Miss France 1997

Miss France 1997, the 67th edition of the Miss France pageant, was held on December 13, 1996 at the Futuroscope in Vienne.

It was the first time that the pageant took place at the Futuroscope Congress Palace. Contestants traveled to Saint-Barthelemy for two weeks in November, and they repeated at the Futuroscope two weeks before the pageant and the final competition on December 13, 1996.

The event, held at the Futuroscope Congress Palace was broadcast live on TF1, with more than ten million viewers.

The president of the judging panel was the beautiful Frenchwoman Christiane Martel Aleman, who had been Miss Cinémonde 1953 and Miss Universe 1953, as well as a leading actress in Mexico in the 1960s.

The winner was Patricia Spehar of Paris was crowned Miss France 1997 by the outgoing title-holder Laure Belleville of Pays de Savoie, Miss France 1996. She has represented France at Miss Universe 1997 but unplaced. She also placed in top 15 at Miss International 1998. The first runner up, Marie Borg, has finished 1st runner-up at Miss International 1997.

Contestants
The 44 Miss France 1997 contestants were:


 *  Albigeois - Elsa Mazzia
 *  Alsace - Lara Maringer
 * France anjou.svg Anjou - Sandrine Hamidi
 *  Aquitaine - Maylis Ondicola
 * Flag of Artois.svg Artois-Côte d'Opale - Virginie Tellier
 *  Auvergne - Catherine Sarret
 * Flag of Béarn.svg Béarn - Anne-Sophie Vigno
 * Berry flag.svg Berry - Barbara Niewidtzala
 *  Brittany - Severine Andre
 *  Burgundy - Stéphanie Sevat
 * 🇳🇨 New Caledonia - Carole Roudeillac
 *  Camargue - Sandrine Montagud
 *  Champagne-Ardenne - Nathalie Frère
 *  Charentes Poitou - Nancy Bourgeix
 *  Comminges - Carine Vincent
 *  Corsica - Delphine Cheuva
 * Flag of Flanders.svg Flandre - Sarah Sumfleth
 *  Franche-Comté - Delphine Pequignet
 *  Gascogne - Sabine Alves de Puga
 * 🇬🇵 Guadeloupe - Patricia Sellin
 * Flag of Hainaut.svg Hainaut - Caroline Lubrez
 * Proposed flag of Île-de-France.svg Île-de-France - Audrey Legros
 *  Languedoc-Roussillon - Carole Pages
 *  Limousin - Stéphanie Leroy
 *  Lorraine - Manuela Pereira
 *  Lyon - Angélique Sage
 * Flag of Maine (province).svg Maine - Angélique Monnier
 *  Normandy - Marianne Samson
 *  Orléanais - Mélanie Muller
 *  Paris - Patricia Spehar
 *  Pays d'Ain - Carine Boirot
 *  Pays de la Loire - Céline Bourban
 *  Pays de Savoie - Séverine Martin
 *  Pays du Velay - Amélie Fournel
 * Drapeau fr département Dordogne.svg Périgord - Caren Claret
 *  Picardy - Magalie Lherminier
 *  Provence - Pascale Delzenne
 *  Quercy - Delphine Verdié
 * 🇷🇪 Réunion - Fabienne Sabrimoutou
 *  Rhône-Alpes - Delphine Brossard
 *  Rouergue-Cévennes - Aurore Pecrix
 *  St-Étienne-Loire - Christelle Arcis
 * Flag of Midi-Pyrénées.svg Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées - Marie Borg
 * Flag of Touraine.svg Touraine-Soulogne - Murielle Hoarau

First round
Order of announcement of the 12 semifinalists:

Second round
Order of announcement of the 5 finalists:

Notes about the placements

 * Paris wins for the thirteenth time in the Miss France pageant after eleven years drought.
 * Guadeloupe is placed for third consecutive year.
 * Anjou, Charentes Poitou, Hainaut and Provence are placed for second consecutive year.
 * Auvergne is placed for the first time since the Miss France 1991 pageant.
 * Aquitaine, Berry, Paris et Toulouse are placed for the first time since the Miss France 1995 pageant.
 * Béarn et Rhône-Alpes are placed for the first time.

Crossovers
Contestants who previously competed or will be competing at international beauty pageants:


 * Miss Universe
 * 1997: Flag of Paris with coat of arms.svg Paris - Patricia Spehar
 * (Miami Beach, 🇺🇸 United States)


 * Miss International
 * 1997: Flag of Midi-Pyrénées.svg Toulouse - Marie Borg (2nd Runner-up)
 * (Kyoto, 🇯🇵 Japan)
 * 1998: Flag of Paris with coat of arms.svg Paris - Patricia Spehar (Top 15)
 * (Tokyo, 🇯🇵 Japan)