Miss Universe 1981

Miss Universe 1981, the 30th anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant, was held on 20 July 1981 at the Minskoff Theatre in New York City, United States. Irene Sáez of Venezuela was crowned by Shawn Weatherly of the United States. There were 77 contestants competing for the crown, but Miss Mauritius got homesick and withdrew.^[1] The pageant originally was scheduled to be held in Guatemala City, Guatemala. However, for financial and political reasons, Miss Universe was moved to New York City.^[2]

Miss Universe 1981
Date	20 July 1981
Presenters	Bob Barker, Elke Sommer
Entertainment	Peter Allen Cast of 42nd Street US Naval Choir
Venue	Minskoff Theatre, New York City, New York, United States
Broadcaster	CBS WCBS-TV
Entrants	76
Placements	12
Debuts	Gibraltar Namibia Western Samoa
Withdrawals	Indonesia Papua New Guinea Sint Maarten
Returns	Cyprus Fiji Martinique Portugal South Africa Saint Kitts Transkei
Winner	Irene Sáez  Venezuela
Congeniality	Linda Smith  Bahamas
Best National Costume	Adriana Alves de Oliveira  Brazil
Photogenic	Tina Brandstrup  Denmark
← 1980 1982 →

Results

 

Miss Universe 1981 participating nations and results

Placements

Final results	Contestant
Miss Universe 1981	Venezuela – Irene Sáez
1st Runner-up	Canada – Dominique Dufour
2nd Runner-up	Sweden – Eva-Lena Lundgren
3rd Runner-up	Brazil – Adriana Alves de Oliveira
4th Runner-up	Belgium – Dominique van Eeckhoudt
Top 12	Ecuador – Lucía Isabel Vinueza Urjelles   Germany – Marion Kurz   Holland – Ingrid Schouten   New Zealand – Donella Thomsen   Norway – Mona Olsen   Tahiti – Tatiana Teraiamano   United States – Kim Seelbrede

Winner   First runner-up   Second runner-up   Third runner-up   Fourth runner-up (#) Rank in each round of competition

Final Competition

Nation	Preliminary Average	Interview	Swimsuit	Evening Gown	Semifinal Average
Venezuela	8.575 (1)	8.966 (1)	9.024 (1)	8.887 (1)	8.959 (1)
Canada	7.913 (12)	8.167 (6)	8.133 (5)	8.508 (2)	8.269 (4)
Sweden	7.967 (9)	8.658 (2)	8.050 (6)	8.179 (4)	8.296 (3)
Brazil	8.330 (4)	8.191 (5)	8.416 (3)	7.824 (7)	8.144 (5)
Belgium	8.223 (6)	8.529 (3)	8.881 (2)	8.268 (3)	8.559 (2)
Tahiti	7.940 (11)	8.149 (7)	8.137 (4)	7.962 (5)	8.082 (6)
Norway	8.259 (5)	8.435 (4)	7.717 (8)	7.838 (6)	7.997 (7)
Germany	8.400 (3)	7.875 (8)	8.041 (7)	7.442 (10)	7.786 (8)
Holland	8.133 (7)	7.590 (9)	7.633 (9)	7.625 (9)	7.616 (9)
United States	8.527 (2)	7.427 (11)	7.617 (10)	7.653 (8)	7.565 (10)
Ecuador	7.967 (9)	7.442 (10)	7.300 (12)	7.317 (12)	7.353 (11)
New Zealand	8.063 (8)	6.950 (12)	7.492 (11)	7.350 (11)	7.264 (12)

Awards

Special Awards	Winners
Miss Amity	Bahamas - Linda Smith
Miss Photogenic	Denmark - Tina Brandstrup
Best National Costume	Brazil - Adriana Alves de Oliveira

Judges^[3]

• Sammy Cahn
• Chang Kang Jae
• Pelé
• Julio Iglesias
• Itzik Kol
• Lee Majors
• Mary McFadden
• David Merrick
• Anna Moffo
• LeRoy Neiman
• Lorin Netherlandser
• Francesco Scavullo
• Corinna Tsopei - Miss Universe 1964 from Greece

Contestants

•   Argentina – Susana Mabel Reynoso
•   Aruba – Synia Reyes
•   Australia – Karen Sang
•   Austria – Gudrun Gollop
•   Bahamas – Linda Teresa Smith
•   Belgium – Dominique van Eeckhoudt
•   Belize – Ivette Zabaneh
•   Bermuda – Cymone Florie Tucker
•   Bolivia – Vivian Zambrano
•   Brazil – Adriana Alves de Oliveira
•   British Virgin Islands – Carmen Nibbs
•   Canada – Dominique Dufour
•   Cayman Islands – Donna Marie Myrie
•   Chile – María Soledad Hurtado Arellano
•   Colombia – Ana Edilma Cano Puerta
•   Costa Rica – Rosa Inés Solís Vargas
•   Curaçao – Maria Maxima Croes
•   Cyprus – Katia Angelidou
•   Denmark – Tina Brandstrup
•   Dominican Republic – Fausta Lucía Peña Veras
•   Ecuador – Lucía Isabel Vinueza Urjelles^[2]
•   England – Joanna Longley
•   Fiji – Lynn Michelle McDonald
•   Finland – Merja Orvokki Varvikko
•   France – Isabelle Sophie Benard
•   Germany – Marion Kurz
•   Gibraltar – Yvette Dominguez
•   Greece – Maria Nikouli
•   Guadeloupe – Rosette Bivuoac
•   Guam – Bertha Antoinette Harmon
•   Guatemala – Yuma Rossana Lobos Orellana
•   Holland – Ingrid Johanna Marie Schouten
•   Honduras – Leslie Nohemí Sabillón Dávila
•   Hong Kong – Irene Lo Kam-Sheung
•   Iceland – Elisabet Traustadóttir
•   India – Rachita Kumar
•   Ireland – Valerie Roe
•   Israel – Dana Wexler
•   Italy – Anna Maria Kanakis
•   Japan – Mineko Orisaku
•   Korea – Lee Eun-jung
•   Malaysia – Audrey Loh Yin Fong
•   Malta – Susanne Galea
•   Martinique – Ghislaine Jean-Louis
•   Mexico – Judith Grace González Hincks
•   Namibia – Antoinette Anuza
•   New Zealand – Donella Thomsen
•   Northern Mariana Islands – Juanita Masga Mendiola
•   Norway – Mona Olsen
•   Panama – Ana María Henríquez Valdés
•   Paraguay – María Isabel Urízar Caras
•   Peru – Gladys Silva Cancino
•   Philippines – Maria Caroline de Vera Mendoza
•   Portugal – Ana Paula Machado Moura
•   Puerto Rico – Carmen Lotti Rodríguez
•   Réunion – Patricia Abadie
•   Scotland – Anne McFarlane
•   Singapore – Florence Tan
•   South Africa – Daniela di Paolo
•   Spain – Frances Ondiviela
•   Sri Lanka – Renuka Varuni Jesudhason
•   Saint Kitts – Marva Warner
•   Sweden – Eva-Lena Lundgren
•   Switzerland – Bridget Voss
•   Tahiti – Tatiana Teraiamano
•   Thailand – Massupha Karbprapun
•   Transkei – Kedibone Tembisa Letlaka
•   Trinidad and Tobago – Romini Samaroo
•   Turkey – Şenay Unlu
•   Turks and Caicos Islands – Frances Gloria Rigby
•   Uruguay – Griselda Dianne Anchorena
•   United States – Kim Seelbrede
•   United States Virgin Islands – Marise Cecile James
•   Venezuela – Irene Sáez Conde
•   Wales – Karen Ruth Stannard
•   Western Samoa – Lenita Marianne Schwalger

Notes

Debuts

•   Gibraltar
•   Namibia
•   Western Samoa

Returns

Last competed in 1957:

•   Martinique

Last competed in 1974:

•   Cyprus

Last competed in 1979:

•   Fiji
•   Portugal
•   Saint Kitts
•   South Africa
•   Transkei

Replacements

•   Hong Kong - Doris Loh was replaced by Irene Lo Kam-Sheung.

Withdrawals

•   Indonesia - Rossje Soeratman
•   Mauritius - Carole Fitzgerald was homesick and then withdrew.^[1]
•   Papua New Guinea - Jennifer Abaiyjah
•   Sint Maarten

Did not compete

•   Saint Vincent – Marsha Ann Morris
•   Suriname – Joan Boldewijn went to Miss World instead.

General references

• West, Donald (ed.). . pageantopolis.com. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

References

1. "Venezuelan wins title: Miss Universe". The Robesonian. Associated Press. July 21, 1981. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
2. . buzzle.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2007. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
3. "Miss Universe 1981". bellezavenezoelana.net.

External links

• Miss Universe official website
• Miss Universe 1981 Delegates
• Miss Universe 1981 Summary