Miss Universe 2022

Miss Universe 2022 was the 71st Miss Universe pageant, held at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States on 14 January 2023. This was the first edition held under the ownership of JKN Global Group.

At the end of the event, Harnaaz Sandhu of India crowned R'Bonney Gabriel of the United States as Miss Universe 2022, marking the ninth victory of the United States in the pageant. R'Bonney Gabriel was the oldest entrant to be crowned, surpassing Andrea Meza of Mexico in 2020.

Contestants from eighty-three countries and territories competed in this year's pageant. The competition was hosted by Jeannie Mai and Miss Universe 2012 Olivia Culpo; Culpo last served as host during Miss Universe 2020, while Mai last served as backstage correspondent during Miss Universe 2014. Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray and Zuri Hall served as backstage correspondents.

The competition was the first event since 1954 not to be televised in any major American television network, but it would air on the streaming provider The Roku Channel as the official broadcaster of the show for the first time.

Location and date


In September 2022, Puerto Rican newspaper El Vocero reported that an email had been sent to national directors stating that the 2022 edition of Miss Universe would be held in the first quarter of 2023, due to the potential clash of dates with the 2022 FIFA World Cup in November and December 2022. El Vocero also reported that Los Angeles, Miami, and New Orleans in the United States and Nha Trang in Vietnam were seen as potential host cities.

Later in September, Miss Universe Organization president Paula Shugart stated in an interview with ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs that the pageant would be held in January 2023, confirming that the reason for the postponement was to avoid a potential conflict with the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Shugart additionally confirmed that the host city would likely be announced during the following week. On 19 September, the MUO announced that the pageant would be held on 14 January 2023, at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. This will be the fourth time in the pageant's history that the event is held after the relative calendar year has ended; this previously occurred during the 2014, 2016, and 2020 editions, when they all took place the following year.

Selection of participants
Contestants from eighty-three countries and territories were selected to compete in the competition. Eighteen of these delegates were appointed to their positions after being a runner-up of their national pageant or being selected through a casting process.

Tashi Choden of Bhutan became the second openly lesbian to compete in Miss Universe, after Swe Zin Htet of Myanmar in 2019.

Replacements
Chloe Powery-Doxey, the first runner-up of Miss Universe Cayman Islands 2022, was appointed to represent the Cayman Islands after the original winner, Tiffany Conolly, was alleged to have committed an assault. Floriane Bascou, the first runner-up of Miss France 2022, was appointed to represent France after the original winner, Diane Leyre, chose not to compete due to the lack of time for preparation, Leyre would eventually compete the following year. Camila Sanabria, the first runner-up of Miss Bolivia 2022, was appointed to represent Bolivia after the original winner, Fernanda Pavisic, was dethroned for mocking other Miss Universe candidates' headshots on her Instagram stories.

Debuts, returns, and withdrawals
This edition marked the debut of Bhutan, and the returns of Angola, Belize, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Myanmar, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay. Seychelles previously competed in 1995, making this edition its first time competing after an absence of twenty-seven years. Trinidad and Tobago last competed in 2017, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, and Switzerland last competed in 2018, Angola and Saint Lucia last competed in 2019, while the others last competed in 2020. Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Kenya, Morocco, Romania, and Sweden withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate. Diana Tashimbetova was originally to represent Kazakhstan, but was dethroned and not replaced by the Kazakhstani license holder after a series of disputes between Tashimbetova and the license holder regarding the lack of support Tashimbetova received by them for her participation at Miss Universe. Latvia was expected to compete for the first time since 2006, but their chosen delegate Kate Alexeeva withdrew from the competition after testing positive for COVID-19 prior to her departure. Ida Anette Hauan represented Norway, and participated of all pageant phases, but withdrew from the competition a few hours before the final telecast after testing positive for COVID-19.

Placements
§ – Voted into the Top 16 by viewers

Format
The Miss Universe Organization introduced several specific changes to the format for this edition. Initially, it was speculated that the semifinalists would return to twenty, similar to the number of semifinalists between 2018 and 2019. However, due to the limited telecast time of final event, the number of semifinalists was retained to sixteen — the same number of semifinalists in 2021. The results of the preliminary competition — which consisted of the swimsuit competition, the evening gown competition, and the closed-door interview determined the first fifteen semifinalists who advanced at the first cut. The internet voting was also used, with fans being able to vote for another delegate to advance into the semifinals. The sixteen semifinalists competed in both the swimsuit and evening gown competitions and were to be narrowed down to five afterwards. The five finalists competed in the question and answer round, and the final three were chosen. The final speech portion returned, after which Miss Universe 2022 and her two runners-up were announced.

Selection committee

 * Ximena Navarrete – Miss Universe 2010 from Mexico
 * Big Freedia – American rapper and performer credited with helping popularize bounce music
 * Mara Martin – American model and co-founder of Vyral Media PR
 * Wendy Fitzwilliam – Miss Universe 1998 from Trinidad and Tobago
 * Emily Austin – American actress, sports journalist, model and social media influencer
 * Olivia Quido – Filipino-Chinese CEO and founder of O Skin Med Spa
 * Myrka Dellanos – American television and radio host, journalist, author and socialite
 * Sweta Patel – Indian vice president of Growth Marketing & Merchandising at Roku
 * Olivia Jordan – Miss USA 2015 from Oklahoma (only as preliminary judge) 
 * Kathleen Ventrella – Puerto Rican chief marketing officer of ImpactWayv (only as preliminary judge)

Contestants
Eighty-three contestants competed for the title.