Miss Universe 2018
Miss Universe 2018, the 67th Miss Universe pageant, was held on December 17, 2018, at IMPACT Arena, Muang Thong Thani in Nonthaburi Province, north of Bangkok, Thailand. Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters of South Africa crowned her successor Catriona Gray of the Philippines at the end of the event. This is the fourth time a Filipina has won the title. The show was hosted by comedian Steve Harvey and supermodel Ashley Graham, while television personality Carson Kressley and runway coach Lu Sierra provided commentary and analysis throughout the event. American singer-songwriter Ne-Yo performed during the competition . Contestants from 94 countries and territories participated in this year's pageant, surpassing the previous record of 92 contestants in 2017 and marking the biggest turnout to date for Miss Universe as of . Ángela Ponce of Spain became the first openly transgender contestant to compete for the Miss Universe title. Background. Location. The Miss Universe Organization (MUO) was in talks to host the Miss Universe 2018 competition in China. Negotiations collapsed after the Chinese refused to broadcast the pageant live, due to the large time difference between China and the United States. Afterwards, the MUO opened negotiations with the Philippines , after they had previously hosted 2016. In April 2018, then-Secretary of Tourism Wanda Tulfo Teo spoke with President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte regarding the possibility of hosting the pageant in Boracay in November 2018, which by then will be newly rehabilitated after being closed to tourists for six months. On 6 May, Tulfo-Teo announced that the Philippines had a "90% chance" of hosting the pageant and also disclosed that the tourism department would be looking for sponsors, since the LCS Holdings Inc. of Chavit Singson, the major sponsor of the Miss Universe 2016 had declined financing the  2018 pageant. On May 18, 2018, Tulfo's successor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat announced that the country dropped the hosting bid due to budget constraints and other concerns. Romulo-Puyat also pointed out that the Philippines had hosted the pageant recently, and had no reason to do so again so soon. On July 31, 2018 it was announced by MUO President Paula Shugart, in a live press conference at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, that the 2018 pageant would be held in Bangkok, Thailand on December 17. The city has hosted the Miss Universe pageant twice, in 1992 and 2005. Current  Miss Universe Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, along with two former Miss Universes Apasra Hongsakula (Miss Universe 1965) and Natalie Glebova (Miss Universe 2005), participated in the announcement. Selection of participants. Delegates representing 94 countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant; six of these delegates were appointed to their titles after an audition process or other internal selection (British Virgin Islands, China, Denmark, Hungary, Laos, and Uruguay), three were appointed as replacements after the original titleholder was unable to compete because of commitments to Miss World 2018 and had placed as runners-up in the national pageant (Belgium , France, and Poland), and the remainder were selected as the winners of national pageants. However, reports have been unclear regarding whether Begimay Karybekova of Kyrgyzstan won a national title or was appointed to her title after an internal selection. The 2018 edition saw the debuts of Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia, while Belize, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Kenya, Kosovo, and Switzerland returned to the competition; Greece had not competed since 2015, while the others had not competed since 2016. Austria, Ethiopia, Iraq, Romania, Slovenia, and Tanzania all withdrew from the competition after their franchise owners lost their Miss Universe licenses, or a  national pageant was simply not held for another reason. Guyana was suspended from participating by the Miss Universe Organization due to controversy regarding "nasty emails" and "death threats" sent to the organization over a dispute regarding their delegate in 2017, while Trinidad and Tobago also withdrew after they had announced no pageant would be held, despite Martrecia Alleyne having been crowned Miss Universe Trinidad and Tobago 2018 at their 2017 national pageant. Due to visa and logistic issues, Marie Esther Bangura of Sierra Leone arrived in Bangkok after registration had ended and was barred from participating; she was allowed to  view the competition in the audience, and was personally invited to compete on next year pageant. Ángela Ponce of Spain became the first openly transgender woman to compete in Miss Universe. Although she failed to advance to the top twenty, Ponce was honored by pageant organizers during the competition for the historical importance of her participation. The rules of the pageant were changed to allow transgender women to compete in 2012, after the Miss Universe Organization, owned at the time by Donald Trump, was criticized and threatened with legal action for initially disqualifying Jenna Talackova from the Miss Universe Canada  competition after discovering she was transgender. Pageant. Format. Starting this year, the contestants was agrouped in another group with 20 semifinalists, compared to 16 in 2017 and 13 in 2016. This semifinal group size was last used in 2006 and continues to be used in 2019. The initial semifinalists were selected through a closed-door interview and a preliminary competition—in swimwear and evening gown—held several days before the finals night. The continental format, introduced in the 2017 edition, remained — consisting of five semifinalists from Europe, five from the Americas, five from Africa and Asia-Pacific, and five wildcards —regardless of continental grouping. The top 20 were then tasked to give an opening statement—a 15-second statement about the contestant—to the judges and viewing public, after which the judges narrowed downed the semifinalists to the top 10, who then competed in both swimsuit and evening gown. After the swimwear and evening gown competitions, the judges then selected the top five to compete in the preliminary question and answer round. After said segment, the judges selected the final three. The top three participated in the final word and final look portions, after which the judges chose Miss Universe  2018 and her two runners-up. For this edition, there was no online voting component for viewers at home. Selection committee. The seven judges for both the preliminary competition and the final telecast were an all-female panel which included: Contestants. 94 contestants competed for the title.