Two Brazilian girls have already won the most famous beauty contest in the world: the gaúcha Iêda Maria Vargas, in 1963, and the baiana Martha Vasconcellos, in 1968.
Currently, both live out of the spotlight. Ieda is 75 years old and lives in Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul – she recovered from a Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA) that she had at age 55.
Martha, in turn, is 70 years old and lives in Salvador, her hometown. Until 2012, she lived in the United States, her ex-husband’s country, where she carried out social work against domestic violence.
Brazil also had winners in two other contests of the genre, Miss World and Miss International Beauty. In 1968, Maria da Glória Carvalho, from the State of Guanabara – now part of Rio de Janeiro – won Miss International Beauty and, in 1971, Lúcia Tavares Petterle, also from Guanabara, won Miss World.
The Brazilians in Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss International Beauty tend to be, respectively, the first, second and third placed in Miss Brazil. An example: in 2004, Grazi Massafera came third in the Brazilian pageant and participated in Miss Beauty International, but did not win anything abroad.
The Miss Universe pageant, the world’s first beauty division, has been contested since 1952. In the beginning, it was sponsored by an American swimwear factory, until, in 1996, the tycoon (and future president) Donald Trump acquired the rights to the event.
The 2018 crowns have just been delivered – the Miss Universe final took place this Sunday (16), in Bangkok, with the crowning of Filipina Catriona Gray. Second place went to South African Tamaryn Green and third to Venezuelan Sthefany Gutiérrez. The Brazilian Mayra Dias was among the 20 semifinalists.
The title entitles you to a year of living in a luxury apartment in New York, in addition to a reign full of commitments such as charity activities, appearances on television programs and meetings with authorities. It’s exhausting beauty.
beauty podium
Brazil is in 5th place in the ranking of the Miss Universe pageant
Country: U.S
Titles: 8
Country: Venezuela
Titles: 7
Country: Puerto Rico
Titles: 5
Country: Philippines
Titles: 3
Country: Sweden
Titles: 4
Country: Brazil
Titles: two*
*Tied with France, Colombia, Mexico, Japan, Canada, Australia, India, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand and Finland
Rigorous qualification
Pregnant women and mothers cannot participate in the contest.
The famous “2 inches” more on the hips, which took away the title from the Brazilian Marta Rocha in 1954, are no longer part of the Miss Universe criteria. There is no weighing or measuring, but there are some prerequisites. Candidates must be between 18 and 28 years old, cannot be married or have children.
This year, of the 94 candidates (one from each country), 20 qualified for the semifinals. In 2017, there were 16 and, in the previous year, 13. Another detail is that the rule adopted in 2017 was maintained, which establishes that the number of semifinalists must be the same for all continents: Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas.
The top 10 were selected after a challenge in which they had to give a 15-second speech to the jury (for the first time, composed only of women) and the audience that was watching.
One more novelty: only the last ten had to parade in swimwear and formal wear – something that already happened in the semifinal phase. After the shows, the judges decided on the top 5 and, after a battery of questions and answers, the three finalists were chosen.