User:Mauriziok/Miss Universe 2013

Miss Universe 2013, the 62nd Miss Universe pageant, was held on 9 November 2013 at the Crocus City Hall, Krasnogorsk, a suburb of Moscow, Russia. Olivia Culpo of the USA crowned her successor Gabriela Isler of Venezuela at the end of the event. 86 contestants competed for the title.

Placements
§ - Voted into the Top 16 by viewers

Contestants
86 delegates were selected to compete:

Preliminary competition

 * Irina Agalarova – Russian fashion icon
 * Corinne Nicolas – modeling industry veteran
 * David Perozzi – Emmy-nominated producer and journalist
 * Alicia Quarles – New York-based correspondent for E! News
 * Gabriel Rivera-Barraza – fashion publicist and philanthropist
 * Jose Sariego – Senior Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs for Telemundo Media
 * Elena Semikina – Miss Universe Canada 2010

Final telecast

 * Carol Alt – American model and actress, host of Fox News program A Healthy You & Carol Alt
 * Italo Fontana – Italian watchmaker, founder of U-Boat Watches
 * Philipp Kirkorov – Russian pop singer
 * Tara Lipinski – retired American figure skater, Olympic gold medalist
 * Nobu Matsuhisa – Japanese celebrity chef and restaurateur
 * Farouk Shami – Palestinian-American businessman, founder of professional hair care products company Farouk Systems
 * Steven Tyler – lead vocalist of Aerosmith, former American Idol judge
 * Anne Vyalitsyna – Russian model, coach for Oxygen reality show The Face

Debuts

 * 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan

Returns

 * Last competed in 1961:
 * 🇲🇲 Myanmar
 * Last competed in 2004:
 * 🇦🇹 Austria
 * Last competed in 2011:
 * 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
 * 🇸🇮 Slovenia
 *  Turks and Caicos

Replacements

 * 🇨🇦 Canada – Denise Garrido was crowned Miss Universe Canada 2013 during the pageant finals but was stripped of the crown after a few hours when the organization discovered that there was a typo error in the ratings of the top 5 entries, which significantly impacted the final results of the competition. The official winner was then announced to be Riza Santos, who was previously placed as first runner-up. This is the first instance of this type of error in the 11 years that Beauties of Canada (BOC) has produced the Miss Universe Canada pageant. Garrido has actually ranked as third runner-up.
 * 🇫🇷 France – Hinarani de Longeaux was appointed to represent France, by the Miss France Organization as a replacement to Marine Lorphelin, the winner of the Miss France 2013 pageant, who placed 1st Runner-up at Miss World 2013 and was ineligible to compete for Miss Universe 2013. Longeaux was the 1st runner-up at the Miss France 2013 pageant.

Withdrawals

 * 🇦🇱 Albania – Fioralba Dizdari withdrew due to Kosovo not being able to compete.
 * 🇰🇾 Cayman Islands – No contest held
 * 🇨🇾 Cyprus – The date for Star Cyprus 2013 conflicted with Miss Universe.
 *  Georgia – Janeta Kerdikoshvili did not participate because of unexpected health problems. However, she represented the country at the Miss Universe 2015.
 * 🇮🇪 Ireland – The Miss Universe Ireland pageant was rescheduled for the following year.
 *  Kosovo – Mirjeta Shala withdrew because she wasn't able to enter Russia as it does not recognize Kosovo as an independent country. Mirjeta represented the country in the Miss Universe 2015.
 * 🇲🇪 Montenegro – Nikoleta Jovanović withdrew as she did not meet the minimum age requirements.
 * 🇱🇨 Saint Lucia – No contest held
 * 🇺🇾 Uruguay – Micaela Orsi withdrew because her visa application was denied by the Russian Embassy and for some disagreements about her contract with the national director.

Controversies
On 15 August 2013, Andy Cohen, who is openly gay, declined to co-host the pageant, due to the country's recent adoption of anti-gay laws. An Internet petition was also started for the Miss Universe Organization to relocate the pageant from Moscow due to these laws as well as human rights concerns.

MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts, also openly gay, took on hosting duties. While he condemned Russia for its anti-gay law, he stated his belief that his presence in Russia would make for a more effective statement against Russian homophobia than boycotting. Also, Patricia Yurena Rodriguez of Spain is currently the highest-placed LGBT member at Miss Universe, placing runner-up only to Isler of Venezuela, but only came out years after her stint in the pageant.

Years after the event, the owner at the time, Donald Trump, is involved in an ongoing controversy related to the pageant in Russia.