Miss Universe 2003

Miss Universe 2003, the 52nd Miss Universe pageant, was held on June 3, 2003 at the Figali Convention Center in Panama City, Panama. Amelia Vega of the Dominican Republic was crowned by Justine Pasek of Panama as her successor at the end of the event.

This is the 1st time that Dominican Republic has been crowned Miss Universe. 71 contestants competed in this year. This is the second time that Panama hosted the contest, the last occasion being in 1986. The pageant final was held at Figali Convention Center in Panama City.

This was the first Miss Universe edition to be aired on NBC.

Results

Placements

Order of announcements

Top 15

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Top 10

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Top 5

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Contestants

71 contestants competed for the title.

Notes

Returns

*Last competed in 1999:
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*Last competed in 2000:
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*Last competed in 2001:
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** (as )
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Withdrawals

During the contest:
* - Miss Iceland 2002, Manuela Ósk Harðardóttir withdrew from the pageant, when dehydration caused by the weather prevented her from competing in the Preliminaries. She stayed in Panama until the pageant was over, joined by her boyfriend.

Did not compete:

* - Mounia Achlaf
* - Bethsaida Smith - Due to lack of sponsorship.
* - Diane Ngo Mouaha - the Miss Cameroon pageant officials showed interest to get the Miss Universe and Miss World licences to send Diane to both pageants, but however the rumors where a hoax.The country would only enter Miss Universe for the first time, 17 years later in 2020.
* - There was no tender this year, because the franchisee did not renew the license agreement and nobody was interested in it.
* - Miss Cook Islands 2002, Donna Tuara did not participate due to lack of Sponsorship.
* - The pageant was postponed several times.
* - No contest due to lack of Sponsorship.
* - Eduardo Zablah, then director of Miss Honduras Universo pageant lost the Miss Universe licence following sexual harassment accusations among other abuses and breaches by the 2002 winner, Erika Ramirez against his organization. Therefore, Honduras did not participate in Miss Universe until 2007.
* - Melanie Putria Dewita Sari
* - Pageant Postponed until 2004.
* - The Pageant was about to be held in March, but was postponed due to the beginning of the Iraq War. It was finally held a few days before the Miss Universe pageant and the winner was send to Miss Universe 2004.
* - Miss Universe Madagascar (Maduniverse) 2003, Joyce Ramarofahatra did not participate due to lack of Sponsorship.
* - Tiziana Mifsud - the Miss Malta pageant lost their Miss Universe licence.
* - Miss Northern Marianas 2003, Kimberly Nicole Castro Reyes did not participate due to lack of Sponsorship. She Went to Miss World 2003 instead.
* - No pageant due to lack of Sponsorship.
* - No pageant due to the 2002 Uruguay banking crisis,what led its national director Jorge Baeza to commit suicide.
* - No pageant due to lack of Sponsorship.
* - The Pageant was postponed until January 2004.

Replacements

* - The winner of Miss Czech Republic 2002, Kateřina Průšová didn't compete internationally due to her poor English skills. Her 1st runner-up, Kateřina Smržová replaced her for Miss World 2002 and Miss Universe 2003.
* - Miss Egypt 2003, Horreya Farghally decided to give up the crown following several rumors of secret marriage, affecting her reputation's credibility receiving criticism by the press.
* - The winner of Eesti Miss Estonia 2003, Maili Nomm was unable to compete due to being underage. She went to Miss Europe 2003 instead.
* - The winner of Miss Poland 2002, Marta Matyjasik decided not to participate in Miss Universe 2003 due to academic reasons. She Went to Miss Earth 2003 instead.
* - Initially the winner of Miss Russia 2002, Svetlana Koroleva was supposed to participate in Miss Universe 2003, but she went to Miss Europe 2002 in Lebanon and won the crown, making her unable to participate at Miss Universe. Then the Miss Russia organizers held a small pageant called ''Miss Russia Universe 2003'' which the winner was Yulia Ahonkova from Moscow, but she was unable to compete in the Miss Universe pageant due to her being underage. In fact she had to be 18 by February 1 of that year, while she turned it on February 5. Yulia participated in Miss Europe 2003 instead. After that, the Miss Russia Organizers chose a 22-year-old model from Nizhny Novgorod - Maria Smirnova to participate in Miss Universe 2003, but the MUO officials rejected her due to her nude pictures for Playboy Russia Magazine of January–February 2000. With a few days to go before the end of entries, the Miss Universe Organization announced that it would accept the entry of Oksana Bondarenko,runner-up of Miss Russia 2002.until then respecting the rules in force.Bondarenko was the only nominated candidate at the pageant at this year.

Country Changes

* Yugoslavia changed its name to Serbia & Montenegro.

Awards

* - Miss Congeniality (Kai Davis)
* - Miss Photogenic (Carla Tricoli)
* - Best National Costume (Amelia Vega)

Other notes

* Reflecting the expansion from 10 to 15 semifinalists, this edition is marked by the diversity in this group, there were 8 candidates from the Americas, 4 from the Asia-Africa-Pacific group and 3 from Europe. Similar situations occurred in 2004,2010, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015 pageants.
* Due to China's obstruction, Taiwan was forced to change her sash label to Chinese Taipei. However, pageant organizers allowed Szu-Yu Chen to use the Taiwan sash while off of the stage, but the Chinese Taipei sash during the public activities.Double sash at Miss Universe 2003
Taiwan-Info.de
Retrieved 2010-09-19. Picture of Szu-Yu Chen with the Chinese Taipei and Taiwan sashes.

General references

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References

External links

Miss Universe official website

{{Miss Universe 2003 delegates

2003
2003 in Panama
2003 beauty pageants
Beauty pageants in Panama
Events in Panama City
June 2003 events in North America