The 65th annual Miss World pageant was held in the Beauty Crown Grand Theatre in The People's Republic of China. The finals took place on Saturday, December 19th and was broadcast live on E! Entertainment Channel at 7:00 a.m. EST / 6:00 a.m. CST / 5:00 a.m. PST and was then rebroadcast at 8:00 a.m. PST on the west coast only.
Notably, Miss World 2015, is the first time within the history of the organization that swimsuit was not a judged phase of the competition and 117 countries around the world competed in the pageant.
The judged phases of Miss World were optional competitions in talent, fashion runway, and fitness/athletics with the final score determined with an in-depth interview, a service project, academic record and fitness/athletics portion. Ultimately, the title of Miss World 2015 went to Miss World Spain, Mireia Lalaguna Royo!
Another notable mention was Sanneta Myrie, Miss Jamaica 2015, stepping away from the standard pageant curls and wearing her hair in dreadlocks during Miss World 2015. She placed in the Top 5, and her stylistic decision inspires future contestants to stay true to themselves.
Onstage Question
In the 2012 broadcast, the presenter said the contestants had 30 seconds to answer the question. However, it does not seem to be a strict time limit as many contestants reached close to 40 seconds, including a greeting to the audience and pausing to formulate their thoughts before starting their answers. Since the contestants know what is going to be asked in this situation, they should have their answers prepared.
Miss Jamaica, Sanneta Myrie Finalist Answer:
The 24 year old Medical Doctor was the last in the Top 5 to give her answer. Perhaps flustered by the pressure, she managed to lose her way in her answer. " Sanya. Hello everyone, I am already so grateful for being here and truly touched. My story is one of a little girl whose life was transformed with charity and love and my quest in life is to give that back to as many people as I can and to inspire the world with my story that no matter where you're from, your skin type, your hair color, your situation, your dreams are valid. And I believe Beauty with a Purpose embodies my quest and if I was blessed with the crown tonight I would dedicate my essence to impacting the world in a purposeful and beautiful way with charity and love."
Miss Lebanon, Valerie Abou Chacra Finalist Answer:
Valerie is a 23 year old Television Actress who speaks Arabic, French and English. She was definitely comfortable in front of the camera at first, but she stumbled in her answer. She also used less time than her co-finalists and her answer again focuses on the characteristics of the next Miss World rather than how she would use her qualities to help the organization. She also said "um" a few times, which is frowned upon in the pageant world. " Sanya. Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I think that modesty, love and serenity is what the world needs more of these days and Miss World should have this qualification in order to spread them all around the world. I'm confident and I promise to give all the energy I have inside of me and all the power in order to make a difference and draw smiles on other faces."
Miss Indonesia, Maria Harfanti 2nd Runner-Up
Maria is a 23 year old TV presenter and student. She speaks Bahasa Indonesia, English, Japanese and Chinese. She began her answer very well, starting off by discussing Beauty with a Purpose, but then immediately went into discussing herself. " Sanya. Good evening ladies and gentlemen and respectful judges. I've always been truly inspired by Beauty with a Purpose as it means having the heart to share and always giving back to the community. Becoming Miss World will fulfill my dream to reach all poor people in terms of helping. I want to encourage as many people as I can to share everything that we have with people around us to use our potential too help those in need because we are fearfully and wonderfully made to not just exist in this world but to make a difference."
Miss Russia, Sofia Nikitchuk 1st Runner-Up
Sofia is 22 years old and speaks Russian, English and Ukrainian. Her current occupation is listed as "Miss Russia", and she studied Management at University. She certainly has a promising future ahead. She was the first to step up to the microphone to answer, which is always added pressure, but she manages to stay calm. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Sanya. I think my inner world reflects the main idea of the pageant Beauty with a Purpose. To reach my inner world to share my life, laugh, and my happiness with all people is really what I want to do and I it's a big, big, huge honor for me if I will have opportunity to do it the big Miss World ."
Miss Spain, Mireia Lalaguna Royo Miss World 2015
This 23 year old pharmacy student speaks Spanish, Catalan, English and French. She breaks every final question rule saying "Um, mmm," multiple times, and you can hear the emotion in her voice. But what could have very easily harmed her score may have helped to win her the crown. Remember Betty Cantrell's final question at Miss America this year? When walking to the question she lost an earring and paused, mentioned losing the earring, and then had to ask for the question to be repeated before putting together an answer. Mireia's time at the microphone was very reminiscent of Betty's. Additionally, unlike the rest of the contestants, she did not address the Sanya based audience members in their language and instead stuck with English, which may have helped keep her nerves under control. "Good evening Sanya...I didn't expect this...I think I should be the next Miss World 2015 because I think, I believe in, in strong women...I also...I think I have something inside my heart that I always try to give the best of me. And I also believe in the Beauty with a Purpose and I think I can continue with its legacy and show world wide how to love, share, and also how to, how to give the best of us and how to find our happiness and helping each other."
Here are the contestants whose talent costumes have been featured:
Miss World Dominican Republic 2015, Cinthya Maria Nunez
Miss World Peru 2015, Karla Chocano
Miss World Guatemala 2015, Maria Jose Larranaga
Miss World Colombia 2015, Maria Alejandra Lopez
Miss World Fiji 2015, Brittany Hazelman
Miss World Panama 2015, Diana Jaen Ortega
Miss World Venezuela 2015, Anyela Galante Salerno
Miss World China 2015, Lu Yuan
Miss World India 2015, Aditi Arya
Miss World Brazil 2015, Catharina Choi Nunes