Miss Universe 1976
Rina Messinger, Miss Universe 1976
Date11 July 1976[a]
Presenters
VenueLee Theatre, Hong Kong
Broadcaster
  • CBS (international)
    TVB (Host broadcaster)
Entrants72
Placements12
Debuts
Withdrawals
Returns
WinnerRina Messinger
 Israel
CongenialityMargaret McFarlane
 Trinidad and Tobago
Best National CostumeRocío Lazcano
 Peru
PhotogenicPauline Davies
 England
← 1975
1977 →

Miss Universe 1976 was the 25th Miss Universe pageant, held on 11 July 1976[a] at the Lee Theatre in Hong Kong. Rina Messinger of Israel was crowned by Anne Marie Pohtamo of Finland. This was the first and only time that an Israeli has won the competition. It was the only time in the pageant's history that the event was held in Hong Kong.

Results

Miss Universe 1976 participating nations and results

Placements

Placement Contestant
Miss Universe 1976
1st runner-up
2nd runner-up
3rd runner-up
4th runner-up
Top 12

Contestants

Seventy-two contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory Contestant
 American Samoa Taliilani Letuli[2]
 Argentina Lilian Noemí De Asti[3]
 Aruba Cynthia Bruin
 Australia Julie Anne Ismay
 Austria Heidi-Marie Passian
 Bahamas Sharon Smith
 Barbados Jewell Nightingale
 Belgium Yvette Aelbrecht
 Bermuda Vivienne Hollis
 Bolivia Carolina Aramayo
 Brazil Katia Moretto
 Canada Normande Jacques
 Chile Verónica Sommer
 Colombia María Helena Reyes
 Costa Rica Silvia Jiménez
 Curaçao Anneke Dijkhuizen
 Denmark Brigitte Trolle
 Dominican Republic Norma Lora
 Ecuador Gilda Plaza
 El Salvador Mireya Calderón
 England Pauline Davies
 Finland Suvi Lukkarinen
 France Monique Uldaric
 Germany Birgit Margot Hamer
 Greece Melina Michailidou
 Guam Pilar Laguana
 Guatemala Blanca Montenegro
 Holland Nannetje Nielen[4]
 Honduras Victoria Alejandra Pineda
 Hong Kong Rowena Lam
 Iceland Gudmunda Hulda Johannesdottir
 India Naina Balsaver[4]
 Indonesia Juliarti Rahayu Gunawan
 Ireland Elaine O'Hara[4]
 Israel Rina Messinger
 Italy Diana Scapolan
 Japan Miyako Iwakuni
 Liberia Laurine Wede Johnson
 Luxembourg Monique Wilmes
 Malaysia Faridah Norizan
 Malta Mary Grace Ciantar
 Mauritius Marielle Tse-Sik-Sun
 Mexico Carla Jean Evert
 New Zealand Janey Kingscote
 Nicaragua Ivania Navarro[4]
 Northern Mariana Islands Candelaria Borja
 Norway Bente Lihaug
 Panama Carolina Chiari
 Papua New Guinea Eva Regina Arni
 Paraguay Nidia Fátima Cárdenas
 Peru Rocío Lazcano
 Philippines Elizabeth de Padua
 Puerto Rico Elizabeth Zayas
 Scotland Carol Jean Grant
 Singapore Linda Tham
 Sint Maarten Angela Huggins
 South Africa Cynthia Classen
 South Korea Chung Kwang-hyun
 Spain Olga Fernández
 Sri Lanka Genevieve Parsons
 Suriname Peggy Vandeleuv
 Sweden Caroline Westerberg
  Switzerland Isabelle Fischbacher
 Thailand Katareeya Areekul
 Trinidad and Tobago Margaret McFarlane
 Turkey Manolya Onur
 United States Barbara Peterson[5]
 United States Virgin Islands Lorraine Patricia Baa
 Uruguay Leila Vinas
 Venezuela Judith Castillo
 Wales Sian Adey-Jones
 Yugoslavia Svetlana Radojcic

Notes

Debuts

Returns

Last competed in 1973:

Last competed in 1974:

Withdrawals

Did not Compete

Awards

Notes

  1. ^ a b The event was held at 8:00 am Hong Kong Time (UTC+08:00); for the Americas, this was July 10 in their local times.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Israeli Wins Miss Universe". The News and Observer. Associated Press. 12 July 1976. p. 19. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Hong Kong Is Agog Over Beauty Pageant". The New York Times. 10 July 1976. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Kissinger, el personaje preferido" [Kissinger, the favorite character]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). 9 July 1976. pp. 3B. Retrieved 26 August 2023 – via Google News Archive.
  4. ^ a b c d Basu, Soma (15 February 2017). "40 years ago as competitors on stage for the Ms.Universe pageant, their looks mattered. Now their bonding and inner beauty does". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  5. ^ "It's All a Dream World for the New Miss U.S.A." The Kansas City Times. Associated Press. May 17, 1976. p. 9. Retrieved 25 July 2023.

External links

Miss Universe
Miss Universe 1976, national titleholders
Categories