Miss Universe 1954

Miss Universe 1954 was the third Miss Universe pageant, held at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States on 24 July 1954.

Miss Universe 1954
Miriam Stevenson
Date	24 July 1954 (1954-07-24)
Presenters	Bob Russell
Venue	Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California, United States
Entrants	33
Placements	16
Debuts	Argentina Brazil Costa Rica El Salvador Honduras New Zealand Singapore South Korea Thailand West Indies
Withdrawals	Austria Denmark Hawaii South Africa Switzerland Turkey Venezuela
Returns	Chile Cuba Hong Kong Israel
Winner	Miriam Stevenson United States
Congeniality	Efi Androulakakis (Greece[a])
← 1953 1955 →

At the end of the event, Christiane Martel of France crowned Miriam Stevenson of the United States as Miss Universe 1954.^[1][2] It was the first victory of the United States in the history of the pageant. Stevenson became the first Miss Universe to concurrently hold both Miss USA and Miss Universe titles.^[3]

Contestants from thirty-three countries and territories competed in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Bob Russell. This edition also featured the Star of the Universe crown, which consisted of one-thousand Oriental cultured and black pearls set in solid gold and platinum, and was worth $500,000 USD.^[4] The crowned was also used for the next six editions.^[4]

Background

Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, the venue of Miss Universe 1954

Selection of participants

Contestants from thirty-three countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Two contestants were selected to replace the original dethroned winner.

Replacements

Kae Sun-hee, the first runner-up of Miss Korea 1954, was appointed to replace Miss Korea 1954 Pu Rak Hi after the latter's visa was rejected in order to enter the United States due to allegations that she has connections with communist groups.^[5][6] The same happened with Rika Dialina, Star Hellas 1954, where she was replaced by her first runner-up, Efi Androulakakis, after she posed for a book by a Greek communist despite having no communist sympathies.^[7] However, John Foster Dulles, the then United States Secretary of State, intervened in Dialina's case, and Dialina obtained a temporary entry permit because of this. Dialina arrived in Long Beach a few days before the preliminary competition, causing Androulakakis to withdraw from the competition. The organizers asked Androulakakis to remain in the competition as the representative of Crete, but Androulakakis refused. Although Androulakakis is no longer an official candidate, she was still hailed as Miss Congeniality.^[8] Amara Asavananda, the runner-up of Miss Thailand 1953, was appointed to replace Miss Thailand 1953 Anong Atchawatthana due to financial issues.^[9][10]

Debuts, returns, and withdrawals

The 1954 edition saw the debuts of Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and the West Indies, and the returns of Chile, Cuba, Hong Kong, and Israel who last competed in 1952. Gertrude Kapi'olani Miller of Hawaii withdrew due to undisclosed reasons. Berta Elena Landaeta of Venezuela withdrew after the pageant organizers could not disclose her whereabouts.^[11] Austria, Denmark, South Africa, Switzerland, and Turkey withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or designate a contestant.

Contestants from Guatemala and Nicaragua were also expected to compete, but was prohibited by their respective governments due to the political instability of Central America.^[11] Both countries started competing in the pageant in 1955.

Results

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss Universe 1954	United States – Miriam Stevenson[12]
1st runner-up	Brazil – Martha Rocha[12]
2nd runner-up	Hong Kong – Virginia June Lee[12]
3rd runner-up	West Germany – Regina Ernst[12]
4th runner-up	Sweden – Ragnhild Olausson[12]
Top 16	Argentina – Ivana Kislinger[13] Chile – Gloria Leguisos Mesina[13] Costa Rica – Marian Esquivel[13] France – Jacqueline Beer[13] Greece – Rika Dialina[13] Italy – Maria Paliani[13] Norway – Mona Stornes[13] Panama – Liliana Torre[13] Peru – Isabella León[13] Philippines – Blesilda Ocampo[13] Uruguay – Ana Moreno[13]

Special awards

Award	Contestant
Miss Friendship	Greece – Efi Androulakakis[14]
Miss Popular Girl	Brazil – Martha Rocha

Pageant

Format

Same with 1953, sixteen semi-finalists were chosen at the preliminary competition that consists of the swimsuit and evening gown competition. Each of the sixteen semi-finalists gave a short speech during the final telecast using their native languages. Afterwards, the sixteen semi-finalists paraded again in their swimsuits and evening gowns, and the five finalists were eventually chosen.^[13]

Selection committee

• Piper Laurie – American actress^[15]
• Julia Adams – American actress^[15]
• Suzan Ball – American actress^[15]
• Earl Wilson – American columnist and journalist^[15]
• Tom Kelley – American photographer^[15]

Contestants

Miss Universe 1954 participating countries and territories

Thirty-three contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age[b]	Hometown
Alaska	Charlein Lander[16]	18	Fairbanks
Argentina	Ivana Olga Kislinger[17]	22	Temperley
Australia	Shirley Bliss[18]	20	Narrandera
Belgium	Christiane Neckaerts[19]	19	Nodebais
Brazil	Martha Rocha[20]	21	Salvador
Canada	Joyce Mary Landry[21]	20	Toronto
Chile	Gloria Leguisos[22]	21	Santiago
Costa Rica	Marian Esquivel[23]	18	San José
Cuba	Isis Finlay[24]	20	Havana
El Salvador	Myrna Ros Orozco[25]	20	San Salvador
Finland	Lenita Airisto[26]	18	Helsinki
France	Jacqueline Beer[27]	21	Bois-Colombes
Greece	Rika Dialina[28]	22	Heraklion
Honduras	Lilliam Padilla[29]	21	Tegucigalpa
Hong Kong	Virginia June Lee[30]	20	Hong Kong
Israel	Aviva Pe’er[31]	18	Tel-Aviv
Italy	Maria Teresa Paliani	18	Rome
Japan	Mieko Kondo[32]	18	Nagoya
Mexico	Elvira Castillo[33]	19	Mexico City
New Zealand	Moana Manley[34]	18	Auckland
Norway	Mona Stornes[35]	19	Oslo
Panama	Liliana Torre[36]	18	Panama City
Peru	Isabella León Velarde[25]	18	Lima
Philippines	Blesilda Mueler Ocampo[37]	18	Manila
Puerto Rico	Lucy Santiago[38]	23	San Juan
Singapore	Marjorie Wee[39]	21	Singapore
South Korea	Kae Sun-hee[40]	19	Seoul
Sweden	Ragnhild Olausson[41]	19	Stockholm
Thailand	Amara Asavananda[42]	18	Phra Nakhon
United States	Miriam Stevenson[43]	21	Winnsboro
Uruguay	Ana Moreno[44]	22	Montevideo
West Germany	Regina Ernst[45]	18	Bremen
West Indies	Evelyn Andrade[46]	18	Kingston, Jamaica

Notes

1. Efi did not compete for the Miss Universe title
2. Ages at the time of the pageant