Beauty benched

The field of 72 Miss Universe delegates has been reduced to 71 after Miss Iceland, Manuela Osk Hardottir, 21, was rushed to a Panamanian hospital for dehydration. She has since recovered from her brief illness but was disqualified from competition because she missed the Presentation Show judging on May 29. This was a major disappointment for Iceland because the country was returning to Miss Universe competition for the first time in many years.

Has it been a century already?

Panama will mark its 100th birthday later in 2003. It is the first nation ever to celebrate its centennial year by playing host to the Miss Universe Pageant.

Panama declared its independence from Colombia in 1903 to support the United States' plan to operate a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. The canal, one of the great engineering marvels of the 20th century, was run by the United States as virtually its own territory until the end of 1999, when it formally returned to Panamanian control.

Justine Pasek of Panama is Miss Universe 2002. Stefanie de Roux of Panama hopes to be Miss Universe 2003.

The old, the new, the beautiful

Namibia may be one of the oldest inhabited places on Earth, but it has a brief history as a modern independent nation. Still, it has already given the world a Miss Universe, and it is the only country in Africa ever to have been the site of the pageant.

Ndapewa Alfons is the country's representative this year. She's a model, as well she should be.

Y = S + M

Sanja Papic is the first woman ever to compete as Miss Serbia and Montenegro in the Miss Universe Pageant. Her country, formerly known as Yugoslavia, recently changed its name to recognize its two republics.

Both Serbia and Montenegro were once independent kingdoms known for their beautiful women. The last king of Montenegro was called "the father-in-law of Europe" because his alluring daughters married into so many royal families.
 

Three cheers

Peru, ably represented by Claudia Ortiz de Zevallos, is one of the "three-star" countries involved in the Miss Universe Pageant. (1) It has been sending contestants to the pageant since the beginning. (2) It has produced a Miss Universe winner. (3) It has played host to the Miss Universe Pageant.

Take some corn and call me in the morning

Leanne Marie Cecile is the first Canadian representative to bring a grainy good luck charm to the Miss Universe Pageant. She was Miss Tecumseh Corn Princess in June 1994, then didn't do another competition until December 2002, when she won the Miss Canada Universe crown.

Her good luck charm is the pendant she was given when she competed in that long-ago local pageant. It's a stalk of corn.

Ms. Cecile is the first representative fielded by the new Miss Canada Universe organization, which is helping revitalize the pageant industry in the country. She will soon receive her doctorate in pharmacy.

More than just the Nile

Panama is not the only country with a famous canal. Nour Elsamary is from Egypt, home of the Suez Canal. Even though the Suez is one of the two most famous canals on Earth, it is not the most famous stream running through Egypt.

In 2003, Panama's most delightful visitors are several dozen beauty queens, the contestants in the Miss Universe Pageant.