Miss World 2008

Miss World 2008, the 58th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 13 December 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa.[3] Originally, the pageant was going to take place in Kiev, Ukraine, but because of the ongoing 2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis in neighbouring South Ossetia, the Miss World Organization decided to move the pageant away from Eastern Europe. 109 contestants from all over the world compete for the crown, the second highest turnout in the 59 years of the pageant. Zhang Zilin of China crowned Ksenia Sukhinova of Russia as the brand new Miss World.[1][2]

Miss World 2008
Miss World 2008 Ksenia Sukhinova
Date	13 December 2008
Presenters	Tumisho Masha Angela Chow
Entertainment	Alesha Dixon McFly
Venue	Sanndton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
Broadcaster	E! SABC 3 Challenge
Entrants	109
Placements	15
Withdrawals	Estonia Grenada Macedonia Nepal Panama Romania Slovenia Suriname
Returns	Antigua and Barbuda Barbados Chinese Taipei DR Congo Egypt Honduras Portugal St. Lucia Seychelles Uruguay Zambia
Winner	Ksenia Sukhinova[1][2]  Russia

Results

Countries and territories which sent delegates and results for Miss World 2008 [2]

Placements

Final results	Contestant
Miss World 2008	Russia – Ksenia Sukhinova
1st Runner-Up	India – Parvathy Omanakuttan
2nd Runner-Up	Trinidad & Tobago – Gabrielle Walcott
Top 5	Angola – Birgite dos Santos  South Africa – Tansey Coetzee
Top 15	Barbados – Natalie Griffith  Brazil – Tamara Almeida  Croatia – Josipa Kusić  Iceland – Alexandra Ívarsdóttir  Kazakhstan – Alfina Nasyrova  Mexico – Anagabriela Espinoza  Puerto Rico – Ivonne Orsini  Spain – Patricia Yurena Rodríguez  Ukraine – Iryna Zhuravska  Venezuela – Hannelly Quintero

Continental Queens of Beauty[4][5]

Continental Group	Contestant
Africa	Angola – Brigith dos Santos
Americas	Venezuela – Hannelly Quintero
Asia & Oceania	India – Parvathy Omanakuttan
Caribbean	Trinidad and Tobago – Gabrielle Walcott
Europe	Spain – Patricia Yurena Rodríguez

Contestants

Miss World 2008 had a total of 109 contestants.[3]

Country	Contestant	Age	Height (cm)	Hometown	Regional
Albania	Egla Harxhi	18	175	Tirana	Europe
Angola	Brigith dos Santos[6]	18	180	Luanda	Africa
Antigua and Barbuda	Athina James	18	180	St. John's	Caribbean
Argentina	Agustina Quinteros[7]	18	176	Santa Rosa	Americas
Aruba	Christina Trejo[8]	20	175	Tanki Flip	Caribbean
Australia	Katie Richardson[9]	20	178	Albion Park	Asia & Oceania
Austria	Kathrin Krahfuss[10]	23	177	Graz	Europe
Bahamas	Tinnyse Johnson	21	176	Nassau	Caribbean
Barbados	Natalie Griffith[11]	18	168	Bridgetown	Caribbean
Belarus	Volha Khizhynkova[12]	21	184	Vitebsk	Europe
Belgium	Alizée Poulicek[13]	21	175	Brussels	Europe
Belize	Charmaine Chinapen	21	174	Belize City	Americas
Bolivia	Jackelin Arias	18	177	Santa Cruz	Americas
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Tanja Vujičić	18	178	Nevesinje	Europe
Botswana	Itseng Kgomotso[14]	19	178	Gaborone	Africa
Brazil	Tamara Almeida	23	174	Ipatinga	Americas
Bulgaria	Julia Yurevich	19	177	Kozloduy	Europe
Canada	Leah Ryerse	20	178	Hamilton	Americas
Cayman Islands	Nicosia Lawson	25	175	George Town	Caribbean
Chile	Nataly Chilet	23	175	Santiago	Americas
China	Mei Yan Ling[15]	25	180	Dalian	Asia & Oceania
Chinese Taipei	Jamie Lin	24	173	Taichung	Asia & Oceania
Colombia	Katherine Medina	18	180	Medellín	Americas
Costa Rica	Amalia Matamoros	19	178	Naranjo	Americas
Croatia	Josipa Kusić[16]	20	182	Zagreb	Europe
Curaçao	Norayla Francisco[17]	23	179	Willemstad	Caribbean
Cyprus	Mari Vasileiou	18	168	Larnaca	Europe
Czech Republic	Zuzana Jandová[18]	20	178	Karviná	Europe
Denmark	Lisa Lents	21	174	Copenhagen	Europe
Dominican Republic	Geisha Montes De Oca	21	175	Santo Domingo	Caribbean
DR Congo	Christelle Mbila[19]	18	174	Kinshasa	Africa
Ecuador	Marjorie Cevallos[20]	22	183	Guayaquil	Americas
Egypt	Sanaa Ismail Hamed[21]	24	175	Alexandria	Africa
El Salvador	Gabriela Gavidia	18	173	La Libertad	Americas
England	Laura Coleman	22	175	Leicester	Europe
Ethiopia	Hibret Fekadu	18	180	Addis Abeba	Africa
Finland	Linda Wikstedt	19	174	Helsinki	Europe
France	Laura Tanguy[22]	20	175	Angers	Europe
Georgia	Khatuna Skhirtladze	18	177	Tbilisi	Europe
Germany	Anne Katrin Walter	21	172	Dahme-Spreewald	Europe
Ghana	Frances Takyi-Mensah[23]	22	180	Elmina	Africa
Gibraltar	Krystel Robba	22	178	Gibraltar	Europe
Greece	Aggeliki Kalaitzi[24]	24	173	Thessaloniki	Europe
Guadeloupe	Frédérika Charpentier	23	175	Basse-Terre	Caribbean
Guatemala	Maribel Arana	23	174	Guatemala City	Americas
Guyana	Christa Simmons	23	173	Georgetown	Americas
Honduras	Gabriela Zavala	23	183	San Pedro Sula	Americas
Hong Kong	Skye Chan	24	165	Hong Kong	Asia & Oceania
Hungary	Szilvia Freire	24	174	Budapest	Europe
Iceland	Alexandra Ívarsdóttir[25]	18	180	Reykjavík	Europe
India	Parvathy Omanakuttan[26][27]	21	175	Kottayam	Asia & Oceania
Indonesia	Sandra Angelia[28]	22	169	Surabaya	Asia & Oceania
Ireland	Sinéad Noonan[29]	21	175	County Meath	Europe
Israel	Tamar Ziskind	23	176	Haifa	Asia & Oceania
Italy	Claudia Russo[30]	25	178	Messina	Europe
Jamaica	Brittany Lyons	19	166	Kingston	Caribbean
Japan	Mizuki Kubodera[31]	21	173	Kanagawa	Asia & Oceania
Kazakhstan	Alfina Nasyrova[32]	20	175	Almaty	Asia & Oceania
Kenya	Ruth Kinuthia[33]	22	184	Nairobi	Africa
Korea	Choi Bo-in	22	169	Seoul	Asia & Oceania
Latvia	Ina Avlasēviča[34]	20	180	Dobele	Europe
Lebanon	Rosarita Tawil	20	178	Beirut	Asia & Oceania
Lithuania	Gabrielė Martirosianaitė	18	176	Kaunas	Europe
Malaysia	Soo Wincci[35]	23	170	Selangor	Asia & Oceania
Malta	Martha Fenech	18	170	St. Julian's	Europe
Martinique	Élodie Delor	18	183	Fort-de-France	Caribbean
Mauritius	Olivia Carey[36]	19	170	Vacoas	Africa
Mexico	Anagabriela Espinoza[37]	20	180	Monterrey	Americas
Moldova	Iana Varnacova	17	180	Chişinău	Europe
Mongolia	Chinbatyn Anun	23	173	Ulan Bator	Asia & Oceania
Montenegro	Mariana Mihajlović	18	180	Plavnica	Europe
Namibia	Marelize Robberts[38]	21	180	Windhoek	Africa
Netherlands	Carmen Kool	22	178	Arnhem	Europe
New Zealand	Kahurangi Taylor[39]	18	180	Auckland	Asia & Oceania
Nigeria	Adaeze Igwe[40]	18	173	Awka	Africa
Northern Ireland	Judith Wilson	23	180	Enniskillen	Europe
Norway	Lene Egeli[41]	21	178	Stavanger	Europe
Paraguay	Gabriela Rejala[42]	19	173	Ñemby	Americas
Peru	Annmarie Dehainaut[43]	18	175	Lima	Americas
Philippines	Danielle Castaño[44]	19	174	Quezon City	Asia & Oceania
Poland	Klaudia Ungerman	20	177	Wysieradz	Europe
Portugal	Andreia Rodrigues	24	175	Lisbon	Europe
Puerto Rico	Ivonne Orsini[45]	20	175	Bayamón	Caribbean
Russia	Ksenia Sukhinova[1][46]	21	178	Tyumen	Europe
St. Lucia	Joy-Ann Biscette	22	173	Castries	Caribbean
Scotland	Stephanie Willemse[47]	19	180	Glasgow	Europe
Serbia	Nevena Lipovac	19	175	Belgrade	Europe
Seychelles	Elena Angione	22	168	Mahé	Africa
Sierra Leone	Tyrilla Gouldson[48]	24	175	Freetown	Africa
Singapore	Faraliza Tan	22	175	Singapore	Asia & Oceania
Slovakia	Edita Krešáková[49]	19	180	Seňa	Europe
South Africa	Tansey Coetzee[50]	23	174	Johannesburg	Africa
Spain	Patricia Yurena Rodríguez[51]	18	179	Granadilla de Abona	Europe
Sri Lanka	Rochelle Correa	24	176	Colombo	Asia & Oceania
Swaziland	Tiffany Simelane †[52]	20	172	Mhlambanyatsi	Africa
Sweden	Jennifer Palm Lundberg	22	176	Sigtuna	Europe
Tanzania	Nasreen Karim[53]	22	174	Mwanza	Africa
Thailand	Ummarapas Jullakasian[54]	23	173	Nonthaburi	Asia & Oceania
Trinidad and Tobago	Gabrielle Walcott[55]	23	173	Petit Valley
Turkey	Leyla Tuğutlu[56]	19	180	Istanbul	Europe
Uganda	Dora Mwima	18	175	Tororo	Africa
Ukraine	Iryna Zhuravska[57]	18	177	Kiev	Europe
United States	Lane Lindell	18	177	Tampa	Americas
Uruguay	Fatimih Dávila	20	175	Montevideo	Americas
Venezuela	Hannelly Quintero[58]	23	178	Ocumare del Tuy	Americas
Vietnam	Dương Trương Thiên Lý	19	170	Đồng Tháp	Asia & Oceania
Wales	Chloe-Beth Morgan[59]	22	173	Cwmbran	Europe
Zambia	Winfridah Mofu	19	172	Lusaka	Africa
Zimbabwe	Cynthia Muvirimi[60]	25	170	Harare	Africa

Judges

Miss World 2008 contestants were judged based upon the criteria of glamour, beauty, intelligence and poise.[3][61] Some of the judges were representatives of the Miss World Organization.[3] Some of the contestants, such as Ksenia Sukhinova, communicated with the judges using a translator.[1] Judges for the event were:

• Julia Morley – Chairwoman of the Miss World Organization.
• Wilnelia Merced – Miss World 1975 from Puerto Rico
• Aminurta Kang – Theatre stage director, China and North America
• Krish Naidoo – International ambassador for Miss World
• Pearl Luthuli – Group executive public commercial services SABC
• Lindiwe Mahlangu – Chief executive of the Joburg Tourism Company
• Precious Moloi-Motsepe – Chairperson of African Fashion International
• Graham Cooke – President of World Travel

Notes

Returns

• Last competed in 1999:
  •  Seychelles
• Last competed in 2004:
  •  Antigua and Barbuda
  •  Egypt
  •  Honduras
• Last competed in 2005:
  •  Chinese Taipei
• Last competed in 2006:
  •  Barbados
  •  DR Congo
  •  Portugal
  •  St. Lucia
  •  Uruguay
  •  Zambia

Designations

•  Thailand – Miss Thailand World was not held this year due to the death of Princess Galyani Vadhana, so last year's 1st runner-up, Ummarapas Jullakasian represented Thailand.

Replacements

•  Egypt – Meriam George was replaced by Sanaa Ismail Hamed at the last minute for some undisclosed reasons.
•  Hong Kong – Miss Hong Kong 2008 winner Edelweiss Cheung was replaced by the 1st runner-up, Skye Chan.
•  Philippines – Janina San Miguel was replaced by Bb. Pilipinas 1st runner-up, Danielle Castaño due to Janina's personal decision to give up her crown.[62]
•  Sweden – Jennifer Palm Lundberg placed 3rd runner-up in the Miss World Sweden pageant, but won the title when each of the original top three placers declined the crown after disagreements over the winner's contract.
•  Vietnam – Miss Vietnam 2008 Trần Thị Thùy Dung was not allowed to compete after it was revealed that she did not graduate from high school. The 1st Runner-up Phan Hoàng Minh Thư and the 2nd Runner-up Nguyễn Thụy Vân also were not allowed to compete. After that, Dương Trương Thiên Lý, the 2nd Runner-up of Miss Universe Vietnam 2008 was designated to represent Vietnam.[63]

Withdrawals

•  Estonia – Due to lack of funding and sponsorship
•  Macedonia – Suzana Al-Salkini withdrew due to lack of funding and sponsorship, but she did compete the following year at Miss World 2009.
•    Nepal – The organiser of the Miss Nepal pageant said it was postponing the contest scheduled for 23 August 2008 to an unknown date, after the Maoist women's wing, which has trained its sights on Miss Nepal, announced a Kathmandu Valley shutdown on the day to prevent the event.
•  Panama – Kathya Saldaña had problems with the regional organisation and didn't obtain a South African visa in time.
•  Romania – Due to lack of funding and sponsorship
•  Slovenia – Due to lack of funding and sponsorship
•  Suriname – Mireille Nederbiel was not allowed to compete in Miss World by the decision of pageant organizers.

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External links

• "Pageantpolis – Miss World 2008". Archived from the original on 26 June 2015.