# Miss Universe 2007

Miss Universe 2007 was the 56th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City, Mexico on 28 May 2007.
At the end of the event, Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico crowned Riyo Mori of Japan as Miss Universe 2007. It was Japan's first victory in forty-eight years, and the second victory of the country in the pageant's history.
Contestants from seventy-seven countries and territories competed in this year's pageant. The competition was hosted by Mario Lopez and Vanessa Minnillo, Miss Teen USA 1998. Mexican Latin pop group RBD performed in this year's pageant.

## Background
### Location and date

On 11 February 2007, Pedro Rodríguez, president of the Grupo Promotor Mu México announced that the cities of Cancún and Oaxaca will host the 2007 edition of the pageant in May. However, on 30 March 2007, Donald Trump, owner of the Miss Universe Organization, and Paula Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization, announced that the pageant will take place at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City on 28 May 2007. Oaxaca had to reject from being one of the host cities for some pageant events due to the political-social conflict happening at the state. The ruins of Monte Albán in Oaxaca was planned to be the location for the national costume competition, but was relocated to the Angel of Independence in Mexico City.

### Selection of participants

Contestants from seventy-seven countries and territories were selected to compete in the competition. Two of these delegates were appointees to their positions after being a runner-up of their national pageant or being selected through a casting process, while two selected to replace the original dethroned winner.

#### Replacements

Sharon Kenett was appointed to represent Israel at Miss Universe after Liran Kohener, Miss Israel 2007, had to complete her mandatory military service. Miss Mauritius 2006 Melody Selvon was replaced by Sandra Faro, the first runner-up of Miss Mauritius 2006, due to being underage. Selvon was only 16 years old.

#### Debuts, returns and withdrawals

The 2007 edition saw the debuts of Tanzania, Serbia, and Montenegro as two separate nations, and the returns of Barbados, Belize, Curaçao, Honduras, Italy. Honduras last competed in 2002, while the others last competed in 2005. The Cayman Islands, Chile, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Namibia, the Northern Mariana Islands, Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, and the United Kingdom withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate. Serbia and Montenegro competed as two separate countries starting in this edition. Aruni Rajapaksha of Sri Lanka withdrew due to undisclosed reasons. However, Rajapaksha competed in the pageant the following year. Casynella Olivierre of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines withdrew for unknown reasons despite announcing that she will compete in Miss Universe 2007 two years in advance. Lestapier Winqvist of Sweden withdrew after not showing up for the pageant since she finded the competition "misogynistic".

### Incidents before the pageant

In April 2007, controversy erupted over the proposed national costume of Rosa María Ojeda, Miss Mexico. The skirt of the costume depicted scenes from the Cristero War, a Roman Catholic rebellion in the 1920s in which thousands of people were killed, including hangings. The outfit also included a bullet-studded belt and a crucifix necklace. The design was chosen from over thirty others and had been intended to show Mexico's culture and history, but it elicited controversy amid claims it was in poor taste and inappropriate. Pageant owners said that the costume would be redesigned to include image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

## Results
### Placements

| Placement | Contestant |
| Miss Universe 2007 | Japan – Riyo Mori |
| 1st runner-up | Brazil – Natália Guimarães |
| 2nd runner-up | Venezuela – Ly Jonaitis |
| 3rd runner-up | South Korea – Honey Lee |
| 4th runner-up | United States – Rachel Smith |
| Top 10 | Angola – Micaela Reis  India – Puja Gupta  Mexico – Rosa María Ojeda  Nicaragua – Xiomara Blandino  Tanzania – Flaviana Matata |
| Top 15 | Czech Republic – Lucie Hadasová  Denmark – Žaklina Šojić  Slovenia – Tjaša Kokalj  Thailand – Farung Yuthithum  Ukraine – Lyudmila Bikmullina |

### Special awards

| Award | Contestant |
| Miss Congeniality | China – Zhang Ningning |
| Miss Photogenic | Philippines – Anna Theresa Licaros |

## Pageant
### Format

The Miss Universe Organization introduced several specific changes to the format for this edition. The number of semifinalists was reduced to 15— the same number of semifinalists in 2005. 15 semifinalists were chosen through the preliminary competition— composed of the swimsuit and evening gown competitions and closed-door interviews. The top 15 competed in the swimsuit competition and were narrowed down to the top 10 afterward. The top 10 competed in the evening gown competition and were narrowed down to the top 5 afterward. This was the first year since 2002 that the judges' average scores were shown on television. The top 5 competed in the question and answer round and the final look. It was the first time since 2001 that the final question posed on the ladies came from the judges instead of the final five and the current Miss Universe.

### Selection committee
#### Final telecast

* Tony Romo – Dallas Cowboys quarterback
* James Kyson Lee – actor on Heroes
* Nina Garcia – Project Runway judge and Elle magazine fashion director
* Dave Navarro – rock star
* Dayanara Torres – Miss Universe 1993 from Puerto Rico
* Mauricio Islas – Mexican actor
* Lindsay Clubine – Deal or No Deal briefcase model
* Marc Bouwer – fashion designer
* Christiane Martel – Miss Universe 1953 from France
* Michelle Kwan – World champion, 1998 Olympic silver medalist, and 2002 Olympic figure skating bronze medalist

## Contestants

Seventy-seven contestants competed for the title.
| Country/Territory | Contestant | Age | Hometown |
| Albania | Sadina Alla | 18 | Tirana |
| Angola | Micaela Reis | 18 | Luanda |
| Antigua and Barbuda | Stephanie Winter | 18 | St. John's |
| Argentina | Daniela Stucan | 25 | Ensenada |
| Aruba | Carolina Raven | 23 | Tanki Leendert |
| Australia | Kimberley Busteed | 18 | Gladstone |
| Bahamas | Trinere Lynes | 18 | New Providence |
| Barbados | Jewel Garner | 24 | Christ Church |
| Belgium | Annelien Coorevits | 21 | Wijtschate |
| Belize | Maria Jeffery | 25 | Belize City |
| Bolivia | Jessica Jordan | 23 | Huacaraje |
| Brazil | Natália Guimarães | 22 | Belo Horizonte |
| Bulgaria | Gergana Kochanova | 20 | Sofia |
| Canada | Inga Skaya | 21 | Toronto |
| China | Zhang Ningning | 20 | Shenyang |
| Colombia | Eileen Roca | 20 | Valledupar |
| Costa Rica | Verónica González | 24 | Orotina |
| Croatia | Jelena Maros | 19 | Split |
| Curaçao | Naemi Monte | 20 | Willemstad |
| Cyprus | Polyvia Achilleos | 22 | Nicosia |
| Czech Republic | Lucie Hadašová | 20 | Strážnice |
| Denmark | Žaklina Šojić | 25 | Copenhagen |
| Dominican Republic | Massiel Taveras | 22 | Santiago |
| Ecuador | Lugina Cabezas | 20 | Quito |
| Egypt | Ehsan Hatem | 21 | Cairo |
| El Salvador | Lissette Rodríguez | 22 | Mejicanos |
| Estonia | Viktoria Azovskaja | 20 | Tallinn |
| Finland | Noora Hautakangas | 23 | Soini |
| France | Rachel Legrain-Trapani | 18 | Saint Quentin |
| Georgia | Ana Giorgelashvili | 19 | Martvili |
| Germany | Angelina Glass | 19 | Berlin |
| Greece | Doukissa Nomikou | 20 | Athens |
| Guatemala | Alida Boer | 22 | Guatemala City |
| Guyana | Meleesea Payne | 21 | Georgetown |
| Honduras | Wendy Salgado | 24 | Tegucigalpa |
| Hungary | Ildikó Bóna | 19 | Kaposmérő |
| India | Puja Gupta | 23 | New Delhi |
| Indonesia | Agni Pratistha | 19 | Jakarta |
| Israel | Sharon Kenett | 21 | Tel Aviv |
| Italy | Valentina Massi | 24 | Forlimpopoli |
| Jamaica | Zahra Redwood | 25 | Kingston |
| Japan | Riyo Mori | 20 | Shizuoka |
| Kazakhstan | Gaukhar Rakhmetaliyeva | 20 | Almaty |
| Lebanon | Nadine Njeim | 19 | Maaser El Shouf |
| Malaysia | Adelaine Chin Ai Nee | 23 | Kuala Lumpur |
| Mauritius | Sandra Faro | 20 | Quatre Bornes |
| Mexico | Rosa María Ojeda | 20 | Culiacán |
| Montenegro | Snežana Bušković | 19 | Podgorica |
| New Zealand | Laural Barrett | 20 | Christchurch |
| Nicaragua | Xiomara Blandino | 22 | Managua |
| Nigeria | Ebinabo Potts-Johnson | 19 | Port Harcourt |
| Norway | Kirby Ann Basken | 21 | Oslo |
| Panama | Sorangel Matos | 22 | Yaviza |
| Paraguay | María José Maldonado | 21 | Fernando de la Mora |
| Peru | Jimena Elías | 18 | Lima |
| Philippines | Anna Theresa Licaros | 22 | Cuenca |
| Poland | Dorota Gawron | 23 | Częstochowa |
| Puerto Rico | Wilmadilis Blasini | 25 | Guayanilla |
| Russia | Tatiana Kotova | 21 | Moscow |
| Saint Lucia | Yoanna Henry | 25 | Soufrière |
| Serbia | Teodora Marčić | 19 | Novi Sad |
| Singapore | Jessica Tan | 25 | Singapore |
| Slovakia | Lucia Senášiová | 23 | Bratislava |
| Slovenia | Tjaša Kokalj | 21 | Ljubljana |
| South Africa | Megan Coleman | 22 | Hillcrest |
| South Korea | Honey Lee | 24 | Seoul |
| Spain | Natalia Zabala | 24 | San Sebastián |
| Switzerland | Christa Rigozzi | 24 | Monte Carasso |
| Tanzania | Flaviana Matata | 19 | Shinyanga |
| Thailand | Farung Yuthithum | 20 | Pathum Thani |
| Turks and Caicos | Saneita Been | 21 | Providenciales |
| Ukraine | Lyudmila Bikmullina | 21 | Kharkiv |
| United States | Rachel Smith | 22 | Clarksville |
| Uruguay | Giannina Silva | 22 | Montevideo |
| United States Virgin Islands | Renata Christian | 23 | Saint Thomas |
| Venezuela | Ly Jonaitis | 21 | Tocuyito |
| Zambia | Rosemary Chileshe | 26 | Lusaka |