Miss Universe 1992, the 41st Miss Universe

Miss Universe

Miss Universe is an annual international beauty contest that is run by the Miss Universe Organization. The pageant is the most publicized beauty contest in the world with 600 million viewers....

 pageant, was held at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center

Queen Sirikit National Convention Center

The Queen Sirikit National Convention Center is a convention and exhibition hall in Bangkok, Thailand.-Facilities and location:...

, Bangkok

Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 on May 8, 1992. 78 international beauties competed for the Miss Universe crown.

At the conclusion of the final telecast, Michelle McLean

Michelle McLean

Michelle McLean was crowned Miss Universe in 1992. She was19 years old when she represented Namibia and became the first and only woman from Namibia to win the crown.-Miss World:...

 of Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

 was crowned Miss Universe 1992 by outgoing titleholder Lupita Jones

Lupita Jones

María Guadalupe "Lupita" Jones Garay became the first Mexican woman to win the title of Miss Universe in 1991.-Miss Universe 1991:...

 of Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. She was the first titleholder from Africa since Margaret Gardiner

Margaret Gardiner

Margaret Gardiner, from Woodstock, South Africa is the winner of the Miss Universe pageant in 1978. She was 18 years old when she won the pageant.. , Palm Beach Post . , St...

 in 1978

Miss Universe 1978

Miss Universe 1978, the 27th Miss Universe pageant, was held at Centro de Convenciones de Acapulco, Acapulco, Mexico on July 24, 1978. Seventy-five contestants competed in the event....

, and the first Namibian to place in the pageant in the six years her nation had been competing.

Delegates arrived in Thailand in late April for pre-pageant events, including the national costume competition and preliminary competitions held prior to the final telecast. The national costume competition took place on May 3.

The pageant was hosted by Dick Clark for the third consecutive year, and colour commentary was provided by Leeza Gibbons

Leeza Gibbons

Leeza Kim Gibbons is an American talk show host. Gibbons is the host of her own radio show, Hollywood Confidential, part of the United Stations radio syndication company.-Early life:...

 for the third time and Miss Universe 1989

Miss Universe 1989

Miss Universe 1989, the 38th Miss Universe pageant was held at Fiesta Americana Condesa Hotel, Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico on May 23, 1989. Angela Visser of Holland was crowned as Miss Universe 1989. Seventy-six contestants competed for the crown....

 Angela Visser

Angela Visser

Angela Visser is the first woman from the Netherlands to win the Miss Universe pageant in 1989.-Miss Universe:...

 for the second time.

This was the first time the pageant was held in Thailand, four years after Porntip Nakhirunkanok

Porntip Nakhirunkanok

Porntip Bui Nakhirunkanok aka Porntip Bui Simon is a Thai beauty queen who has held the title Miss Universe 1988. She became the second woman from Thailand to win the Miss Universe crown, the first being Apasra Hongsakula in 1965.-Biography:Nakhirunkanok was born in Chacheonsao, Thailand...

 won Thailand's second Miss Universe title in 1988

Miss Universe 1988

Miss Universe 1988, the 37th Miss Universe Pageant was held at Lin Kou Stadium, Taipei, Taiwan on May 24, 1988. Porntip Nakhirunkanok of Thailand was crowned the title of Miss Universe 1988. 66 contestants competed in the pageant...

.

Results

Placements

Result	Contestant
Miss Universe 1992	- Michelle McLean Michelle McLean Michelle McLean was crowned Miss Universe in 1992. She was19 years old when she represented Namibia and became the first and only woman from Namibia to win the crown.-Miss World:...
1st runner-up	- Paola Turbay Paola Turbay Paola Turbay Gómez is a Colombian-American actress of Lebanese descent, model, and television presenter.Turbay represented Bogotá in the Miss Colombia beauty pageant, which she won in 1991...
2nd runner-up	- Madhu Sapre Madhu Sapre Madhu Sapre is an Indian model from Maharashtra.-Early life:Sapre was born in Nagpur, into a Maharashtrian family which moved to Mumbai after her birth...
Top 6	Venezuela - Carolina Izsak Carolina Izsak Carolina Eva Izsák Keményfy is a Venezuelan beauty queen who competed in the 1992 Miss Universe pageant on May 8, 1992 and placed fourth after being the leader of the competition that night.-Early life:... - Vivian Jansen - Anke van Dermeersch
Top 10	- Georgina Denahy  United States - Shannon Marketic Shannon Marketic Shannon LaRhea Marketic , is a former beauty queen from Phoenix, Arizona who became Miss USA 1992.-Early life:Marketic was crowned Miss Arizona Teen USA 1989 but held the title for only a week and a half after it was discovered an error had been made and she had actually placed first... - Lisa Maree de Montalk - Monica Brodd Monica Brodd Monica Brodd won the beauty pageant Miss Sweden in 1992 and was in top 10 at Miss Universe the same year.- References :...

Semifinal scores

Delegate	Swimsuit	Interview	Evening Gown	Average	Top 6 Finalists
Venezuela	9.357 (1)	9.586 (2)	9.679 (1)	9.541 (1)	9.486 (4)
	9.221 (5)	9.643 (1)	9.607 (4)	9.490 (2)	9.514 (3)
	9.321 (2)	9.508 (5)	9.629 (2)	9.486 (3)	9.771 (1)
	9.243 (4)	9.529 (3)	9.614 (3)	9.462 (4)	9.643 (2)
	9.280 (3)	9.229 (9)	9.421 (5)	9.310 (5)	9.417 (5)
	8.986 (6)	9.526 (4)	9.361 (6)	9.291 (6)	9.257 (6)
	8.857 (7)	9.242 (8)	9.327 (7)	9.142 (7)
United States	8.721 (9)	9.350 (6)	9.250 (8)	9.107 (8)
	8.743 (8)	9.350 (6)	9.043 (9)	9.045 (9)
	8.686 (10)	8.786 (10)	8.971 (10)	8.814 (10)

Winner

First runner-up

Second runner-up

Top 6 finalist

Top 10 semifinalist Rank in each round of competition

Special awards

Award	Contestant
Best National Costume	- Pamela Zarza - Ornanong Panyawong - Virginia García
Miss Congeniality	' - Barbara Johnson
Miss Photogenic	- Soledad Diab
Catalina Catalina swimwear Catalina is one of the oldest apparel manufacturers in California and one of the best known names in the swimwear industry. Their history began in 1907, as Bentz Knitting Mills, a small manufacturer of underwear and sweaters. The name was changed to Pacific Knitting Mills in 1912, accompanied by...  Best in Swimsuit	Venezuela - Carolina Izsak Carolina Izsak Carolina Eva Izsák Keményfy is a Venezuelan beauty queen who competed in the 1992 Miss Universe pageant on May 8, 1992 and placed fourth after being the leader of the competition that night.-Early life:...

Judges

• Kim Alexis
  Kim Alexis
  Kim Alexis is an American model and actress.- Career :Alexis was one of the top models of the 1980s, identified along with Gia Carangi, Carol Alt, Christie Brinkley, Kelly Emberg, Iman, and Paulina Porizkova...
  
   – Former American model.
• Robin Leach
  Robin Leach
  Robin Douglas Leach is an English celebrity writer famous for hosting his first show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, in the mid-1980s and into the mid-1990s, which focused on profiling well-known celebrities and their lavish homes, cars and other materialistic endeavors...
  
   – English celebrity writer and host of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
  Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
  Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous is a television series that aired in syndication from 1984 to 1995. The show featured the extravagant lifestyles of wealthy entertainers, athletes and business moguls....
  
  .
• Miriam Makeba
  Miriam Makeba
  Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
  
   – South African singer and civil rights activist.
• Luis Enrique
  Luis Enrique (singer)
  Luis Enrique Mejía López, is a Nicaraguan singer and composer. He started his career in the late 1980s and achieved success in the 1990s earning the title "El Principe de la Salsa . He was one of the leading pioneers that led to the salsa romantica movement in the 1980s...
  
   – Nicaraguan singer and composer.
• Marion Dougherty – Casting director of Warner Bros. Studios
  Warner Bros.
  Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
  
  .
• Ron Duguay
  Ron Duguay
  Ronald Duguay is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach who played 12 seasons in the NHL from 1977 through 1989, and served four seasons as a minor league coach...
  
   – Canadian professional ice hockey player.
• Vijay Amritraj
  Vijay Amritraj
  Vijay Amritraj is a former Indian tennis player, sports commentator and actor.Amritraj was born in Chennai, India to Maggie Dhairyam and Robert Amritraj. He and his brothers, Anand Amritraj and Ashok Amritraj, were among the first Indians to play in top-flight international tour tennis...
  
   – Former Indian tennis player.
• Estelle Getty
  Estelle Getty
  Estelle Scher-Gettleman , better known by her stage name Estelle Getty, was an American actress, who appeared in film, television, and theatre...
  
   – American actress.
• Khunying Sasima Srivikorn – Thai businesswoman and CEO.

Contestants

• - Laura Rafael
• - Yerusha Rasmijn
• - Georgina Denahy
• - Katrin Friedl
• - Fontella Chipman
• - Anke van Dermeersch
• - Colita Joseph
• - Natasha Gabriella Arana
• - Maria Carolina Portella Otto
• - Alicia Burke
• - Michaella Dinova Nikolova
• - Nicole Dunsdon
• - Yvette Peggy Jordison
• - Marcela Vacarezza
  Marcela Vacarezza
  Marcela Paz Vacarezza Etcheverry is a Chilean television presenter and psychologist. She is the wife of TV presenter Rafael Araneda with whom she has three children, Martina, Florencia and Vicente....
  
  
• - Lidia Kuborskaya
• - Paola Turbay
  Paola Turbay
  Paola Turbay Gómez is a Colombian-American actress of Lebanese descent, model, and television presenter.Turbay represented Bogotá in the Miss Colombia beauty pageant, which she won in 1991...
  
  
• - Jeannine Tuavera
• - Jessica Manley Fredrich
• - Mijanou de Paula
• - Militsa Papadopolou
• - Michaela Maláčová
• - Anne Mette Voss
• - Liza Gonzales
• - Soledad Diab
• - Lamia Noshi Mohammed
• - Melissa Salazar
• - Kirsi Syrjanen
• - Linda Hardy
  Linda Hardy
  Linda Hardy is a French actress and model.-Biography:Hardy won the title of Miss France in 1992 and represented her country at Miss Universe and Miss World.-Movie career:...
  
  
• - Monica Resch
•  United Kingdom - Tiffany Stanford
• - Marina Tsintikidou
  Marina Tsintikidou
  Marina Tsintikidou is a Greek fashion model and presenter who has appeared on the covers of numerous Greek fashion magazines such as MAX. She won the title of "Star Hellas" in the Miss Star Hellas pageant in 1992. She also carries the honor of being the third Greek contestant to win the title of...
  
  
• - Cheryl Debra Payne
• - Nancy Maricela Perez
• - Monica Raquel Rapalo
• - Dora Patko
• - Svava Haraldsdóttir
• - Madhushri Sapre
• - Jane Thompson
• - Eynat Zmora

• - Bridgette Rhoden
• - Akiko Ando
• - Aisha Wawira Lieberg
• ' - Young-Hyun Lee
• - Abeer Sharrouf
• - Carole Redding
• - Crystal Yong
• - Julienne Camilleri
• - Stephanie Raymond
• - Monica Zuñiga
• - Michelle McLean
  Michelle McLean
  Michelle McLean was crowned Miss Universe in 1992. She was19 years old when she represented Namibia and became the first and only woman from Namibia to win the crown.-Miss World:...
  
  
• - Vivian Jansen
• - Lisa Maree de Montalk
• - Ida Patricia Delaney
• - Sandra Guenefred Petgrave
• ' - Imelda Antonio
• - Anne Sofie Galaen
• - Ana Cecilia Orillac
• - Pamela Zarza
• - Aline Arce Santos
• - Lizbeth Garcia Berroya
• - Izabela Filipowska
• - Maria Fernanda Silva
• - Daisy Garcia
• ' - Shih Hsiu Chieh
• - Corina Corduneanu
• - Cori Teo
• - Virginia García
• - Hiranthi Divapriya
• - Nancy Kasann
• - Monica Brodd
  Monica Brodd
  Monica Brodd won the beauty pageant Miss Sweden in 1992 and was in top 10 at Miss Universe the same year.- References :...
  
  
• - Sandra Aegerter
• - Ornanong Panyawong
• - Elif Ilgaz
• ' - Barbara Johnson
• - Gabriela Escobar Ventura
•  United States - Shannon Marketic
  Shannon Marketic
  Shannon LaRhea Marketic , is a former beauty queen from Phoenix, Arizona who became Miss USA 1992.-Early life:Marketic was crowned Miss Arizona Teen USA 1989 but held the title for only a week and a half after it was discovered an error had been made and she had actually placed first...
  
  
•  United States Virgin Islands - Cathy-Mae Sitaram
•  Venezuela - Carolina Izsak
  Carolina Izsak
  Carolina Eva Izsák Keményfy is a Venezuelan beauty queen who competed in the 1992 Miss Universe pageant on May 8, 1992 and placed fourth after being the leader of the competition that night.-Early life:...
  
  

Preliminary scores

Delegate	Swimsuit	Interview	Evening Gown	Average
Venezuela	9.39	9.47	9.57	9.477
Namibia	9.15	9.03	9.26	9.147
Belgium	8.94	9.10	8.91	8.983
Colombia	8.88	9.01	9.01	8.969
India	8.91	9.15	8.79	8.952
Netherlands	9.07	8.64	9.05	8.921
USA	8.79	9.10	8.74	8.874
Australia	8.54	9.21	8.66	8.805
New Zealand	8.89	8.97	8.51	8.789
Sweden	8.66	8.63	9.03	8.773

}|| 9.18|| 8.21|| 8.93|| 8.773
|-
| Turkey|| 8.62|| 8.87|| 8.74|| 8.743
|-
| U.S. Virgin Islands|| 8.81|| 8.90|| 8.50|| 8.737
|-
| Norway|| 8.67|| 8.69|| 8.84|| 8.733
|-
| Finland|| 8.81|| 8.53|| 8.81|| 8.717
|-
| Mexico|| 8.41|| 8.96|| 8.67|| 8.680
|-
| Dominican Republic|| 9.02|| 8.36|| 8.59|| 8.657
|-
| Bahamas|| 8.69|| 8.64|| 8.62|| 8.650
|-
| Puerto Rico|| 8.29|| 8.91|| 8.68|| 8.627
|-
| Thailand|| 8.53|| 8.67|| 8.62|| 8.607
|-
| Cook Islands|| 8.57|| 8.28|| 8.83|| 8.560
|-
| Czechoslovakia|| 8.77|| 8.60|| 8.31|| 8.560
|-
| Spain|| 8.34|| 8.76|| 8.56|| 8.553
|-
| Hungary|| 8.59|| 8.83|| 8.19|| 8.537
|-
| Israel|| 8.76|| 8.20|| 8.56|| 8.507
|-
| Germany|| 8.54|| 8.26|| 8.71|| 8.503
|-
| Chile|| 8.63|| 8.64|| 8.21|| 8.493
|-
| Paraguay|| 8.47|| 8.36|| 8.64|| 8.490
|-
| Panama|| 8.25|| 8.53|| 8.44|| 8.407
|-
| Canada|| 8.24|| 8.81|| 8.17|| 8.407
|-
| Ecuador|| 8.19|| 8.47|| 8.53|| 8.397
|-
| El Salvador|| 8.59|| 8.30|| 8.28|| 8.390
|-
| Switzerland|| 8.55|| 8.61|| 7.94|| 8.367
|-
| Jamaica|| 8.09|| 8.56|| 8.43|| 8.360
|-
| Cayman Islands|| 8.07|| 8.23|| 8.71|| 8.337
|-
| Philippines|| 8.13|| 8.53|| 8.34|| 8.333
|-
| Portugal|| 8.30|| 8.44|| 8.24|| 8.327
|-
| Poland|| 8.41|| 8.04|| 8.52|| 8.323
|-
| Guam|| 8.15|| 8.48|| 8.34|| 8.323
|-
| Mauritius|| 8.45|| 8.45|| 8.07|| 8.323
|-
| Brazil|| 8.17|| 8.64|| 8.04|| 8.283
|-
| Romania|| 8.17|| 8.25|| 8.34|| 8.253
|-
| Ireland|| 7.91|| 8.55|| 8.29|| 8.250
|-
| Cyprus|| 8.21|| 8.51|| 7.99|| 8.237
|-
| Uruguay|| 8.09|| 8.67|| 7.88|| 8.213
|-
| Korea|| 8.28|| 7.94|| 8.34|| 8.187
|-
| Greece|| 8.28|| 7.71|| 8.54|| 8.177
|-
| Bermuda|| 8.03|| 8.14|| 8.29|| 8.153
|-
| Kenya|| 7.73|| 8.78|| 7.89|| 8.133
|-
| Denmark|| 8.36|| 8.29|| 7.71|| 8.120
|-
| Great Britain|| 7.83|| 8.49|| 8.01|| 8.110
|-
| Commonwealth of Independent States|| 8.20|| 7.91|| 8.10|| 8.070
|-
| Argentina|| 8.16|| 8.01|| 7.99|| 8.053
|-
| Peru|| 7.75|| 7.89|| 8.52|| 8.053
|-
| Bolivia|| 7.63|| 8.80|| 7.68|| 8.037
|-
| Luxembourg|| 7.96|| 8.41|| 7.72|| 8.030
|-
| Nicaragua|| 7.75|| 8.37|| 7.74|| 7.953
|-
| Austria|| 7.97|| 8.03|| 7.78|| 7.927
|-
| Japan|| 8.12|| 8.00|| 7.63|| 7.917
|-
| Costa Rica|| 7.57|| 8.69|| 7.41|| 7.890
|-
| Sri Lanka|| 7.38|| 8.50|| 7.77|| 7.883
|-
| Singapore|| 7.59|| 7.96|| 8.02|| 7.857
|-
| Malaysia|| 8.00|| 7.59|| 7.80|| 7.797
|-
| Turks & Caicos|| 7.47|| 8.50|| 7.41|| 7.793
|-
| China/Taiwan|| 7.78|| 7.89|| 7.65|| 7.773
|-
| Bulgaria|| 7.71|| 7.87|| 7.66|| 7.747
|-
| Nigeria|| 7.29|| 8.11|| 7.61|| 7.670
|-
| Egypt|| 7.37|| 7.99|| 7.54|| 7.633
|-
| Northern Marianas|| 7.43|| 8.01|| 7.46|| 7.633
|-
| Aruba|| 7.20|| 8.12|| 7.54|| 7.620
|-
| British Virgin Islands|| 7.36|| 7.85|| 7.56|| 7.590
|-
| Honduras|| 7.16|| 7.84|| 7.76|| 7.587
|-
| Malta|| 7.19|| 8.02|| 7.48|| 7.563
|-
| Lebanon|| 7.26|| 8.06|| 7.29|| 7.537
|-
| Curaçao|| 7.37|| 7.89|| 7.33|| 7.530
|-
| Guatemala|| 7.18|| 7.98|| 7.40|| 7.520
|-
| Suriname|| 7.13|| 7.72|| 7.62|| 7.490
|-
| France|| X.XX||X.XX ||X.XX ||X.XXX
|-
|}

Winner

First runner-up

Second runner-up

Top 6 finalist

Top 10 semifinalist

Iceland placed eleventh, after a very low interview score, and was separated by one ten-thousandth of a point from the Top 10.

France's scores did not appear during the telecast.

Contestant notes

• A number of contestants had previously competed at or later competed in the Miss World
  Miss World
  The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951...
  
   pageant:
  • Cathy-Mae Sitaram of the US Virgin Islands competed at Miss World 1988
    Miss World 1988
    The 38th Miss World Pageant was held on November 17, 1988 in the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK. The winner was Linda Pétursdóttir from Iceland. Runner up was Yeon-hee Choi representing Korea and third was Kirsty Roper from the United Kingdom...
    
    .
  • Aisha Wawira Lieberg of Kenya competed at Miss World 1990
    Miss World 1990
    Miss World 1990, the 40th Miss World pageant was held on 8 November 1990 in the London Palladium, London, United Kingdom. The winner was Gina Tolleson, representing the United States.-Placements:-Special awards:-Continental Queens:...
    
    .
  • Miss Universe winner Michelle McLean
    Michelle McLean
    Michelle McLean was crowned Miss Universe in 1992. She was19 years old when she represented Namibia and became the first and only woman from Namibia to win the crown.-Miss World:...
    
     previously placed fourth runner-up at Miss World 1991
    Miss World 1991
    Miss World 1991, the 41st Miss World pageant, was held on December 28, 1991 in Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The winner was Ninibeth Beatriz Leal Jiménez representing Venezuela.-Results:-Order of Semi-finalists:# France# Turkey...
    
    . Top six finalist Anke Van Dermeersch of Belgium also competed at Miss World 1991 but did not place. Lisa Marie de Montaulk of New Zealand placed in the semi-finals at both pageants. Other contestants who competed at Miss World 1991 were: Yvette Peggy Jordison (Cayman Islands), Svava Haraldsdóttir (Iceland) and Sandra Aegerter (Switzerland).
  • Linda Hardy (France) and Sandra Guenefred Petgrave (Nigeria) competed at Miss World 1992
    Miss World 1992
    Miss World 1992, the 42nd Miss World pageant was held on December 12, 1992 in Sun City Entertainment Center, Sun City, South Africa. The winner was Julia Alexandrovna Kourotchkina from Russia.-Results:-Order of Semi-finalists:*1. Finland*2. Venezuela...
    
    .
• Einat Zamoa, who represented Israel, placed first runner-up in the Miss Israel pageant but was sent to Miss Universe because the winner, Ravit Asaf, was under the age restriction of 18 years.
• Miss Hong Kong 1991, Amy Kwok was expected to represent Hong Kong and even arrived in Bangkok, but was disqualified because she did not meet residency requirements. Kwok was a US resident who became the first overseas contestant to win the Miss Hong Kong title. The same issue came up again in Miss Universe 1996
  Miss Universe 1996
  Miss Universe 1996, the 45th Miss Universe pageant was held at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in the Aladdin Resort and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on May 17, 1996. Alicia Machado of Venezuela was crowned as Miss Universe 1996 by Miss Universe 1995 Chelsi Smith of USA. 79 contestants...
  
   when the winner Winnie Yeung was also a US citizen and she was disqualified. The 1st runner up in the pageant, Sofie Rahman was her replacement.
• Prior to the final telecast a sports analyst for USA Today
  USA Today
  USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
  
   picked Shannon Marketic
  Shannon Marketic
  Shannon LaRhea Marketic , is a former beauty queen from Phoenix, Arizona who became Miss USA 1992.-Early life:Marketic was crowned Miss Arizona Teen USA 1989 but held the title for only a week and a half after it was discovered an error had been made and she had actually placed first...
  
   (USA) and Carolina Izsak
  Carolina Izsak
  Carolina Eva Izsák Keményfy is a Venezuelan beauty queen who competed in the 1992 Miss Universe pageant on May 8, 1992 and placed fourth after being the leader of the competition that night.-Early life:...
  
   (Venezuela) as co-favourites to win the title, offering 4-1 odds.

Host city

Thailand anticipated holding the pageant as early as August 1991, when thousands of slum

Slum

A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...

 dwellers were evicted in order to improve the image of the city prior to a World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

 conference that was held in the city in October and the pageant.

The official announcement that Bangkok would host the pageant was made in December 1991, with the date initially set as May 16. In March the date was moved back to May 8 so that it would not clash with Wisakha Bucha Day, a Buddhist holiday.

Political crisis

The pageant was held amidst a political crisis in Thailand that culminated on 17 May in the Black May protests against the government of General Suchinda Kraprayoon

Suchinda Kraprayoon

Suchinda Kraprayoon was Prime Minister of Thailand from 7 April 1992 until 24 May 1992.Suchinda, son of Juang and Sompong Kraprayoon, was born 6 August 1933 in the province of Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, and is of Chinese and Mon descent...

. The day prior to the event the public relations director expressed fears that the show might have to be cancelled if the situation escalated, although the threat was played down by other pageant officials.