Grand Slam Ranking and Country of the Year 1976
51-Turkey; 52-Mexico; 53-Haiti; 54-Hawaii; 55-Scotland; 56-Curaçao; 57-El Salvador; 58-Rhodesia; 59- Malaysia; 60-Poland; 61-Czechoslovakia; 62-Portugal; 63-Costa Rica; 64-Ecuador; 65-Paraguay; 66-Dominican Republic; 67-Tunisia; 68-Liberia; 69-Seychelles; 70-Singapore; 71-Honduras; 72-Aruba; 73-US Virgin Islands; 74-Bolivia; 75-Malta; 76-Luxembourg; 77-Morocco; 78-Suriname; 79-Cyprus; 80-Trinidad & Tobago; 81-Guatemala; 82-Alaska; 82-Mauritius; 84-Barbados; 84-Ghana; 84-Kenya; 87-Montserrat; 87-Saint Lucia; 89-Bahamas; 90-Bermuda; 91-Gibraltar; 92-Indonesia; 92-Jordan; 94-Zaire; 94-Nigeria; 96-Okinawa; 96-West Indies; 98-The Gambia; 98-Madagascar; 98-Burma; 101-Bonaire; 101-Botswana; 101-Jersey; 101-Syria; 105-Guernsey; 105-Monaco; 105-Samoa; 105-Tanzania; 105-Uganda; 110-Belize; 110-Benin; 110-Borneo; 110-Bulgaria; 110-Iraq; 110-Martinique; 110-Micronesia; 110-Northern Marianas; 110-Papua New Guinea; 110-Saint Maarten; 110-Saint Vincent; 110-Senegal; 110-South Pacific; 110-Swalizand; 110-Zambia.
WITH MISS U VICTORY, ISRAEL LEADS COMFORTABLY IN ASIA
With its 1976 Miss Universe victory, not only Israel distanced itself from other Asian powers, such as the Philippines (10th) and Japan (12th), it also moved an important notch up, being then in 6th place, very close to a Top 5 placement. France returned to the Top 10 after winning Miss I, in 9th place, kicking out Argentina (11th) from the select top 10-group for the first time since 1962. After a pretty decent year, Venezuela joined the Top 15, in 15th place, for the first time. And we all know that for Venezuela it was only the beginning of an extraordinary journey to the top positions! Guam, +9 after the 3rd place in Miss World, joined the Top 50 for the first time, in 46th place. Scotland (55th), and Singapore (70th), were the movers of the year (+14).
The Top 10 in the three Grand Slam pageants by the conclusion of 1976 were:
Miss World Ranking in 1976 (Top 10): 1-UK; 2-United States; 3-South Africa; 4-France; 5-Sweden; 6-Israel; 7-Germany; 8-Jamaica; 9-Australia; 10-Finland.
Miss Universe Ranking in 1976 (Top 10): 1-United States; 2-Brazil; 3-Finland; 4-Sweden; 5-Israel; 6-England / UK; 7-Germany; 8-Japan; 9-Philippines; 10-Greece.
Miss International Ranking in 1976 (Top 10): 1-United States; 2-England / UK; 3-Philippines; 4-Brazil; 5-Finland; 6-Australia; 7-Iceland; 8-Argentina; 9-Japan; 10-Colombia and Germany.
COUNTRY OF THE YEAR 1976: THE WELL-DESERVED RECOGNITION CAME TO ISRAEL IN 1976
Just like Finland, which had its Miss Universe pinnacle the year before, Israel had been performing consistently well in pageants since the early 1960s, but a major crown was conquered by an Israeli beauty only in 1976, when Rina Messinger was elected Miss Universe at the Chinese Theatre, in Hong Kong. It was the year when Israel suffered some of the most prominent terror attacks, which meant that, wherever Rina went as Miss Universe, she needed some heavy security to protect her. A Miss U victory, accompanied by a Top 15 placement in Miss World, by Levana Abarbanel, was just enough to make Israel the "Country of the Year" for the first time.
Jamaica, winner of Miss World with Cindy Breakspeare, and France, a country which had been losing ground in beauty pageants, but made a comeback with a Miss International victory by Sophie Perin, placed 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
This is how they scored:
1) Israel (3451 points);
2) Jamaica (3000);
3) France (2752).
Top 5: Venezuela (2125), and Australia (2101).