sponsor awards were also given at that night.^[12]

TV shows

The ladies had their TV guesting on the different shows of ABS-CBN and Studio 23, the official media partner of Carousel Production for Miss Earth 2008. They had gone to Wowowee, ASAP, Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal, and The Singing Bee.^[12]

Mall tours

The delegates also had their mall tours and fashion shows in all Robinsons Malls nationwide in order to promote its cause which is to promote the protection of our environment.^[12]

Contestants

85 contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age	Hometown
Albania	Rudina Suti[13]	23	Gjirokastër
Argentina	Camila Solórzano[14]	18	Tucumán
Australia	Rachael Margot Smith[15][16]	23	Perth
Bahamas	Garnell Storr[17]	25	Musha Cay
Belgium	Debby Gommeren[18][19]	20	Antwerp
Bhutan	Tsokye Karchung[20][21]	24	Thimphu
Bolivia	Carolina Urquiola[22]	23	La Paz
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Alisa Zlatarević[23]	20	Sarajevo
Botswana	Nametso Ngwako[24]	19	Serowe
Brazil	Tatiane Alves[25][26]	24	Conselheiro Lafaiete
Canada	Denise Garrido[27][28]	21	Bradford
China	Zhou Yingkun[29][30]	22	Shandong
Chinese Taipei	Tsai Yin-Yin[31]	22	Taipei
Colombia	Mariana Rodríguez[32]	20	Cali
Costa Rica	Wendy Cordero[33]	20	Cartago
Cuba	Jessica Silva[34]	18	Camagüey
Czech Republic	Hana Svobodová[35][36]	19	Zadní Zhořec
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Olga Yumba[37]	21	Kasai-Oriental
Dominican Republic	Diana González Flores[38][39]	18	San Francisco de Macorís
Ecuador	Andrea Carolina León[40][41]	20	Machala
El Salvador	Teresita Gómez[42][43]	23	San Salvador
England	Caroline Duffy[44]	21	York
Ethiopia	Kidan Tesfahun[45]	24	Addis Ababa
Finland	Minna Nikkilä[46]	21	Tampere
France	Charlotte Lagauzere[47][48][49]	24	Bayonne
Georgia	Sopiko Svimonishvili[50]	20	Rustavi
Germany	Dayana Schult[51][52]	18	Schwerin
Ghana	Sara Adoley Addo[53]	24	Accra
Greece	Ria Antoniou[54][55]	19	Athens
Guadeloupe	Jennifer Desbouiges[56]	22	Basse-Terre
Guam	Jennifer Neves[57]	26	Hagatña
Honduras	Kenia Andrade[58][59][60]	22	Atlántida
Hungary	Krisztina Polgár[61]	21	Törökszentmiklós
India	Tanvi Vyas[62][63]	22	Vadodara
Indonesia	Hedhy Kurniati[64][65]	22	Jakarta
Israel	Lin Mor[66]	18	Tel Aviv
Italy	Caterina Pasquale[67][68]	24	Crotone
Jamaica	Simone Burke[69][70]	21	St. Andrew
Japan	Akemi Fukumura[71][72]	26	Tokyo
Kosovo	Yllka Berisha[73][74]	20	Pristina
Latvia	Anita Baltruna[75]	25	Jelgava
Lebanon	Pamela Saadé[76]	25	Jounieh
Liberia	Marit Woods[77][78]	21	Monrovia
Lithuania	Ingrida Kazlauskaite[79][80]	24	Kaunas
Luxembourg	Nadia Neves Pereira[81]	22	Luxembourg
Macau	Qian Wei-Na[82]	22	Macau
Malaysia	Audrey Ng[83]	23	Perak
Malta	Maria Galea[84]	18	Valletta
Martinique	Frédérique Violene Grainville[85]	18	Fort-de-France
Mexico	Abigail Elizalde[86][87][88]	23	Torreón
Netherlands	Melanie de Laat[89][90]	22	Utrecht
New Zealand	Rachel Crofts[91][92]	20	Manawatu
Nicaragua	Thelma Rodríguez[93][94][95]	19	Chinandega
Nigeria	Ezinne Uko [96][97][98]	22	Lagos
Northern Ireland	Gemma Walker[99][100]	23	Slievemore
Pakistan	Nosheen Idrees[101][102][103]	22	Jhelum
Panama	Shassia Ubillús[104][105][106]	25	Panama City
Peru	Giuliana Zevallos[107][108][109]	20	Loreto
Philippines	Karla Henry[110][111]	22	Cebu City
Poland	Karolina Filipkowska[112][113]	20	Łódź
Republic of the Congo	Katissia Kouta[114]	23	Brazzaville
Romania	Ruxandra Popa[115]	21	Abrud
Russia	Anna Mezentseva[116][117]	23	Moscow
Rwanda	Cynthia Akazuba[118]	18	Kigali
Scotland	Courtney St. John[119][120][121]	22	Glasgow
Serbia	Bojana Traljic[122][123]	18	Subotica
Singapore	Ivy Leow Kian Peng[124][125][126]	25	Singapore
Slovakia	Martina Tóthová[127][128]	20	Piešťany
Slovenia	Sara Frančeškin[129][130][131]	18	Ljubljana
South Africa	Matapa Maila[132][133][134]	23	Limpopo
South Korea	Seol-hee Seo[135][136][137]	19	Daegu
South Sudan	Nok Nora Duany[138]	18	Juba
Spain	Adriana Reverón[139][140][141]	23	Tenerife
Suriname	Priscilla Yhap[142]	22	Paramaribo
Sweden	Fanny Blomé[143][144]	18	Norrköping
Switzerland	Nasanin Nuri[145][146][147]	21	Teheran
Tahiti	Vahinetua Flaccadori[148][149]	19	Papeete
Tanzania	Miriam Odemba[150][151][152]	25	Arusha
Thailand	Piyaporn Deejing[153][154]	19	Nakhon Ratchasima
Turkey	Demet Karadeniz[155][156]	25	Ankara
Turks and Caicos	Sessily Pratt[157]	18	Providenciales
Uganda	Daisy Nabagereka[158][159][160][161]	22	Kampala
United States	Jana Murrell[162][163]	26	Omaha
Venezuela	Daniela Torrealba[164][165][166]	19	San Cristóbal
Wales	Jamie Lee Williams[167][168]	22	Powys

Notes

Debuts

•  Bhutan
•  Congo DR
•  Guam
•  Luxembourg
•  Malta
•  Rwanda
•  Scotland
•  Serbia
•  South Sudan

Returns

• Last competed in 2001:
  •  Turkey
• Last competed in 2003:
  •  Hungary
  •  Kosovo
• Last competed in 2005:
  •  Jamaica
• Last competed in 2006:
  •  Greece
  •  Honduras
  •  Pakistan
  •  Panama
  •  Russia
  •  Tahiti

Withdrawals

•  Belize
•  Cameroon
•  Denmark
•  Fiji
•  Guatemala
•  Hong Kong
•  Iceland
•  Kazakhstan
•  Kenya
•    Nepal
•  Niue
•  Norway
•  Paraguay
•  Sierra Leone
•  Saint Lucia
•  Tibet
•  Trinidad and Tobago
•  US Virgin Islands
•  Zambia
•  Zimbabwe

Did not compete

•  Ukraine – Olha Bilousova
•  Vietnam – Miss Tourism Vietnam 2008 Phan Thị Ngọc Diễm was invited by the Elite to participate in the contest and on the official fanpage also posted pictures with her personal information. However, she later said she did not officially participate in the competition. Explaining this, Ms. Nguyễn Thị Thúy Nga - CEO of Elite Company said her profile could not be completed in time to submit to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has not found a truly suitable representative. Later, Carousel Productions removed her image and Vietnam officially withdrew from the competition this year.

Other notes

• Harshita Saxena surrendered her Miss India Earth title, paving way for Tanvi Vyas, who became Pantaloons Femina Miss India Earth 2008.^[169][170]
• Debby Gommeren was a replacement of Barbara van den Bussche, the original winner for an unknown reason.
• Akemi Fukumura (Japan) replaced Mayu Kato, the original contestant for unknown reason.