ABOUT THE MISS UNIVERSE ORGANIZATION

The MISS UNIVERSE®, MISS USA® and MISS TEEN USA® pageants are a Donald J. Trump and NBC Universal joint venture. Utilizing its nationwide grass roots infrastructure, the Miss Universe Organization is committed to increasing HIV/AIDS awareness by focusing on women’s health and reproductive issues. By forging relationships with organizations committed to research and education such as the Latino Commission on AIDS, God’s Love We Deliver, PSI/YouthAIDS, The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases and Gay Men’s Health Crisis.

For more information, visit: www.missuniverse.com.

Miss Universe 2010, the 59th edition of the pageant, will be held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA from

August 5 to August 23, 2010

Miss Universe 2009~~~Stefanía Fernández

Miss Universe 2009, Stefanía Fernández from Venezuela, will Crown her Successor at the end of this event. More than 80 countries and territories are expected to compete for the title.

MISS UNIVERSE 2009

Expected Contestants

@ June 12, 2010

59 Delegates have been Selected…

Country	Contestant	Age	Height (cm)	Height (ft)	Hometown
Angola	Jurema Ferraz	26	180	5’11”	Namibe
Argentina	Yesica di Vincenzo	22	174	5’8″	Mar del Plata
Aruba	Priscilla Lee	21	180	5’11”	Oranjestad
Bahamas	Braneka Bassett	20	176	5’9″	Freeport
Belgium	Cilou Annys	19	178	5’10”	Bruges
Bolivia	Claudia Arce	19	173	5’8″	Sucre
Brazil	Débora Lyra	20	180	5’11”	Divinópolis
British Virgin Islands	Josefina Nuñez	22	165	5’5″	Road Town
Colombia	Natalia Navarro	22	179	5’10”	Barranquilla
Costa Rica	Marva Wright	25	180	5’11”	San José
Croatia	Lana Obad	22	173	5’8″	Zagreb
Curaçao	Safira de Wit	20	181	5’11”	Willemstad
Cyprus	Demetra Olymbiou	22	174	5’8″	Aradippou
Czech Republic	Jitka Válková	18	169	5’6″	Třebíč
Dominican Republic	Eva Arias	24	178	5’10”	Moca
Ecuador	Lady Mina	23	170	5’7″	Guayaquil
Finland	Viivi Pumpanen	21	167	5’6″	Vantaa
France	Malika Ménard	22	176	5’9″	Caen
Georgia	Nanuka Gogichaishvili	20	177	5’10”	Tbilisi
Great Britain	Tara Hoyos-Martinez	20	168	5’6″	London
Guatemala	Alejandra Barillas	24	180	5’11”	Zacapa
Haiti	Sarodj Bertin	24	175	5’9″	Port-au-Prince
Hungary	Tímea Babinyecz	19	172	5’8″	Szeged
India	Ushoshi Sengupta	21	170	5’7″	Kolkata
Indonesia	Qory Sandioriva	18	173	5’8″	Aceh
Israel	Bat-El Jobi	21	172	5’8″	Afula
Japan	Maiko Itai	26	173	5’8″	Ōita
Kazakhstan	Symbat Madyarova	19	173	5’8″	Almaty
Korea	Kim Joo-ri	22	171	5’7″	Seoul
Kosovo	Kështjella Pepshi	22	178	5’10”	Junik
Malaysia	Nadine Thomas	23	169	5’6″	Subang Jaya
Mauritius	Dalysha Doorga	22	173	5’8″	Goodlands
Mexico	Jimena Navarrete	22	174	5’8″	Guadalajara
Montenegro	Marijana Pokrajac	23	179	5’10”	Kotor
New Zealand	Ria van Dyke	21	173	5’8″	Auckland
Nicaragua	Scharllette Allen	18	180	5’11”	Bluefields
Nigeria	Odalonu Ngozi	22	178	5’10”	Niger
Peru	Giuliana Zevallos	22	180	5’11”	Loreto
Philippines	Maria Venus Raj	21	175	5’9″	Bato
Poland	Maria Nowakowska	23	182	5’11”	Legnica
Puerto Rico	Mariana Vicente	21	173	5’8″	Rio Grande
Russia	Irina Antonenko	18	178	5’10”	Yekaterinburg
Serbia	Lidija Kocić	22	180	5’11”	Belgrade
Singapore	Tania Lim	22	175	5’9	Singapore City
Slovak Republic	Anna Amenová	25	173	5’8″	Bratislava
Slovenia	Marika Savšek	23	175	5’9″	Šmartno pri Litiji
South Africa	Nicole Flint	22	172	5’8″	Pretoria
Sweden	Michaela Savic	19	174	5’8″	Helsingborg
Switzerland	Linda Fäh	22	177	5’10”	Benken
Tanzania	Hellen Dausen	23	168	5’6″	Arusha
Thailand	Fonthip Watcharatrakul	19	170	5’7″	Samut Prakan
Trinidad & Tobago	La Toya Woods	24	178	5’10”	Couva
Turkey	Serenay Sarıkaya	18	175	5’9″	Ankara
Ukraine	Anna Poslavskaya	22	180	5’11”	Nova Kakhovka
Uruguay	Stephany Ortega	20	173	5’8″	Montevideo
USA	Rima Fakih	24	174	5’8″	Dearborn
US Virgin Islands	Janeisha John	22	173	5’8″	St. Croix
Venezuela	Marelisa Gibson	21	178	5’10”	Caracas
Zambia	Alice Musukwa	22	178	5’10”	Lusaka

Returning Countries and Territories

Guadeloupe last competed in 1984.
Haiti last competed in 1989.
British Virgin Islands last competed in 2002.
Botswana last competed in 2004.
US Virgin Islands last competed in 2007.
Denmark, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka and Trinidad & Tobago last competed in 2008.

Contestant Notes

Argentina: Yesica di Vincenzo is a half Italian. She represented Argentina at Miss Italia nel Mondo 2006 where she was a semifinalist. Later, she represented her country at Miss International 2008, but unplaced.
Brazil: Débora Lyra won the contest Top Model Of The World 2008 in Berlin, Germany.
Costa Rica: Marva Wright is the first Afro-Carribean woman to win the national crown of Miss Costa Rica.
Great Britain: Tara Hoyos-Martinez is the first Hispanic woman (her parents are from Colombia) to represent Great Britain in Miss Universe.
Haiti: Sarodj Bertin is the daughter of famous Haitian lawyer Mireille Durocher Bertin, who was assassinated in 1994. After her mother was assassinated, her family moved to the Dominican Republic.Sarodj is currently a lawyer practicing in the Dominican Republic, following the footsteps of her mother.
Nicaragua: Scharllette Allen is the first black woman to win the national crown of Miss Nicaragua.
Philippines: Binibining Pilipinas-Universe 2010 Maria Venus Raj was briefly dethroned after The Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Inc. (BPCI) discovered inconsistencies contained in her birth records, in contrast to her personal account of her birth. The BPCI later retracted its decision and announced that “for humanitarian reasons,” Raj would be allowed to reclaim her title if she is able to obtain a valid Philippine passport.Raj subsequently obtained a Philippine passport and was reinstated as the Philippines’ Miss Universe 2010 candidate.
USA: Rima Fakih is the first Arab-American and the first Muslim to win the Miss USA title.

Withdraws

Bulgaria – The Miss Bulgaria Organization will not compete Miss Universe 2010 for lack of sponsoring in the country.
Cayman Islands – On September 8, 2009, it was announced that the Miss Cayman Islands 2009 contest would not take place due to lack of funding and sponsorship. Since the winner of the said contest also competes in Miss World, there was no Caymanian representative to Miss World 2009 either.