7th Miss Universe pageant
Beauty pageant
Miss Universe 1958 was the seventh Miss Universe pageant, held at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States on 25 July 1958.
At the end of the event, Gladys Zender of Peru crowned Luz Marina Zuluaga of Colombia as Miss Universe 1958. Zuluaga was the first representative of Colombia to win the contest.
Contestants from thirty-six countries and territories competed in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Byron Palmer.
Background.
Selection of participants.
Contestants from thirty-five countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Two contestants were selected to replace the original dethroned winner.
Replacements.
Luz Marina Zuluaga, the first runner-up of Señorita Colombia 1957, was appointed to replace Señorita Colombia 1957 Doris Inés Gil after it was discovered that the latter was already married. June Cooper was supposed to represent England in this edition, but was dethroned after it was discovered that she did not meet the minimum age requirement. Due to the dethronement of Cooper, a separate contest was held to pick a new representative of England to the contest. Wendy Peters won this contest, but was also dethroned after it was discovered that she was previously married. Due to this, the pageant organizers decided to appoint Dorothy Hazeldine as the representative of England in this edition.
Debuts, returns, and withdrawals.
This edition saw the debuts of Colombia, Poland, and Suriname, and the returns of Australia, British Guiana, Chile, Denmark, Holland, Norway, Singapore, the United States, and the West Indies. Denmark last competed in 1953, Australia and Singapore last competed in 1954, Norway and the West Indies last competed in 1955, while the others last competed in 1956.
Austria, Ceylon, Costa Rica, Iceland, Martinique, Morocco, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Turkey withdrew. Hanni Ehrenstrasser of Austria withdrew after winning another international beauty contest. Eugenia Valverde of Costa Rica withdrew after not meeting the minimum age requirement. Despite being barred from the competition, Valverde was allowed to join the preliminary competition without being scored. Carmen Remedios Tuason of the Philippines withdrew due to her family not allowing her to join the competition. Ceylon, Iceland, Martinique, Morocco, Puerto Rico, and Turkey withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.
Pageant.
Format.
Same with 1955, fifteen semi-finalists were chosen at the preliminary competition that consists of the swimsuit and evening gown competition. Each of the fifteen semi-finalists gave a short speech during the final telecast using their native languages. Afterwards, the fifteen semi-finalists paraded again in their swimsuits and evening gowns, and the five finalists were eventually chosen.
Contestants.
Thirty-five contestants competed for the title.
References.
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