Miss Universe 2024
Miss Universe 2024 was the 73rd Miss Universe pageant, held at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico, on 16 November 2024.
Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua crowned Victoria Theilvig of Denmark as her successor at the conclusion of the event. This was Denmark's first win in the pageant's history.
Contestants from a record 125 countries and territories competed in the pageant, surpassing the previous record of 94 entrants set in 2018.
Background
Location and date
On 18 November 2023, at the Miss Universe 2023 pageant, Raúl Rocha, the owner of Legacy Holding Group USA Inc., announced that the 73rd edition of the Miss Universe pageant would be held in Mexico, which last hosted the pageant in 2007.On 24 August 2024, the organizers announced that the pageant would be held at the Mexico City Arena, also known as Arena CDMX, on 16 November, with the preliminary rounds on 14 November.
Selection of participants
In September 2023, during the Tanner Fletcher show at New York Fashion Week, Miss Universe 2022 R'Bonney Gabriel confirmed that the Miss Universe Organization had removed age restrictions for contestants over the age of 18, which were introduced following the 2023 pageant. Before this, the pageant had restricted participation to women between ages 18–28 on the year of the pageant, outside of special circumstances. Also, height and weight restrictions were removed.After the Miss Universe Organization allowed married women and women with children to compete starting in 2023, and confirmed in 2024 that age restrictions for contestants over 18 had been removed, this year's roster was widely praised for its diversity and inclusivity, especially in comparison to past editions. Miss Universe 2024 saw a significant increase in diversity, with contestants of various ages and backgrounds, including mothers, a married woman, and the oldest contestant at 40. By eliminating the upper age limit, the pageant has now opened its doors to women of all ages. Among the contestants in this edition were Ashley Callingbull of Canada, the first Indigenous Canadian contestant in Miss Universe, Logina Salah of Egypt, the first woman with vitiligo, Shyanne McIntosh of Gibraltar, the shortest contestant in Miss Universe history, and Khadija Omar of Somalia, the first hijabi woman to compete in Miss Universe. Furthermore, the edition also saw the participation of married women and mothers to compete in the pageant, with participation of Emma Avanesyan of Armenia, Aniqa Alam of Bangladesh, Luana Cavalcante of Brazil, Elena Vian of Bulgaria, Davin Prasath of Cambodia, Ashley Callingbull of Canada, Elena Hidalgo of Costa Rica, Logina Salah of Egypt, Diana Brichs of Equatorial Guinea, Stephanie Cam of Honduras, Beatrice Njoya of Malta, Faith Landman of the Netherlands, Chidimma Adetshina of Nigeria, Jennifer Colón of Puerto Rico, Loredana Salanță of Romania, Judith Ngussa of Tanzania, Emilia Dobreva of the United Arab Emirates, Ileana Márquez of Venezuela, and Brandina Lubuli of Zambia.
Replacements
Franki Russell was initially appointed as the representative for New Zealand. However, the franchise owner withdrew her representation and relinquished its franchise, citing non-compliance with guidelines set by the Miss Universe Organization. Subsequently, a new organization was awarded the franchise and Victoria Vincent was named the new representative.Fay Asghari was the original winner of the Miss Universe Persia 2024 pageant, which selects the Iranian representative in Miss Universe. However, Asghari eventually relinquished her crown due to conflict with her work, and was replaced by her first runner-up Ava Vahneshan.
Andrea Radford won Miss Universe Guatemala in July but relinquished her title after becoming pregnant. She was replaced by her first runner-up, Gabriela Villanueva.
Irina Zakharova was originally crowned as Miss Universe Armenia 2024 but faced backlash from the Armenian public after being identified as a Russian national. Eventually, the Miss Universe Organization disqualified her, indicating that she had violated rules on the eligibility to participate. She was then replaced by Emma Avanesyan, one of her runner-ups.
Emma Heyst originally won the title of Miss Denmark 2024 and was entitled to represent Denmark in the Miss Universe 2024 competition. However, due to inadequate preparation for the event, she withdrew from the competition in September and was replaced by Victoria Theilvig, who subsequently won the title of Miss Universe 2024.
Karyna Kisialiova was crowned as the very first Miss Universe Belarus.
She and Miss Queen Belarus Organization withdrew for unknown reasons. Miss Belarus 2023 winner Eleonora Kachalovskaya was appointed the new representative by its new franchise holder and national director.
Debuts, returns, and withdrawals
This edition marked the debuts of Belarus, Eritrea, Guinea, Iran, Macau, the Maldives, Moldova, North Macedonia, Somalia, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan.Additionally, this edition featured the returns of Cuba, which last competed in 1967; Fiji in 1981; Guadeloupe and Martinique in 1984; Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Samoa in 1986; Senegal in 1987; Gibraltar in 1990; Bonaire and Suriname in 1999; Hong Kong in 2000; Cyprus in 2012; Botswana and Estonia in 2013; Turks and Caicos Islands in 2014; Montenegro and Serbia in 2015; Sri Lanka and Zambia in 2018; Bangladesh, New Zealand, Tanzania, and the United States Virgin Islands in 2019; Israel, Kenya, and Romania in 2021; and Armenia, Belize, China, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Uruguay last competed in 2022.
Italy Mora of Panama was disqualified during the pageant due to leaving the hotel without consent from the Miss Universe Organization. This decision was made by the Disciplinary Committee of Miss Universe Organization jointly with their local franchise holder.
Prior to the preliminary competition, Edona Bajrami of Kosovo and Mia le Roux of South Africa withdrew for health reasons. Bahar Mirzayeva of Azerbaijan was supposed to compete, but did not show up in the host country.
New crown
On 14 November, the pageant unveiled the "Lumière de l’Infini" as the 13th crown used in the history of the pageant. The crown, provided by Jewelmer, is adorned with diamonds and 23 golden south sea pearls. Created over the span of two years, the crown was crafted by Filipino craftsmen using traditional techniques from Place Vendôme.The choice of material for the new crown, sourced from the Philippines, has garnered mixed reactions. An indigenous group from the region where the pearls were collected, the Sambilog-Balik Bugsuk Movement, issued an open letter to the eventual winner, Kjær Theilvig. The letter expressed concerns regarding the crown's connection to the experiences of Indigenous Peoples on Bugsuk Island and encouraged her to use her platform to raise awareness of the challenges faced by marginalized groups globally.
Pageant
Format
The number of semifinalists in this edition increased from twenty to thirty, marking the highest number of semifinalists in the history of the pageant. The preliminary competition, consisting of the swimsuit segment, evening gown and closed-door interviews, determined the semifinalists for the pageant. Four continental queens and one fan-vote winner automatically advanced to the semifinals. The initial group of semifinalists then competed in the swimsuit segment, from which twelve contestants progressed to the evening gown competition. Subsequently, five contestants advanced to the question-and-answer round, where the winner and her four runners-up were announced.Selection committee
- Camila Guiribitey – Cuban philanthropist and entrepreneur
- Emilio Estefan – Latin musician and music producer from Cuba
- Eva Cavalli – Fashion designer and Miss Universe 1977 1st Runner-up from Austria
- Fariana – Colombian actress and singer
- Gabriela González – Mexican fashion designer
- Gary Nader – Lebanese-Dominican art collector
- Gianluca Vacchi – Italian entrepreneur, internet personality, and President of SEA Societa Europea Autocaravan
- Jessica Carrillo – Mexican news reporter at Telemundo
- Lele Pons – Venezuelan-American singer, actress, and YouTube personality
- Margaret Gardiner – Journalist and Miss Universe 1978 from South Africa
- Michael Cinco – Filipino fashion designer based in Dubai
- Nova Stevens – Advocate and Miss Universe Canada 2020
Results
Placements
§ – Voted into the Top 30 by viewersΔ – Placed into the Top 30 as a continental queen
Continental Queens
The Continental Queens were revealed at the press conference following the final competition. The winners were the ones who ranked the highest in their respective continents in the preliminary competition and was chosen regardless of their final placement in the competition.| Continental Group | Contestant | |||||||||||||||||
| Africa & Oceania |  NigeriaSpecial awardsAfter the preliminary competition, special awards were given to the national directors and contestants who demonstrated their dedication and passion for the Miss Universe organization.
|
Honduras
Philippines
Bolivia
Albaniasortname|Franceska|Rustem