User:Triila73/sandbox/What should Miss Universe 2023 really look like?

Miss Universe 2023 was the 72nd Miss Universe pageant, held at the Gimnasio Nacional José Adolfo Pineda in San Salvador, El Salvador, on 18 November 2023.

At the end of the event, R'Bonney Gabriel of the United States crowned Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua as Miss Universe 2023, marking the first win of the country in the pageant.

Contestants from one-hundred countries and territories competed in this edition, marking the highest turnout in Miss Universe history. The competition was presented by Steve Harvey. Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray and Zuri Hall also served as backstage correspondents for the second time. John Legend performed in this edition.

Location and date
On 10 December 2022, during the Miss Universe 2022 pageant, Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele announced that the 72nd edition will be held in El Salvador in late 2023, after having last hosted the pageant in 1975. Later, on 27 July 2023, the Miss Universe Organization announced that the pageant will take place on 18 November 2023.

The choice of El Salvador has been met with criticism due to the country's ongoing state of emergency amid the Salvadoran gang crackdown. Protests were staged in the capital San Salvador following the allocation of public funds for the hosting of the pageant amid an economical crisis. Moreover, opponents of the hosting have derided the hosting as a means to "distract from human rights abuses in his [President Bukele's] crackdown on gangs and steps he has taken to curb criticism".

To promote the pageant, the organization offered a "Hello Universe" travel package.

Selection of participants
Contestants from one-hundred countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Seven of these delegates were appointed to the position after being runners-up in their national pageant, or being chosen through a casting process. For the first time since 1957, the Miss Universe Organization allowed the participation of single mothers to compete in the pageant.

This edition's roster of contestants was noted by media outlets for its diversity and inclusivity compared to past pageants. Among the contestants in the edition were Rikkie Kollé of the Netherlands and Marina Machete of Portugal, who became the joint second transgender women to compete in the pageant, after Ángela Ponce of Spain in 2018. Furthermore, the edition also saw the participation of the first single mothers to compete in the pageant since 1957, with the participation of Camila Avella of Colombia and Lorena Santen of Switzerland. Jane Dipika Garrett of Nepal was also recognized by media outlets to be the "first plus-sized" delegate to compete in the pageant. Erica Robin, the first delegate to be sent by Pakistan to the pageant, was also cited as another contestant who was "making the pageant more inclusive", though her participation was met with mixed reactions within her country.

Replacements
Namuunzul Batmagnai, the second runner-up of Miss Universe Mongolia 2023, was appointed to represent Mongolia after the original winner, Nominzul Zandangiin was deemed unable to compete due to undisclosed reasons. Lê Thảo Nhi, the first runner-up of Miss Universe Vietnam 2022, was initially set to participate in this year's edition. However, the Saigon Universe Joint Stock Company has lost the Miss Universe franchise since February 2023, and the license was transferred to the Miss Universe Vietnam Trading Joint Stock Company. After the negotiation process between the two companies failed, the latter decided to organize a new contest called Miss Universe Vietnam to choose the new representative of Vietnam at Miss Universe. The winner of the contest was Quỳnh Hoa Bùi.

Debuts, returns and withdrawals
This edition marked the debut of Moldova and Pakistan; and the returns of Austria, Denmark, Egypt, Guyana, Hungary, Ireland, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mongolia, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Slovenia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Madagascar last competed in 1961; Ivory Coast last competed in 1986; Luxembourg last competed in 1994; Zimbabwe last competed in 2001; Latvia last competed in 2006; Austria, Guyana, and Slovenia last competed in 2017; Zambia last competed in 2018; Egypt, Georgia, Mongolia, and New Zealand last competed in 2019; meanwhile the others last competed in 2021.

Armenia, Belize, Bhutan, and Uruguay withdrew after their respective organizations failed to appoint a delegate, hold a national competition, or lost their national franchise. Miss Universe Turkey 2023 Melike Bali withdrew due to logistical problems, and will compete at the next edition of Miss Universe.

Placements
§ – Voted into the Top 20 by viewers

Voice For Change
In the run-up to the main pageant, the contestants competed in the Voice For Change competition, where they shared their advocacies in the course of a three-minute video. A sponsored segment with jewelry brand Mouawad and communication platform CI Talks, the winners of the competition was determined through an online vote and by a selection committee. The ten silver finalists were announced during the preliminary competition, while the three gold winners were announced during the finals.

Format
The Miss Universe Organization announced several different changes to the format for this edition. Due to the significant increase of contenders, the number of semifinalists was increased to twenty-five—the largest number of selection in Miss Universe history. The results of the preliminary competition held on 15 November 2023, which consisted of the swimsuit and evening gown competition, and the closed-door interviews, determined the first twenty-four semi-finalists selected at-large. Moreover, online voting was used again in this edition, with the voting public determining the twenty-fifth delegate to advance into the semi-finals. The twenty-five semi-finalists competed in the swimsuit competition and were narrowed down to ten afterward. The ten semi-finalists then competed in the evening gown competition in which five delegates were chosen to advance as finalists. The five finalists competed in the interview questions, and were narrowed down to three. The three finalists competed in the final question, after which Miss Universe 2023 and her two runners-up were announced.

Selection committee

 * Halima Aden – Somali-American model
 * Demi-Leigh Tebow – Miss Universe 2017 from South Africa
 * Giselle Blondet – Puerto Rican actress and television host
 * Janelle Commissiong – Miss Universe 1977 from Trinidad and Tobago
 * Barbara Schmid-Federer – Swiss politician, educator, and philanthropist
 * Nicole Scherzinger – American singer, actress, and television personality (only as final telecast judge)
 * Connie Mariano – Filipino-American physician
 * Iris Mittenaere – Miss Universe 2016 from France
 * Margaret Zhang – Chinese-Australian fashion influencer, model, and filmmaker (only as final telecast judge)

Contestants
100 contestants competed for the title.