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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

Miss Universe 1958

Miss Universe 1958 was the seventh Miss Universe pageant, held at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States on 25 July 1958.

At the end of the event, Gladys Zender of Peru crowned Luz Marina Zuluaga of Colombia as Miss Universe 1958. Zuluaga was the first representative of Colombia to win the contest.

Contestants from thirty-six countries and territories competed in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Byron Palmer.

Background

Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, the venue of Miss Universe 1958

Selection of participants

Contestants from thirty-five countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Two contestants were selected to replace the original dethroned winner.

Replacements

Luz Marina Zuluaga, the first runner-up of Señorita Colombia 1957, was appointed to replace Señorita Colombia 1957 Doris Inés Gil after it was discovered that the latter was already married. June Cooper was supposed to represent England in this edition, but was dethroned after it was discovered that she did not meet the minimum age requirement. Due to the dethronement of Cooper, a separate contest was held to pick a new representative of England to the contest. Wendy Peters won this contest, but was also dethroned after it was discovered that she was previously married. Due to this, the pageant organizers decided to appoint Dorothy Hazeldine as the representative of England in this edition.

Debuts, returns, and withdrawals

This edition saw the debuts of Colombia, Poland, and Suriname, and the returns of Australia, British Guiana, Chile, Denmark, Holland, Norway, Singapore, the United States, and the West Indies. Denmark last competed in 1953, Australia and Singapore last competed in 1954, Norway and the West Indies last competed in 1955, while the others last competed in 1956.

Austria, Ceylon, Costa Rica, Iceland, Martinique, Morocco, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Turkey withdrew. Hanni Ehrenstrasser of Austria withdrew after winning another international beauty contest. Eugenia Valverde of Costa Rica withdrew after not meeting the minimum age requirement. Despite being barred from the competition, Valverde was allowed to join the preliminary competition without being scored. Carmen Remedios Tuason of the Philippines withdrew due to her family not allowing her to join the competition. Ceylon, Iceland, Martinique, Morocco, Puerto Rico, and Turkey withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.

Results

Placements

Placement Contestant
Miss Universe 1958
1st runner-up
2nd runner-up
3rd runner-up
4th runner-up
Top 15

Special awards

Award Contestant
Miss Friendship
  •  Japan – Tomoko Moritake
Miss Photogenic
Miss Popular Girl

Pageant

Format

Same with 1955, fifteen semi-finalists were chosen at the preliminary competition that consists of the swimsuit and evening gown competition. Each of the fifteen semi-finalists gave a short speech during the final telecast using their native languages. Afterwards, the fifteen semi-finalists paraded again in their swimsuits and evening gowns, and the five finalists were eventually chosen.

Selection committee

  • David Arasik – Israeli editor of Cinema magazine
  • Raul Ferrada – Chilean newspaper editor
  • Jacob Gaudaur – Canadian oarsman
  • Ma Ma Loa – Famous Hawaiian singer
  • Miyoko Nayagita – Member of the Woman Artists Association
  • Vincent Trotta – American artist
  • Alberto Vargas – Peruvian-American painter known for his "Vargas Girls"
  • Earl Wilson – American journalist and columnist
  • Roger Zeiler – French official from the Miss Europe Committee

Contestants

Miss Universe 1958 participating countries and territories

Thirty-five contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory Contestant Age Hometown
Alaska Alaska Eleanor Moses 20 Fairbanks
 Argentina Celina Mercedes Ayala 19 Misiones
 Australia Astrid Lindholm 20 Adelaide
 Belgium Liliane Taelemans 20 Brussels
 Brazil Adalgisa Colombo 18 Rio de Janeiro
 British Guiana Clyo Fernandes 18 Georgetown
 Canada Eileen Conroy 21 Toronto
 Chile Raquel Molina 23 Quilpue
 Colombia Luz Marina Zuluaga 19 Manizales
 Cuba Arminia Pérez 21 Havana
 Denmark Evy Norlund 20 Copenhagen
 Ecuador Alicia Vallejo 22 Riobamba
 England Dorothy Hazeldine 19 Rochdale
 France Monique Boulinguez 21 Paris
 Germany Marlies Jung Behrens 19 Munich
 Greece Marily Kalimopoulou 18 Athens
 Guatemala Maya Glinz Guatemala City
Hawaii Hawaii Geri Hoo 18 Honolulu
 Holland Corine Rottschäfer 20 Amsterdam
 Israel Miriam Hadar 21 Jerusalem
 Italy Clara Coppola 20 Lazio
 Japan Tomoko Moritake 20 Nagasaki
 Mexico Elvira Leticia Risser 19 Mexico City
 Norway Greta Andersen 20 Stavanger
 Paraguay Graciela Scorza 18 Asunción
 Peru Beatriz Boluarte 19 Lima
 Poland Alicja Bobrzowska 22 Kraków
Singapore Singapore Marion Willis 19 Singapore
 South Korea Oh Geum-soon 19 Seoul
 Suriname Gertrud Gummels 20 Paramaribo
 Sweden Birgitta Elisabeth Gårdman 19 Stockholm
 United States Eurlyne Howell 18 Bossier City
 Uruguay Irene Augustyniak 20 Montevideo
 Venezuela Ida Margarita Pieri 18 Carúpano
 West Indies Angela Tong Port of Spain, Trinidad