Miss Earth 2001

Miss Earth 2001 is the first Miss Earth pageant, organized by Carousel Productions.^[1][2] The pageant coronation night was held on October 28, 2001 at the University of the Philippines Theater in Quezon City, Philippines.^[3][4][5] There were 42 delegates who competed in the pageant that focuses on environmental issues. Catharina Svensson of Denmark, a professional equestrienne, fashion model, and third year law student, was crowned as the pageant's first winner.^[6][7][8]

Miss Earth 2001
Catharina Svensson, Miss Earth 2001
Date	October 28, 2001
Presenters	Emma Suwannarat Jaime Garchitorena Asha Gill
Venue	University of the Philippines Theater, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Broadcaster	RPN GMA Network The Filipino Channel Star World
Entrants	42
Placements	10
Debuts	Argentina Australia Bolivia Brazil Canada Colombia Croatia Denmark Dominican Republic El Salvador Estonia Ethiopia Finland Gibraltar Guatemala Hungary India Italy Japan Kazakhstan Kenya Latvia Lebanon Malaysia Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Panama Peru Philippines Puerto Rico Russia Singapore South Africa Spain Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Turkey USA Venezuela Zanzibar
Winner	Catharina Svensson  Denmark
Congeniality	Misuzu Hirayama  Japan
Best National Costume	Shamita Singha  India
Photogenic	Daniela Stucan  Argentina
2002 →

Background

 

University of the Philippines Theater, the venue of Miss Earth 2001

Location and date

After the contract of Carousel Productions to stage the Mutya ng Pilipinas and Miss Asia-Pacific International pageants was not renewed in the year 2000,^[9] Carousel Productions, led by Ramon Monzon and Lorraine Schuck, has decided to come up with their own pageants, with the help of former beauty queens from Mutya ng Pilipinas. These pageants are eventually named as Miss Philippines (which eventually became Miss Philippines Earth), and Miss Earth, which focuses on environmental consciousness.^[10]

Miss Earth was formally launched in a press conference on April 3, 2001 along with the search of Miss Philippines to represent Philippines in the international competition.^[11][12] Likewise, the pageant tied up with the Philippine government agencies such as the Philippine Department of Tourism (DoT), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and at least two international environmental groups such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the American Global Release to further its environmental advocacy.^[13][14]

Selection of participants

Contestants from forty-two countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. There were originally sixty countries that will compete in this edition, but was trimmed down to fifty-two after the September 11 attacks that happened in New York and Washington, United States. The number of contestants was further whittled to forty-two following the air-strikes on Afghanistan by the coalition led by the United States. Some countries who withdrew due to the aforementioned events include Costa Rica, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Malawi, Nepal, Switzerland, Uruguay, and Vietnam.^[15]

Results

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss Earth 2001	Denmark – Catharina Svensson^[16]
Miss Earth-Wind	Brazil – Simone Régis^[16]
Miss Earth-Water	Kazakhstan – Margarita Kravtsova^[16]
Miss Earth-Fire	Argentina – Daniela Stucan^[16]
Top 10	Bolivia – Catherine Villarroel   Estonia – Evelyn Mikomägi   India – Shamita Singha   Latvia – Jelena Keirane   Philippines – Carlene Aguilar   United States – Abigail Royce

Special awards

Awards	Contestant
Miss Friendship	Japan – Misuzu Hirayama
Miss Photogenic	Argentina – Daniela Stucan
Miss Talent	Latvia – Jelena Keirane
Best in Swimsuit	Kazakhstan – Margarita Kravtsova
Best in Evening Gown	Philippines – Carlene Aguilar
Best in National Costume	India – Shamita Singha^[17]
Miss Creamsilk	Argentina – Daniela Stucan
Miss Close-up	Philippines – Carlene Aguilar
Miss Avon	India – Shamita Singha
Miss Lux	India – Shamita Singha
Miss Ponds	Estonia – Evelyn Mikomägi

Contestants

 

Countries and territories which sent delegates and results

Forty-two contestants competed for the title.^[18][19]

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age^[a]	Hometown
Argentina	Daniela Stucan	22	Ensenada
Australia	Christy Anderson	–	Sydney
Bolivia	Catherine Villarroel^[20]	19	Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Brazil	Simone Régis^[11]	22	Santa Catarina
Canada	Michelle Weswaldi	–	Woodbridge
Colombia	Natalia Botero^[11]	21	Cesar
Croatia	Ivana Galesic^[11]	–	Zagreb
Denmark	Catharina Svensson	21	Copenhagen
Dominican Republic	Catherine Núñez	–	Elías Piña
El Salvador	Grace Marie Zabaneh^[11]	22	San Salvador
Estonia	Evelyn Mikomägi^[21]	21	Tallinn
Ethiopia	Nardos Tiluhan Wondemu^[11]	21	Addis Ababa
Finland	Martina Aitolehti^[22]	19	Helsinki
Gibraltar	Charlene Ann Figueras^[11]	21	Gibraltar
Guatemala	Carmina Elizabeth Paz	–	Guatemala City
Hungary	Krisztina Kovacs	–	Budapest
India	Shamita Singha^[23]	22	Mumbai
Italy	Monica Rosetti	19	Milan
Japan	Misuzu Hirayama	–	Tokyo
Kazakhstan	Margarita Kravtsova^[11]	20	Astana
Kenya	Aqua Bonsu^[24]	–	Nairobi
Latvia	Jelena Keirane^[11]	21	Riga
Lebanon	Adelle Raymond Boustany	–	Beirut
Malaysia	Joey Tan^[11]	24	Penang
Netherlands	Jamie-Lee Huisman	–	North Holland
New Zealand	Abbey Flynn	–	Auckland
Nicaragua	Karla José Leclair^[11]	–	Matagalpa
Panama	Aliana Khan^[11]	–	Panama City
Peru	Paola Barreda	–	Lima
Philippines	Carlene Aguilar^[25]	19	Quezon City
Puerto Rico	Amaricelys Reyes	–	Isabela
Russia	Victoria Bonya	–	Krasnokamensk
Singapore	Calista Ng^[11]	23	Singapore
South Africa	Inecke van der Westhuizen	–	Gauteng
Spain	Noemi Caldas	–	–
Taiwan	Hsiu Chao-Yun	–	Taipei
Tanzania	Hilda Bukozo	–	–
Thailand	Victoria Wachholz	–	Chiang Mai
Turkey	Gozde Bahadir	–	–
United States	Abigail Royce^[11]	25	San Diego
Venezuela	Lirigmel Ramos^[26]	–	Caracas
Zanzibar	Sheena Nanty	–	–

Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant

References

1. . El Deber. 25 October 2001. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
2. "Miss Earth adds touch of green to beauty tilts". Philippine Daily Inquirer. 24 September 2001. pp. A27. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via Google News Archive.
3. . Filipino Reporter. 2001-11-08. Archived from the original on 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
4. Palmero, Paul (2005-06-18). "Pageant History". Pageant Almanac. Archived from the original on 2008-12-12. Retrieved 2008-01-07.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
5. Lo, Ricardo F. (27 October 2001). . The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on 2015-02-10. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
6. West, Donald (2007-12-18). . Pageantopolis. Archived from the original on 2007-12-16. Retrieved 2008-01-07.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
7. Barawid, Rachel (2001-10-30). "Danish student wins 1st Miss Earth title". Manila Bulletin.
8. "Newly crowned". Sun Journal. 29 October 2001. pp. C6. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via Google News Archive.
9. Valera, Nini (19 November 2000). "The last 'Mutya'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. pp. A23. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via Google News Archive.
10. Salterio, Leah (6 April 2001). "After losing mutya and Miss Asia, ex-beauty queen puts up her own contests". Philippine Daily Inquirer. pp. A26. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via Google News Archive.
11. Brizuela, Jayson B. (19 October 2001). "Our planet is so Beautiful, so is Miss Earth: 42 women form around the world vie for the title". Manila Standard Publishing Corporation. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
12. Lo, Ricardo F. (2001-04-03). "Two new RP Beauty Contests Coming Up". Philippine Headline News/Philippine Star. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
13. Xinhua News, Online (2001-08-29). . Xinhua News Agency. Archived from the original on August 30, 2009. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
14. Barawid, Rachel Castro (2001-10-11). . Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on 2013-11-06. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
15. Burgonio, TJ (12 October 2001). "Beauties back out". Philippine Daily Inquirer. pp. A25, A27. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via Google News Archive.
16. Sanchez, Kym A. (2002-04-20). "Elemental beauties: Up close with the Miss Earth winners". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
17. "Down to Earth". The Times of India. 16 November 2001. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
18. Soul, John (2001-10-28). . Woman of the Earth News. Archived from the original on 2010-04-05. Retrieved 2009-12-27.
19. Castro Barawid, Rachel (12 October 2001). "35 beauties vying for Miss Earth". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
20. "Catherine Villarroel: "El título de madre te lo da tu hijo y los otros adjetivos te los da la sociedad"" [Catherine Villarroel: “The title of mother is given to you by your child and the other adjectives are given to you by society”]. El Deber (in European Spanish). 19 May 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
21. Jahilo, Valdo (28 August 2001). "Evelyn Mikomägi lubab missivõistlustega lõpu teha" [Evelyn Mikomägi promises to put an end to pageants]. Õhtuleht (in Estonian). Retrieved 18 October 2023.
22. Maria Pettersson (April 2009). "Martina Aitolehti. Miten myy tuote Martina Aitolehti". City. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
23. Gujare, Mrinal (22 April 2015). "Stunning beauty queens share their thoughts about 'Earth Day'". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
24. "Life after the runway". Daily Nation. 21 June 2020 [28 November 2008]. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
25. Lo, Ricardo F. (28 April 2001). "1st Miss Philippines picked tonight". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
26. Lo, Ricky (27 October 2001). "In fairness to Sherilyn". Philippine Star. Retrieved 18 October 2023.

External links

• Official website
• Miss Earth Foundation