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The Miss World pageant (not to be confused with Miss Universe) is an international beauty pageant founded in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. It started as the Festival Bikini Contest, in honor of the swimwear getting notoriety at the time, but was called Miss World by the press. It was originally meant as a one-time event. Opposition to the wearing of bikinis led to their replacement with more modest swimwear after the first contest. In 1959, the BBC started broadcasting the competition. The pageant's popularity grew as the popularity of television grew.
ControversyIn the 1960s and 1970s, the pageant was marred by scandals. The 1960s included tabloid coverage of nude photographs and the alcoholic excesses of the winners. The rise in feminism led to further controversy. The first winner from the United States, 1973's Marjorie Wallace, was forced to resign because of her high-profile serial dating. The 1974 winner resigned four days later after it was discovered she was a single mother. In 1977, a United Nations boycott was organized because of the pageant permitting the participation of South Africa, a participation which ended the next year. The 1980 winner Gabriela Brum of Germany resigned one day after winning initially claiming that her boyfriend disapproved. A few days later it emerged that she had been forced to resign after it was discovered that she posed naked for a magazine. In the 1980s, the pageant repositioned itself with the slogan Beauty With a Purpose. The contest added tests of intelligence and personality. By the 1990s, the pageant was reaching two billion viewers from almost every country in the world. The competition has been seen as old-fashioned and rather un-PC in its native Britain. Despite the global appeal, the show has not been broadcast on any major terrestrial British TV network for several years, although SkyTravel provided coverage in 2004. 21st centuryEric Morley passed away as the pageant entered the new century. The century saw its first black winner, Agbani Darego, in 2001. In 2002 the competition was slated for Nigeria. This choice was controversial, as a woman, Amina Lawal, was awaiting death by stoning for adultery there. A newspaper editorial suggesting that Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, would not have objected to the immodesty of the pageant resulted in riots that started on November 22 in which over 200 people were killed. Because of these riots, the 2002 pageant was moved to London. A fatwa urging the beheading of the woman who wrote the offending words, Isioma Daniel, has been issued. The eventual winner of the pageant was Azra Akin of Turkey, the first predominantly Muslim country to hold the title since Egypt in 1954. She was followed by Ireland's Rosanna Davison, daughter of the "Lady in Red" singer Chris de Burgh. In 2004 the crown was decided for the first time by a global vote, resuling in the victory of Peru's Maria Julia Mantilla and the return of the title to Latin America after nine years. Further notesThe only international pageant to have over 100 countries participate, Miss World is considered less "predictable" than many of its international rivals. The representatives of India, among them international actress Aishwarya Rai, were the success stories of the 1990s, capturing the crown four times, once back-to-back. Although China has been doing extremely well since entering and hosting the pageant (a top five placement from 2001 to 2003) the pageant has yet to crown an East Asian winner. Title holdersSee alsoExternal links and references
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