# Miss Earth 2008

Miss Earth 2008 was the eighth edition of the Miss Earth pageant, held at the Clark Expo Amphitheater in Angeles City, Philippines, on November 9, 2008.
Jessica Trisko of Canada crowned Karla Henry of the Philippines as her successor the end of the event.

## Results
### Placements

| Placement | Contestant |
| Miss Earth 2008 | Philippines – Karla Henry |
| Miss Earth – Air 2008 | Tanzania – Miriam Odemba |
| Miss Earth – Water 2008 | Mexico – Abigail Elizalde |
| Miss Earth – Fire 2008 | Brazil – Tatiane Alves |
| Top 8 | Colombia – Mariana Rodriguez  Spain – Adriana Reverón  Switzerland – Nasanin Nuri  Venezuela – Daniela Torrealba |
| Top 16 | Czech Republic – Hana Svobodová  Nigeria – Ezinne Uko  Poland – Karolina Filipkowska  Romania – Ruxandra Popa  Russia – Anna Mezentseva  South Korea – Seol-hee Seo  Thailand – Piyaporn Deejing  United States – Jana Murrell |

### Special awards
#### Major awards

| Awards | Contestant |
| Miss Friendship | Ecuador – Andrea Leon Janzso |
| Miss Photogenic | Philippines – Karla Henry |
| Miss Talent | Australia – Rachael Margot Smith |
| Best in National Costume | Panama – Shassia Ubillús |
| Best in Evening Gown | Venezuela – Daniela Torrealba |
| Best in Swimsuit | Mexico – Abigail Elizalde |

## Winning answer

Final Question in Miss Earth 2008: "If you have the chance to speak to the newly-elected US President Barack Obama about the state of the global environment, what would you tell him?"
Answer of Miss Earth 2008: "What I would tell to the newly elected president of the USA, being one of the most powerful countries in the world, I would encourage him to implement environmental knowledge in the curriculum of all schools whether in the United States or in the Philippines. Environmental knowledge is something that all of us must share, but most importantly we must teach the youth that this is something that we should instill in them so that in the near future they will be the ones to take care of our mother Earth." – Karla Henry, represented Philippines.

## Pageant
### Format

Starting this year, the format of the finale has changed. In previous years, after the swimsuit competition, there will have only eight delegates. They will compete in the first question and answer section with different questions, then participate in the evening gown competition. After that, the top four was announced and participated in the final question. But from this year, the top eights will only participate in the evening gown competition. After that, the judges will select the final four. They only participated in one part of the only question and answer session before announcing three runners-up and Miss Earth.

### Judges

| No. | Judge | Background |
| 1 | Lourdes Atienza | Philanthropist and Beauty queen |
| 2 | Stephan Elsner | Fashion designer (Chairperson of the board of directors, Bonprix Italia) |
| 3 | Tom Hansen | Environmentalist |
| 4 | Hong Jin | Regional Director, Korean Air |
| 5 | Philip Lo | Director |
| 6 | Lisa Macuja-Elizalde | Prima Ballerina (Founder of Ballet Manila) |
| 7 | Andrea Mastellone | General manager, Traders Hotel Manila |
| 8 | Rizalino Navarro | Chairperson of Clark Development Corporation |
| 9 | Samuel West Stewart | Environmentalist (President of Philippines Bio Sciences Company Inc.) |
| 10 | Leo Valdez | Singer/International musical theatre actor |
| 11 | Ping Valencia | Image consultant/former top fashion model |

## Background music

* Opening: Yves Larock – Rise Up, Pussycat Dolls – When I Grow Up
* Swimsuit Competition: Enur feat. Natasha – Calabria
* Evening Gown Competition: Coldplay – Viva la Vida

## Preliminary events
### Beauties for a Cause

The delegates of Miss Earth 2008 explored the different islands of the Philippines with the theme "Green Lifestyle" and promoted the use of recyclable materials as part of our collective lifestyle. In addition, they engaged on different environmental activities including the planting of trees in the provinces of Albay, Batangas, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Palawan, and Rizal. They also had school tours in Taytay, Rizal, and Metro Manila and taught the children the importance of protecting the environment.

### Long gown

Miss Venezuela, Daniela Torrealba was named Best in Long Gown at the competition held at the PAGCOR, Grand Theatre in the city of Parañaque on 3 November 2008.

### Swimsuit

On 25 October 2008, the delegates were divided into three groups which simultaneously competed in the swimsuit preliminary competition in three different locations:
* Sabang Beach Resort in Puerto Princesa, Palawan
* Golden Sunset Resort in Calatagan, Batangas
* Manila
The 15 finalists in each group then competed in the Final Swimsuit Competition held on 2 November at the Fontana Leisure Park in the Clark Freeport Zone, Angeles, Pampanga. Abigail Elizalde of Mexico emerged as the winner of the Best in Swimsuit.

### National costume

The National Costume competition of Miss Earth 2008 was held on 28 October 2008 at the PAGCOR Grand Theatre in the city of Parañaque. And again minor/sponsor awards were also given at that night.
All of 85 candidates participated in the competition, with Miss Panama winning the coveted Best in National Costume award. Miss Philippines, Karla Henry was unanimously chosen by the members of the press as Miss Photogenic. Minor/sponsor awards were also given at that night.

### TV shows

The ladies had their TV guesting on the different shows of ABS-CBN and Studio 23, the official media partner of Carousel Production for Miss Earth 2008. They had gone to Wowowee, ASAP, Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal, and The Singing Bee.

### Mall tours

The delegates also had their mall tours and fashion shows in all Robinsons Malls nationwide in order to promote its cause which is to promote the protection of our environment.

## Contestants

85 contestants competed for the title.
| Country/Territory | Contestant | Age | Hometown |
| Albania | Rudina Suti | 23 | Gjirokastër |
| Argentina | Camila Solórzano | 18 | Tucumán |
| Australia | Rachael Margot Smith | 23 | Perth |
| Bahamas | Garnell Storr | 25 | Musha Cay |
| Belgium | Debby Gommeren | 20 | Antwerp |
| Bhutan | Tsokye Karchung | 24 | Thimphu |
| Bolivia | Carolina Urquiola | 23 | La Paz |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Alisa Zlatarević | 20 | Sarajevo |
| Botswana | Nametso Ngwako | 19 | Serowe |
| Brazil | Tatiane Alves | 24 | Conselheiro Lafaiete |
| Canada | Denise Garrido | 21 | Bradford |
| China | Zhou Yingkun | 22 | Shandong |
| Chinese Taipei | Tsai Yin-Yin | 22 | Taipei |
| Colombia | Mariana Rodríguez | 20 | Cali |
| Costa Rica | Wendy Cordero | 20 | Cartago |
| Cuba | Jessica Silva | 18 | Camagüey |
| Czech Republic | Hana Svobodová | 19 | Zadní Zhořec |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | Olga Yumba | 21 | Kasai-Oriental |
| Dominican Republic | Diana González Flores | 18 | San Francisco de Macorís |
| Ecuador | Andrea Carolina León | 20 | Machala |
| El Salvador | Teresita Gómez | 23 | San Salvador |
| England | Caroline Duffy | 21 | York |
| Ethiopia | Kidan Tesfahun | 24 | Addis Ababa |
| Finland | Minna Nikkilä | 21 | Tampere |
| France | Charlotte Lagauzere | 24 | Bayonne |
| Georgia | Sopiko Svimonishvili | 20 | Rustavi |
| Germany | Dayana Schult | 18 | Schwerin |
| Ghana | Sara Adoley Addo | 24 | Accra |
| Greece | Ria Antoniou | 19 | Athens |
| Guadeloupe | Jennifer Desbouiges | 22 | Basse-Terre |
| Guam | Jennifer Neves | 26 | Hagatña |
| Honduras | Kenia Andrade | 22 | Atlántida |
| Hungary | Krisztina Polgár | 21 | Törökszentmiklós |
| India | Tanvi Vyas | 22 | Vadodara |
| Indonesia | Hedhy Kurniati | 22 | Jakarta |
| Israel | Lin Mor | 18 | Tel Aviv |
| Italy | Caterina Pasquale | 24 | Crotone |
| Jamaica | Simone Burke | 21 | St. Andrew |
| Japan | Akemi Fukumura | 26 | Tokyo |
| Kosovo | Yllka Berisha | 20 | Pristina |
| Latvia | Anita Baltruna | 25 | Jelgava |
| Lebanon | Pamela Saadé | 25 | Jounieh |
| Liberia | Marit Woods | 21 | Monrovia |
| Lithuania | Ingrida Kazlauskaite | 24 | Kaunas |
| Luxembourg | Nadia Neves Pereira | 22 | Luxembourg |
| Macau | Qian Wei-Na | 22 | Macau |
| Malaysia | Audrey Ng | 23 | Perak |
| Malta | Maria Galea | 18 | Valletta |
| Martinique | Frédérique Violene Grainville | 18 | Fort-de-France |
| Mexico | Abigail Elizalde | 23 | Torreón |
| Netherlands | Melanie de Laat | 22 | Utrecht |
| New Zealand | Rachel Crofts | 20 | Manawatu |
| Nicaragua | Thelma Rodríguez | 19 | Chinandega |
| Nigeria | Ezinne Uko | 22 | Lagos |
| Northern Ireland | Gemma Walker | 23 | Slievemore |
| Pakistan | Nosheen Idrees | 22 | Jhelum |
| Panama | Shassia Ubillús | 25 | Panama City |
| Peru | Giuliana Zevallos | 20 | Loreto |
| Philippines | Karla Henry | 22 | Cebu City |
| Poland | Karolina Filipkowska | 20 | Łódź |
| Republic of the Congo | Katissia Kouta | 23 | Brazzaville |
| Romania | Ruxandra Popa | 21 | Abrud |
| Russia | Anna Mezentseva | 23 | Moscow |
| Rwanda | Cynthia Akazuba | 18 | Kigali |
| Scotland | Courtney St. John | 22 | Glasgow |
| Serbia | Bojana Traljic | 18 | Subotica |
| Singapore | Ivy Leow Kian Peng | 25 | Singapore |
| Slovakia | Martina Tóthová | 20 | Piešťany |
| Slovenia | Sara Frančeškin | 18 | Ljubljana |
| South Africa | Matapa Maila | 23 | Limpopo |
| South Korea | Seol-hee Seo | 19 | Daegu |
| South Sudan | Nok Nora Duany | 18 | Juba |
| Spain | Adriana Reverón | 23 | Tenerife |
| Suriname | Priscilla Yhap | 22 | Paramaribo |
| Sweden | Fanny Blomé | 18 | Norrköping |
| Switzerland | Nasanin Nuri | 21 | Teheran |
| Tahiti | Vahinetua Flaccadori | 19 | Papeete |
| Tanzania | Miriam Odemba | 25 | Arusha |
| Thailand | Piyaporn Deejing | 19 | Nakhon Ratchasima |
| Turkey | Demet Karadeniz | 25 | Ankara |
| Turks and Caicos | Sessily Pratt | 18 | Providenciales |
| Uganda | Daisy Nabagereka | 22 | Kampala |
| United States | Jana Murrell | 26 | Omaha |
| Venezuela | Daniela Torrealba | 19 | San Cristóbal |
| Wales | Jamie Lee Williams | 22 | Powys |