On Saturday, November 16, the 73rd Miss Universe Competition was held in Mexico City. This year’s competition marked the first time in Miss Universe’s 72-year history that women over the age of 28 were permitted to enter. More than two dozen of the competition’s finalists were older than would have been allowed in previous years, with Malta’s Beatrice Njoya becoming the first and only woman in her 40s to reach the grand finale. The age limit’s removal came amid growing calls for the pageant to modernize.
Ahead of 2023’s competition, the Miss Universe Organization also lifted a longstanding ban on pregnant women/mothers, and women who are/or ever have been married. Delegates for each country were selected by local pageants who licensed local rights from the Miss Universe Organization. This year’s contest saw Cuba, represented by Marianela Ancheta, take part in Miss Universe for the first time since 1967. Several countries, including Belarus, Eritrea, and the United Arab Emirates, sent contestants for the first time.
In April the Miss Universe Organization moved to get rid of false reports that Saudi Arabia was due to make its debut in the 2024 pageant. Some of the national-level contests were ruined by controversies in the build-up to this year’s final. One of which included Miss Universe South Africa, which saw Adetshina quit the competition after questions about her nationality sparked a wave of what CNN called “xenophobic hostility”. Adetshina was then again later chosen to represent Nigeria.
This year’s finale featured a performance by singer Robin Thicke and was hosted by Saved by the Bell star Mario Lopez and former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo. The judges panel concluded with Michael Cinco a Filipino global fashion icon and influencer, Lele Pons a Venezuelan-American actress/singer and content creator, Emilio Estefan a Cuban-American musician, Eva Cavalli Austrian fashion designer, Jessica Carrillo a Mexican journalist and TV host, Gabriela Gonzalez a celebrated Mexican designer, Gianluca Vacchi a Italian billionaire, Margaret Gardiner who was crowned 1978 Miss Universe winner, Nova Stevens a model/actress/activist, Farianna a singer/actress, Gary Nader a influential art collector and gallery owner, and Camila Guiribitey a Cuban philanthropist/dentist/social media influencer.
The big and beautiful pageant began with the contestants being narrowed down to a shorter list of 30, based on the results of Thursday’s preliminary event. That included an elaborate national costume contest. During this part of the competition, Denmark’s Victoria Kjaer presented a national costume as a Viking warrior goddess with red and golden ornamentation semi-finalists then walked in swimwear, before 12 of them were advanced to an evening gown contest.
The final five contestants later were asked questions on a range of topics. Some of which included leadership and resilience. When Denmark’s Victoria Kjaer asked how she would live differently if nobody judged her, Theilvig expressed to the judges she wouldn’t change anything, stating, “I live by each day.” Nigeria’s Chidimma Adetshina finished as first runner-up and Mexico’s Maria Fernanda Beltran was named second runner-up.
Thailand’s Suchata Chuangsri and Venezuela’s Ileana Marquez Pedroza followed. Pedroza, is a 28-year-old mother, who made history in the Miss Universe competition by being in the top five after the competition had removed several restrictions in recent years. The crowned winner of the 2024 Miss Universe contest was Denmark’s Victoria Kjaer after beating more than 120 contestants. She was applauded as she accepted the tiara from reigning title holder Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua.
She is the first Danish woman to be crowned Miss Universe. On top of this, she is also the second Danish woman to have won any of the Big Four international beauty pageants. Kjaer attended Lyngby Handelsgymnasium where she studied business and marketing. The 21-year-old is a competitive dancer, entrepreneur, and aspiring lawyer. She is also an advocate for mental health awareness, animal rights, and entrepreneurship in the beauty industry.
Kjaer is now facing backlash after she posted a TikTok video over the weekend of herself lip-syncing a Jay-Z song where it appears she says a racial slur. Theilvig has been traveling around the Big Apple following her historic win. The Danish model sparked the controversy after mouthing lyrics to “Empire State of Mind” to correlate with her trip to the Empire State Building. The song includes the N-word during the nearly 20-second TikTok clip filmed on top of the Empire State Building that now has since been deleted. She flipped the switch to light the Empire State Building red and white, the colors of Denmark, in commemoration of her win.
