The Land of the Inca Empire, Peru, was the host for the 1982 Miss Universe Pageant. The pageant's opening aerial view of Machu Pichu, the lost city of the Inca's, in the Andes Mountains, was just merely spectacular. This is the pageant's first time in the continent of South America and boy, Lima was definitely great choice to host the pageant.
The stage was patterned from an old Peruvian town with a big circular area in the front, painted in a form of the old Inca calendar.....very beautiful set! The stage looked small at first but it goes to prove that looks are sometimes deceiving. Because with over 80 contestants on stage, then ad another 100 Peruvian folk dancers, maybe 60 band members, the host, the co-host, two guest stars.....well, they all fit!!Bob Barker opened the program by greeting the audience in Spanish......needless to say, he should have just stayed with English...but, I give him credit for trying. I was pleased to have Joan Van Ark as the co-host this year because she just has that very bubbly personality that Helen O'Connell had and it was a good choice.
Miss Australia was quite annoying in the parade of nations.....who decided to do her 18-seconds-long introduction in both English and Spanish.....9 seconds long on each language!!! Then, misguided Miss Guadaloupe, ruined the alphabetical order of introductions.......but unlike the 1980 incident, no one saved it. Then Miss Venezuela and Miss Wales decided to talk at the same time.........where the heck was the director?!!!
Very few contestants stood out in the parade of nations. Some of which are, Miss South Africa, Miss Italy and Miss Guam. Let's just say that it was an easy task for the judges.
Miss Canada - 7.761
Miss Brazil - 8.011
Miss Italy - 7.714
Miss South Africa - 8.406
Miss Finland - 7.719
Miss Peru - 7.797
Miss Guam - 7.892
Miss USA - 8.131
Miss Germany - 7.808
Miss Greece - 7.847
Miss England - 8.100
Miss Uruguay - 7.594
The interview portion was probably the part Miss England and Miss Italy hated the most. Miss England was put on the spot when Bob Barker asked her if she prefers English men over Latin men....which she answered "yes" to without hesitation. Miss Italy looked quite annoyed and made faces when she went back to her place while her score was being shown.
The swimsuit competition stage was a replica of an old Inca temple with lots of fountains and tropical plants. I have no idea what happened to Miss South Africa's swimsuit score but I feel she should have contested it because she scored highest in the preliminary, she was second place in the interview portion and first place in the evening gown. I know for a fact that she looked gorgeous in her swimsuit, she did not trip......so what's up with the 7.225 score, which was the 3rd lowest! Other bits that people might have missed on the swimsuit competition was the the mistakes made by Miss Peru and Miss Ururguay. Miss Peru forgot to uncover herself before coming down the stairs and Miss Uruguay forgot to pause in a marker before heading to the front for her score.
Jose Luis Rodriguez serenaded the contestants in the evening gown competition. I think the original plan was for each contestant to come over to Jose Luis, look at him and then come up front for the score. However, very few contestants actual even acknowledge Jose's presence on stage. Most of them just paused there for a second without even looking at him. Oh well, I didn't expect Miss England to do it and she didn't!!!
Miss Canada - (INT)8.400 - (SS)8.275 - (EG)8.525 = 8.400
Miss Brazil - (INT)8.133 - (SS)7.892 - (EG)7.917 = 7.980
Miss Italy - (INT)7.925 - (SS)8.067 - (EG)8.608 = 8.200
Miss South Africa - (INT)8.583 - (SS)7.225 - (EG)8.707 = 8.171
Miss Finland - (INT)7.808 - (SS)7.408 - (EG)7.908 = 7.708
Miss Peru - (INT)8.218 - (SS)7.508 - (EG)8.292 = 8.006
Miss Guam - (INT)8.867 - (SS)8.692 - (EG)8.355 = 8.638
Miss USA - (INT)8.425 - (SS)8.192 - (EG)7.925 = 8.181
Miss Germany - (INT)7.204 - (SS)7.008 - (EG)7.483 = 7.231
Miss Greece - (INT)8.042 - (SS)8.325 - (EG)8.317 = 8.228
Miss England - (INT)8.433 - (SS)7.808 - (EG)8.167 = 8.136
Miss Uruguay - (INT)7.692 - (SS)7.167 - (EG)7.783 = 7.547
Unlike the two previous pageants, the 1982 Miss Universe was very unpredictable. I had no idea who was going to win. My biggest disappointment was that Miss England and Miss South Africa did not make the top five. Miss Guam was the biggest surprise. Patty, who at 5'5", was the shortest among the semi-finalists or the whole delegation for that matter, came on strong in the semi finals and ended up as first runner up. Except for good ole Miss USA, Terry Utley, none of the top preliminary scorers made the top five in the finals. As a matter of fact, Miss Canada was the third lowest in the preliminary. But again, the final question was the key for the final standing.
4th Runner Up - Miss USA
3rd Runner Up - Miss Greece
2nd Runner Up - Miss Italy
1st Runner Up - Miss Guam
Miss Universe 1981 - Miss Canada (Karen Diane Baldwin)
THE NEXT VENUE BRINGS THE PAGEANT BACK TO AMERICAN SOIL AS WE GO TO ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI FOR THE 1983 MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT!!!
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