Miss World 1970
Encyclopedia
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. 58 contestants competed for the Miss World. Jennifer Hosten
Jennifer Hosten
Jennifer Josephine Hosten won the Miss World 1970 contest, representing Grenada. She became the first woman from her country to win the title. Her winning made a complete outrage among newsmen, pageant fans and feminist groups....
from Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
won the crown of Miss World 1970. However the event was marked by controversy in the days beforehand, during the contest itself and afterwards.
Results
| Final Results | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss World 1970 |
|
| 1st Runner-up |
|
| 2nd Runner-up |
 Israel - Irith Lavi |
| 3rd Runner-up |
 Sweden - Marjorie Christel Johansson |
| 4th Runner-up |
 South Africa - Jillian Jessup |
| Finalists |
 Brazil - Sônia Yara Guerra United Kingdom - Yvonne Anne Ormes |
| Semi-finalists |
 Australia - Valli Kemp Ecuador - Sofia Monteverde Nimbriotis Guyana - Jennifer Diana Evan Wong India - Heather Corinne Faville Philippines - Minerva Manalo Cagatao United States - Sandra Anne Wolsfeld |
Contestants
- ' - Pearl Gladys Jansen
Argentina - Patricia Maria Charré Salazar- Australia - Valli Kemp
Austria - Rosemarie Resch
The Bahamas - June Justina Brown
Belgium - Francine Martin
Brazil - Sonia Yara Guerra
Canada - Norma Joyce Hickey- ' - Yolanda Shahzali Ahlip
Colombia - Carmelina Bayona Vera
Cyprus - Louiza Anastadiades
Denmark - Winnie Hollman
Dominican Republic - Fatima Shecker- Ecuador - Sofia Virginia Monteverde Nimbriotis
Finland - Hannele Hamara
Early Modern France - Micheline Beaurain
The Gambia - Margaret Davies
Germany - Dagmar Eva Ruthenberg
Gibraltar - Carmen Gomez
Greece - Julie Vardi
Grenada - Jennifer Josephine Hosten- Guyana - Jennifer Diana Evan Wong
- ' - Patricia Hollman
Hong Kong - Ann Lay
Iceland - Anna Hansdottir- India - Heather Corinne Faville
Republic of Ireland - Mary Elizabeth McKinley- Israel - Irith Lavi
Italy - Marika de Poi
Jamaica - Elizabeth Ann Lindo
Japan - Hisayo Nakamura- ' - Lee Jung-Hee
Lebanon - Georgina RizkGeorgina RizkGeorgina Rizk was Lebanon's first and so far only Miss Universe.Rizk was born in Beirut to a Christian household. She was crowned in the Miss Universe pageant in 1971 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA. She was the first woman from the Middle East and the fourth woman from Asia to win the title...
Liberia - Mainusa Wiles
Luxembourg - Rita Massard
Malaysia - Mary Ann Wong
Malta - Tessa Marthese Galea
Mauritius - Florence Muller
Mexico - Libia Zulema Lopez Montemayor
New Zealand - Glenys Elizabeth Treweek
Nicaragua - Evangelina Lacayo
Nigeria - Stella Owivri
Norway - Aud Fosse
Philippines - Minerva Manalo Cagatao
Portugal - Ana Maria Diozo Lucas
Puerto Rico - Alma Doris Perez
Seychelles - Nicole Barallon- South Africa - Jillian Elizabeth Jessup
Spain - Josefina Román Gutiérrez- Sweden - Marjorie Christel Johansson
Switzerland - Sylvia Christina Weisser
Thailand - Tuanjai Amnakamart
Tunisia - Kaltoum Khouildi
Turkey - Afet Tugbay- United Kingdom - Yvonne Anne Ormes
- United States - Sandra Anne Wolsfeld
Venezuela - Tomasa Nina (Tomasita) de las Casas- ' - Teresa Djelmis
Debuts
- Africa South, Grenada, and Mauritius competed in Miss World for the first time.
Returning countries
- Hong Kong and Puerto Rico last competed in 1959Miss World 1959Miss World 1959, the ninth annual Miss World pageant, was held on November 10, 1959 at Lyceum Theatre, London, United Kingdom and was the first to be televised by the BBC. 37 contestants competed for the Miss World...
. - Spain last competed in 1964Miss World 1964Miss World 1964, the 14th Miss World pageant, was won by Ann Sidney of United Kingdom. It took place on November 12, 1964 at the Lyceum Theatre in London, UK.-Results:-Contestants:*' - Ana Maria Soria*' - Regina Croes...
. - Malaysia last competed in 1966Miss World 1966Miss World 1966, the 16th Miss World pageant, was won by Reita Faria of India. It took place on November 17, 1966 at the Lyceum Theatre in London, UK.-Results:-Contestants:*' - Graciela Guardone*' - Reina Patricia Hernandez...
. - Ceylon, Italy, and Thailand last competed in 1968Miss World 1968Miss World 1968, the 18th Miss World pageant was held at Lyceum Theatre, London, United Kingdom on November 14, 1968. 53 contestants competed for the crown...
.
Historical significance
- Philippines last placed in 1968.
- Ceylon places for the third time, last placed in 1963.
Protests and controversy
There was controversy before the contest began because the organisers had allowed two entries from South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, one black, one white. On the evening of the contest, a bomb exploded under a BBC outside broadcast van in an unsuccessful attempt by the Angry Brigade
The Angry Brigade
The Angry Brigade was a small British militant group responsible for a series of bomb attacks in Britain between 1970 and 1972.-History:During the summer of 1968 there were a number of demonstrations in London against the American involvement in the Vietnam War, centred on the American Embassy in...
to prevent the contest being televised. There were no injuries. The audience then had to enter the hall past noisy demonstrators who were penned behind barricades.
During the evening there were protests by Women's Liberation activists. They held up placards, shouted, blew whistles, and threw smoke bombs, stink bombs, ink bombs and leaflets onto the stage. The comedian, Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, was also heckled during the proceedings.
Even greater controversy then followed after the result was announced. Jennifer Hosten
Jennifer Hosten
Jennifer Josephine Hosten won the Miss World 1970 contest, representing Grenada. She became the first woman from her country to win the title. Her winning made a complete outrage among newsmen, pageant fans and feminist groups....
won and the black contestant from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
was placed second. The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and newspapers received numerous protests about the result and accusations of racism were made by all sides. Four of the nine judges had given first-place votes to Miss Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, while Miss Grenada received only two firsts, yet the Swedish entrant finished fourth. Furthermore the Prime Minister of Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
, Sir Eric Gairy
Eric Gairy
Sir Eric Matthew Gairy was the first Prime Minister of Grenada, serving from Grenada`s independence in 1974 until his overthrow in a coup by Maurice Bishop in 1979...
, was on the judging panel. Inevitably there were many accusations that the contest had been rigged. Some of the audience gathered in the street outside Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
after the contest and chanted "Swe-den, Swe-den". Four days later the organising director, Julia Morley, resigned because of the intense pressure from the newspapers. Years later Miss Sweden, Maj Christel Johansson, was reported as saying that she had been cheated out of the title. (In 1979 Eric Gairy was overthrown as Prime Minister of Grenada because of corruption, favouritism and abuses of human rights.)
Julia Morley's husband, Eric Morley
Eric Morley
Eric Douglas Morley was born in Holborn, London, England. He was the founder of the Miss World pageant. He was married to now head of the pageant Julia Morley from 1960.-Life and career:...
, was the chairman of the company (Mecca) that owned the Miss World franchise. To disprove the accusations, Eric Morley put the judging panel's ballot cards on view and described the complex "majority vote system". These cards showed that Jennifer Hosten had more place markings in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th positions over Miss Sweden and the other five finalists. Julia Morley then resumed her job. However many still felt Sir Eric Gairy on the judging panel had influenced the other judges to give Jennifer token placings.