A tribute to the beautiful women of Mexico!
As we get prepared to move on to the second half of this long and exciting Miss Universe pageant, GB decided to pay tribute to a few beautiful women of Mexico, those who represented the Aztec nation at the Miss Universe pageant from 1952 to 2006. There's been ups and downs in the always caliente relationship between Mexico and Miss Universe, which culminated with its first, and so far only victory, in 1991, with Lupita Jones.
Mexico's participation at Miss Universe started out well in the 1950's, when in the Long Beach years it had a 3rd runner-up, Ana Bertha Lepe Jiménez, in 1953 (photo, left), and two semi-finalists (1952 and 1956). What followed though, was a huge dry spell: twenty-two years without a single placement among Miss U's semi-finalists!
Acapulco hosted the pageant in 1978, and it was then that the spell was finally broken: Alba Margarita Cervera Lavat was a semi-finalist.
Then, another low-profile decade followed, when in 1988, a beautiful girl from Puebla who attended by the name of Amanda Olivares flew to Taiwan and became the only "western" candidate to place among the 5 finalists. Amanda conquered the third position, up to that moment Mexico's best result in history.
It was the beginning of a 4-year Mexican streak (a record which could be tied in 2007), since in 1989, when Miss Universe was celebrated in Cancun, Adriana Abascal López Cisneros was the 4th runner-up, in 1990 María de los Ángeles (Marilé) del Rosario Santiago (uff!) reached the "top 6" in Hollywood, and finally, in 1991, María Guadalupe Jones Garay, or simply Lupita Jones, became Mexico's first Miss Universe (photo, below right).
Mexico City hosted the pageant in 1993, and when Miss Mexico was not called among the semi-finalists, an unexpected reaction from those attending the pageant at the National Auditorium, shocked the world: Mexicans booed the judges' choice for at least some 5 minutes, and were even ruder to Miss USA every time she came on stage. That showed how passionate and patriotic Mexicans can be!
With Lupita Jones as national director, Mexico's national pageant (Nuestra Belleza) got a new boost. Under Lupita's rule, Mexico had a Top 6 finalist in 1996 (Vanessa Guzmán Niebla), a semi-finalist in 1999 (Silvia Salgado Cavazos), another semi-finalist in 2004 (Rosalva Yazmín Luna Ruiz), a third runner-up in 2005 (Laura Elizondo Erhard), and a Top 10 semi-finalist last year (Silvia Priscila Perales Elizondo). In addition to that, Lupita's girls have been conquering great results at Miss World as well, including a 1st runner-up placement in 2005.
Some of them have pursued careers in the showbiz and are today popular actresses, singers and television presenter. It all shows that Lupita must be doing something right!
Now that Miss Universe is being held in Mexico again, the pressure is on Rosa Maria Ojeda's shoulders, and she seems to be dealing with it just fine. Rosa is among this year's hot favorites for the crown.
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Who is Mexico's most beautiful Miss Universe representative in history?
As part of this tribute, GB decided to elect the most beautiful Miss Mexico Universe of all times. We conducted a quick survey with 5 pageant historians, including three from Mexico. They were asked to pick their five all-time favorites and write quick comments on them. Our judges were Arturo Garcia, GB contributor from Mexico, Lestat de Lioncourt, owner and editor of El Anecdotario, one of the best pageant-related web sites around, Lizbeth Trujillo Cortés, Mexican artist and pageant-lover, Alberto Dubal, one of Brazil's greatest pageant historians and writers, and Greg Borowski, the Miami-based man who knows all about Miss Universe and attended Miss Universe 1978, in Acapulco.
Who did they pick? We shall start with the 4th runner-up, and the 4th runner-up is...
5th Place - LUPITA JONES - Miss Universe 1991
Although ironically the only Mexican to have captured the Miss Universe crown did not receive a single 1st-place vote from our judges, she was the only one mentioned by all 5 (2 - 2 - 4 - 4 - 5). Lizbeth Trujillo describes Lupita as "not only the first and only Mexican to have won the Miss Universe pageant, but also a business woman with vision, who took the Mexican pageant to a higher level". Lestat describes Lupita as "beautiful, intelligent, and the most successful and well-known Mexican beauty queen in the world".
4th Place - MARILÉ DEL ROSARIO SANTIAGO - Miss Mexico Universe 1990 - Top 6 finalist
Who could forget the very confident Marilé del Rosario Santiago, Miss Mexico Universe 1990 and our 3rd runner-up? Greg Borowski, who voted for her in first place, had this to say about this Mexican stunner: "With flawless skin, elegant with “joie de vie”, and best in swimsuit by far that year, I honestly thought she was going to go further in the competition. Absolutely marvelous!". Marilé also received a 5th-place vote.
3rd Place - SILVIA SALGADO - Miss Mexico Universe 1999 - Top 10 semi-finalist
In the last Miss Universe of the last millennium, Trinidad and Tobago welcomed beauties from all over the globe and witnessed a few "surprises", such as Silvia Salgado's low placement. With one of the most beautiful faces ever seen in the pageant, she was a favorite for the crown, and nobody understood why she was stopped by the judges so early in the competition. Alberto Dubal, who voted for her, remembers: "She was amazingly beautiful and elegant, but for some reason Silvia did not shine that night. Still, she remains my absolute #1 Mexican beauty". Other two judges voted for her in 3rd place.
2nd Place - LAURA ELIZONDO - Miss Mexico Universe 2005 - 3rd Runner-up
Yes, Mexico does well in Asian venues. After Amanda's 3rd place in Taiwan 17 years earlier, Laura Elizondo finished the competition in 4th place in Thailand. This time though, all 5 finalists came from the Americas. Lizeth, who voted for Laura as the best Mexican Miss Universe delegate of all times, believes that "she was charismatic, beautiful, elegant! Her interview was perfect, she made me feel proud to be Mexican, and leaving any time of patriotic sentiment aside, I believe she deserved a better placement". Laura received a 2nd, a 3rd and a 5th place votes as well.
THE ALL-TIME MOST BEAUTIFUL MISS U'S MEXICAN CONTESTANT IS...
AMANDA OLIVARES, MISS MEXICO UNIVERSE 1988 - 2ND RUNNER-UP THAT YEAR AND OUR WINNER!!
Her face was the picture of perfection; in her semi-final interview, Amanda showed charisma, brains, sense of humor (we wonder if she actually spent her honeymoon in the Greek Islands after all!). She nailed every single competition and in a pageant in which Asia came stronger than ever, she was the "intrude" in the top 5, the only "non-Asian" to get that far. Her 3rd place was celebrated by Mexicans, including our two judges who voted for her. "Articulated, spontaneous, down-to-earth, after three long decades Mexico had a finalist in Miss Universe again. It was the beginning of much better times for Mexico in Miss Universe", said Lestat de Lioncourt. For Arturo Garcia, "Amanda had such class and character, she should have been our first Miss Universe". Amanda also received a 2nd-place vote and came out as the winner of our contest. Congratulations to her!! (read more about Amanda at El Anecdotario)
The top 10 would've been completed by Adriana Abascal López Cisneros (1989), Vanessa Guzmán Niebla (1996), Alba Margarita Cervera Lavat (1978), Valentina Vales Duarte (1967) and Silvia Priscila Perales Elizondo (2006).
* Important observation: Rosa Maria (2007) did not compete.
Mexico, a world in a country, offering its visitors so much diversity, history, different landscapes; Mexico, land of colors, rich cuisine, world-renowned artists and, of course, beautiful women. We wish the best of luck to this extraordinary country on May 28, when the eyes of the world will be there.
Bienvenidos a Mexico!
Special Thanks: www.pageantopolis.com