Miss Universe 2012
Miss Universe 2012, the 61st Miss Universe pageant, was held on 19 December 2012 at PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Leila Lopes of Angola crowned her successor Olivia Culpo of the United States at the end of the event, making the United States the most successful participant nation at Miss Universe, with its eighth victory. 89 contestants competed in this year's pageant, same as the last year. This record was broken in 2017 with 92 contestants, which again was broken in 2018 with 94 contestants.
Organization
The Dominican Republic negotiated with the Miss Universe Organization to organize the pageant in Punta Cana but was not granted the hosting rights due to the country not being able to fulfill the requirements asked by the Miss Universe Organization. The backing out of the Dominican Republic caused the Miss Universe Organization to host the pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada in December deviating from the customary mid-year scheduling of the pageant.Placements
Order of announcements
Top 16
- Venezuela
- Turkey
- France
- Peru
- Russia
- Mexico
- Poland
- Hungary
- South Africa
- Philippines
- Croatia
- Brazil
- Kosovo
- Australia
- India
- USA
Top 10
- Australia
- Russia
- Brazil
- France
- Venezuela
- USA
- Hungary
- South Africa
- Mexico
- Philippines
Top 5
- Venezuela
- Philippines
- Australia
- USA
- Brazil
Contestants
| Country/Territory | Contestant | Age | Height | Hometown |
 Albania | Adrola Dushi | 19 | Rrëshen | |
 Angola | Marcelina Vahekeni | 22 | Ondjiva | |
 Argentina | Camila Solórzano Ayusa | 23 | Tucumán | |
 Aruba | Liza Helder | 23 | Oranjestad | |
 Australia | Renae Ayris | 22 | Perth | |
 Bahamas | Celeste Marshall | 20 | Nassau | |
 Belgium | Laura Beyne | 20 | Brussels | |
 Bolivia | Yéssica Mouton | 24 | Santa Cruz | |
 Botswana | Sheillah Molelekwa | 19 | Gaborone | |
 Brazil | Gabriela Markus | 24 | Teutônia | |
 British Virgin Islands | Abigail Hyndman | 22 | Road Town | |
 Bulgaria | Zhana Yaneva | 23 | Sofia | |
 Canada | Adwoa Yamoah | 26 | Calgary | |
 Cayman Islands | Lindsay Japal | 24 | Georgetown | |
 Chile | Ana Luisa König | 22 | Santiago | |
 China | Xu Jidan | 22 | Shanghai | |
 Colombia | Daniella Álvarez | 24 | Barranquilla | |
 Costa Rica | Nazareth Cascante | 22 | Alajuela | |
 Croatia | Elizabeta Burg | 19 | Vrbanja | |
 Curaçao | Monifa Jansen | 19 | Willemstad | |
 Cyprus | Ioanna Yiannakou | 19 | Paphos | |
 Czech Republic | Tereza Chlebovská | 22 | Krnov | |
 Denmark | Josefine Hewitt | 19 | Esbjerg | |
 Dominican Republic | Dulcita Lieggi | 23 | Santo Domingo | |
 Ecuador | Carolina Aguirre | 19 | Guayaquil | |
 El Salvador | Ana Yancy Clavel | 20 | San Salvador | |
 Estonia | Natalie Korneitsik | 23 | Tallinn | |
 Ethiopia | Helen Getachew | 22 | Addis Ababa | |
 Finland | Sara Chafak | 22 | Helsinki | |
 France | Marie Payet | 20 | Saint-Denis | |
 Gabon | Channa Divouvi | 21 | Ngounié | |
 Georgia | Tamar Shedania | 20 | Zugdidi | |
 Germany | Alicia Endemann | 23 | Hamburg | |
 Ghana | Gifty Ofori | 24 | Accra | |
 Great Britain | Holly Hale | 22 | Llanelli | |
 Greece | Vasiliki Tsirogianni | 24 | Thessaloniki | |
 Guam | Alyssa Cruz Aguero | 24 | Barrigada | |
 Guatemala | Laura Godoy | 24 | Guatemala City | |
 Guyana | Ruqayyah Boyer | 22 | Georgetown | |
 Haiti | Christela Jacques | 19 | Pétion-Ville | |
 Honduras | Jennifer Andrade | 24 | Tegucigalpa | |
 Hungary | Ágnes Konkoly | 25 | Budapest | |
 India | Shilpa Singh | 23 | Samastipur | |
 Indonesia | Maria Selena | 22 | Semarang | |
 Ireland | Adrienne Murphy | 22 | Dublin | |
 Israel | Lina Makhuli | 19 | Haifa | |
 Italy | Grazia Pinto | 24 | Catania | |
 Jamaica | Chantal Zaky | 24 | Port Antonio | |
 Japan | Ayako Hara | 24 | Sendai | |
 Korea | Seonghye Lee | 24 | Seoul | |
 Kosovo | Diana Avdiu | 19 | Mitrovica | |
 Lebanon | Rina Chibany | 21 | Zahle | |
 Lithuania | Greta Mikalauskytė | 19 | Šiauliai | |
 Malaysia | Kimberley Leggett | 19 | Penang | |
 Mauritius | Ameeksha Dilchand | 26 | Curepipe | |
 Mexico | Karina González | 21 | Aguascalientes City | |
 Montenegro | Andrea Radonjic | 20 | Podgorica | |
 Namibia | Tsakana Nkandih | 22 | Windhoek | |
 Netherlands | Nathalie den Dekker | 22 | Amstelveen | |
 New Zealand | Talia Bennett | 26 | Auckland | |
 Nicaragua | Farah Eslaquit | 21 | La Concepcion | |
 Nigeria | Isabella Ayuk | 26 | Ikom | |
 Norway | Sara Nicole Andersen | 20 | Oslo | |
 Panama | Stephanie Vander Werf | 26 | Panama City | |
 Paraguay | Egni Eckert | 25 | 1.83 m | Luque |
 Peru | Nicole Faverón | 24 | Iquitos | |
 Philippines | Janine Tugonon | 23 | Orion | |
 Poland | Marcelina Zawadzka | 23 | Malbork | |
 Puerto Rico | Bodine Koehler | 20 | San Juan | |
 Romania | Delia Duca | 26 | Brașov | |
 Russia | Elizabeth Golovanova | 19 | Smolensk | |
 Serbia | Branislava Mandić | 21 | Čurug | |
 Singapore | Lynn Tan | 24 | Singapore | |
 Slovak Republic | Ľubica Štepanová | 24 | Prievidza | |
 South Africa | Melinda Bam | 23 | Pretoria | |
 Spain | Andrea Huisgen | 22 | Barcelona | |
 Sri Lanka | Sabrina Herft | 25 | Colombo | |
 St. Lucia | Tara Edward | 25 | Gros Islet | |
 Sweden | Hanni Beronius | 22 | Göteborg | |
 Switzerland | Alina Buchschacher | 21 | Bern | |
 Tanzania | Winfrida Dominic | 19 | Dar es Salaam | |
 Thailand | Farida Waller | 19 | Krabi | |
 Trinidad and Tobago | Avionne Mark | 23 | Champ Fleurs | |
 Turkey | Çağıl Özge Özkul | 24 | Ankara | |
 Ukraine | Anastasia Chernova | 19 | Kharkov | |
 Uruguay | Camila Vezzoso | 19 | Artigas | |
 United States | Olivia Culpo | 20 | Cranston | |
 Venezuela | Irene Esser | 21 | Río Caribe | |
 Vietnam | Diem Huong Luu | 22 | Ho Chi Minh City |
Judges
Preliminary competition
- Carlos Anaya
- Beverly Frank
- Duane Gazi
- Michael Greenwald
- Jimmy Nguyen
- Corinne Nicolas
- Amy Sadowsky
- Crystle Stewart – Miss USA 2008 from Texas
Final telecast
- Nigel Barker – Fashion photographer and the host of The Face
- Diego Boneta – Singer, actor and songwriter from Mexico
- Scott Disick – Businessman, entrepreneur and reality star of Keeping Up With the Kardashians
- Brad Goreski – Fashion stylist and reality star of It's a Brad, Brad World
- Claudia Jordan – Miss Rhode Island Teen USA 1990 & Miss Rhode Island USA 1997
- Masaharu Morimoto – Chef and star of Iron Chef and Iron Chef America from Japan
- Ximena Navarrete – Miss Universe 2010 from Mexico
- Pablo Sandoval – Professional baseball player from Venezuela
- Lisa Vanderpump – Reality star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
- Kerri Walsh Jennings – Professional beach volleyball player and triple gold medalist in Summer Olympics
Debuts
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Returns
- Last competed in 2009:
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- Last competed in 2010:
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Replacements
- ' – Sahar Biniaz was replaced by Adwoa Yamoah, the 1st runner-up of Miss Universe Canada 2012 because the original winner, Sahar, had to withdraw due to a foot injury.
- ' – Ntaniella Kefala was replaced by Ioánna Yiannakoú the 2nd runner-up of Star Cyprus 2012 for undisclosed reasons.
- ' – Carola Durán was dethroned after reports surfaced of a previous marriage in 2009. She was replaced by Dulcita Lynn Lieggi the 1st runner-up of Miss Republica Dominicana 2012.
- ' – Kätlin Valdmets was replaced by Natalie Korneitsik, the 1st runner-up of Eesti Miss Estonia 2012 pageant due to Katlin not being able to travel to participate.
- ' – Delphine Wespiser due to Miss Universe 2012 conflicting with Miss France 2013, which was held on 8 December. She was replaced by Marie Payet, the 2nd runner-up of Miss France 2012.
- ' – Marie-Noëlle Ada was replaced by Channa Divouvi, the 1st runner-up of Miss Gabon 2011 due to Marie being unable to attend both the pageant and Miss Gabon 2012.
- ' – Urvashi Rautela resigned due to an age controversy. She was replaced by Shilpa Singh, the 1st runner-up of I Am She 2012.Urvashi Rautela later won Miss Diva 2015 and represented India at Miss Universe 2015 where she was unplaced.
- ' – Avianca Böhm was replaced by Talia Bennett, the 1st runner-up of Miss Universe New Zealand 2012, after her New Zealand citizenship application was denied.
Designations
- ' – Liza Nerelyn Helder was appointed as "Miss Universe Aruba 2012" after Marinus Wegereef, acquired the franchise and became the new national director of Miss Universe in Aruba.
- ' – Monifa Jansen was appointed to represent Curaçao after she couldn't compete in 2011 because she didn't meet the minimum age requirement.
- ' – Josefine Hewitt was appointed as "Miss Universe Denmark 2012" after a casting call took place.
- ' – Alicia Endemann was appointed as "Miss Universe Germany 2012" by Kim Kotter, national director of Miss Universe in Germany.
- ' – Christela Jacques was appointed as "Miss Universe Haiti 2012" after a casting call took place.
- ' – Greta Mikalauskyte was appointed to represent Lithuania. She was the 1st runner up at the Miss Lithuania 2012 pageant.
- ' – Nathalie den Dekker was appointed as "Miss Universe Netherlands 2012" by Kim Kotter, national director of Miss Universe in the Netherlands. She previously competed at Miss World 2012, where she placed in the Top 15.
- ' – Nicole Faverón was appointed as "Miss Universe Peru 2012", she was the 1st runner up at the Miss Peru 2011 pageant.
- ' – Branislava Mandic was appointed to represent Serbia. She was the 2nd runner up at the Miss Serbia 2011 pageant.
- ' – Lưu Thị Diễm Hương was appointed to represent Vietnam by Unicorp. The permission was granted by the Ministry of Culture of Vietnam, which authorizes the international representation of the nation in events of any kind. Luu Thi Diem Huong recently got divorced, and she was married in 2011. She lied to Unicorp in order to compete at Miss Universe. Luu Thi Diem Huong is the first Miss Vietnam who married but competed at Miss Universe.
Withdrawals
- ' – Egypt didn't send a delegate because there were no sponsors for the 2012 pageant.
- ' – Ainur Toleuova withdrew because she didn't meet the minimum age requirement.
- ' - The Miss Universe Portugal 2012 was not held due to losing the franchise until 2013. Portugal will returned to Miss Universe in 2014.
- ' – The main national pageant organizers "Delo Revije", a magazine company, lost the franchise license due to company's bankruptcy filed in 2011.
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Host city
In April 2012, it was announced that Bangladesh would host the pageant on 13 December. In July 2012, the Bangladeshi president announced that they will not host the pageant because of financial constraints.
It was rumored that Guadalajara of Mexico, Isla Margarita of Venezuela, Sun City of South Africa, and Jakarta of Indonesia were to host the competition. But, in August 2012, the Dominican government received a proposal from the Miss Universe Organization to host the competition on 11 December. The Dominican Republic had once hosted the Miss Universe pageant in 1977 in Santo Domingo. The Miss Universe Organization was considering hosting the final night at the Hard Rock Resort and Casino in Punta Cana. However, The Dominican government said that the country was not able to provide any kind of financial assistance to the pageant.
Finally, in September 2012, it was confirmed by the Miss Universe Organization that the 2012 Miss Universe pageant would take place at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 19 December. It was the fourth time the Miss Universe pageant was held in Las Vegas, the other three times being in 1991, 1996, and 2010.