Miss World 1970

Background

Seletion of participants

58 contestants competed for the Miss World title.

This edition saw South Africa send two contestants to Miss World 1970 due to racial segregation in the country: a white contestant represented 'South Africa,' while a black contestant competed under the title 'Africa South.'

Debuts, returns, and, withdrawals

This edition marked the debut of Grenada and Mauritius. Also the return of Hong Kong and Puerto Rico, which last competed in 1959, Spain last competed in 1964, Malaysia last competed in 1966, Portugal last competed in 1967, and Ceylon, Italy, Switzerland and Thailand last competed in 1968.

Chile, Costa Rica, the Czechoslovakia and Paraguay, withdrew from the competition for unknown reasons.

Protests and controversy

There was controversy before the contest began because the organisers had allowed two entries from South Africa, one black, one white. On the evening of the contest, a bomb exploded under a BBC outside broadcast van in an unsuccessful attempt by The Angry Brigade to prevent the contest being televised in which there were no injuries. The audience then had to enter the hall past noisy demonstrators who were held behind barricades.

During the evening there were protests by Women's Liberation activists. The activists threw flour bombs during the event, momentarily alarming the host, Bob Hope. He was also heckled during the proceedings. The protests are the subject of the film Misbehaviour which was released in 2020.

Even greater controversy followed after the result was announced. Jennifer Hosten, Miss Grenada, won, becoming the first black woman to win Miss World, and the black contestant from South Africa placed second. The BBC and newspapers received numerous protests about the result. Four of the nine judges had given first-place votes to Miss Sweden, while Miss Grenada received only two firsts, yet the Swedish entrant finished fourth. The Prime Minister of Grenada, Sir Eric Gairy, was on the judging panel. One of Gairy's obituaries described his corruption and use of a gang of thugs when in government. There were many allegations that the contest had been rigged, with counter-accusations that scrutiny of the results was motivated by racism and pointed out that favouritism of white contestants had been typical in the contest's history. Some of the audience gathered in the street outside Royal Albert Hall after the contest and chanted "Swe-den, Swe-den". Four days later the organising director, Julia Morley, resigned because of the intense pressure from the newspapers. Years later Miss Sweden, Maj Christel Johansson, was reported as saying that she felt she had been cheated out of the title.

Morley's husband, Eric Morley, was the chairman of the company (Mecca) that owned the Miss World franchise. To rebut the accusations, Eric Morley put the judging panel's ballot cards on view and described the complex "majority vote system". These cards showed that Jennifer Hosten had more place markings in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th positions over Miss Sweden and the other five finalists. Julia Morley then resumed her job. Many observers still felt that Sir Eric Gairy on the judging panel had influenced the other judges to give Ms Hosten token placings.

In 2014, BBC Radio produced an audio documentary as an episode of its The Reunion series, bringing together Jennifer Hosten, host of the competition Michael Aspel and several of the women who had disrupted and protested against the show. This documentary inspired Philippa Lowthorpe to produce and direct the 2020 movie Misbehaviour which dramatized the events surrounding the contest. Shortly after its release, BBC television produced a further documentary Beauty Queens and Bedlam which interviewed the protestors, organizers, hosts and Misses Grenada, Africa South and Sweden.

Results

Placement

Judges

A panel of nine judges evaluated the performance of the contestants in Miss World 1970. Judges included Joan Collins, Roesmin Nurjadin (the Indonesian Ambassador), Eric Gairy (the first Prime Minister of Grenada), Glen Campbell and Nina.

Contestants

• Argentina – Patricia María Charré Salazar
• Australia – Valli Kemp
• Austria – Rosemarie Resch
• Bahamas – June Justina Brown
• Belgium – Francine Martin
• Brazil – Sonia Yara Guerra
• Canada – Norma Joyce Hickey
• Dominion of Ceylon – Yolanda Shahzali Ahlip
• Colombia – Carmelina Bayona Vera
• Cyprus – Louiza Anastadiades
• Denmark – Winnie Hollman
• Dominican Republic – Fátima Shecker
• Ecuador – Sofía Virginia Monteverde Nimbriotis
• Finland – Hannele Hamara
• France – Micheline Beaurain
• Gambia – Margaret Davies
• Gibraltar – Carmen Gomez
• Greece – Julie Vardi
• Grenada – Jennifer Hosten
• Guyana – Jennifer Diana Evan Wong
• Netherlands – Patricia Hollman
• British Hong Kong – Ann Lay
• Iceland – Anna Hansdóttir
• India – Heather Corinne Faville
• Ireland – Mary Elizabeth McKinley
• Israel – Irith Lavi
• Italy – Marika de Poi
• Jamaica – Elizabeth Ann Lindo
• Japan – Hisayo Nakamura
• Lebanon – Georgina Rizk
• Liberia – Mainusa Wiles
• Luxembourg – Rita Massard
• Malaysia – Mary Ann Wong
• Malta – Tessa Marthese Galea
• Mauritius – Florence Muller
• Mexico – Libia Zulema López Montemayor
• New Zealand – Glenys Treweek
• Nicaragua – Evangelina Lacayo
• Nigeria – Stella Owivri
• Norway – Aud Fosse
• Philippines – Minerva Manalo Cagatao
• Portugal – Ana Maria Diozo Lucas
• Puerto Rico – Alma Doris Pérez
• Seychelles – Nicole Barallon
• South Africa – Jillian Elizabeth Jessup
• South Africa – Pearl Gladys Jansen
• South Korea – Lee Jung-hee
• Spain – Josefina Román Gutiérrez
• Sweden – Marjorie Christel Johansson
• Switzerland – Sylvia Christina Weisser
• Thailand – Tuanjai Amnakamart
• Tunisia – Kaltoum Khouildi
• Turkey – Afet Tuğbay
• United Kingdom – Yvonne Anne Ormes
• United States – Sandra Anne Wolsfeld
• Venezuela – Tomasa Nina de las Casas Mata
• West Germany – Dagmar Eva Ruthenberg
• Yugoslavia – Tereza Đelmiš

Notes

Other Notes

• Lebanon - Georgina Rizk went on to compete in Miss Universe in 1971, which was held in Miami Beach, and won the crown.

References

References

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