Miss Universe 1977


Miss Universe 1977 was the 26th Miss Universe pageant, held at the National Theater in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on 16 July 1977.
At the conclusion of the event, Rina Messinger of Israel crowned Janelle Commissiong of Trinidad and Tobago as Miss Universe 1977. This was the first time a black woman won Miss Universe. It is also the first victory of Trinidad and Tobago in the pageant's history.
Contestants from eighty countries and territories participated in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Bob Barker in his eleventh consecutive year, while Helen O'Connell provided commentary and analysis throughout the event.

Background

Location and date

On 16 January 1977, Miss Universe Inc. announced that the 26th edition of the competition would be held at the National Theater in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on 16 July 1977. The reason why Miss Universe was held in the Dominican Republic was to "open the Dominican Republic to the world".

Selection of participants

Contestants from eighty countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. One candidate was selected to replace the original dethroned winner.

Replacements

Femina Miss India 1977 runner-up Bineeta Bose was selected to represent India after the father of Femina Miss India 1977, Nalini Vishwanathan, did not allow his daughter to participate in Miss Universe.

Debuts, returns, and, withdrawals

This edition saw the debuts of Antigua, the British Virgin Islands, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Réunion, Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, and Saint Lucia, and the returns of Tahiti which last competed in 1962; and Belize, Haiti, and Lebanon which last competed in 1975.
Marta Elisa Tirado of Guatemala and Jeannette Colling of Luxembourg withdrew for undisclosed reasons. Manolya Onur of Turkey withdrew because she had already participated twice. Patricia Vatble of Martinique was supposed to competed in this edition. However, Vatble was disqualified from the competition because she did not meet the age requirement.

Pageant

Format

Same with 1971, twelve semi-finalists were chosen at the preliminary competition that consists of the swimsuit and evening gown competition. The twelve semi-finalists participated in the casual interview, swimsuit, and evening gown competitions. From twelve, five finalists were shortlisted to advance to the final interview.

Selection committee

Contestants

Eighty contestants competed for the title.
Country/TerritoryContestantAgeHometown