MU 1977 visits Arica, a city on Chile’s border with Peru, to be one of the judges in the Miss Playas de Sudamerica.
2. As with the 1970 FIFA World Cup, the Miss Universe Pageant is support by the Mexican government, which is held in Acapulco, probably the best-known beach in the Western Hemisphere.
3. To prepare for the 1978 pageant, the Aztec representative ,Alba Margarita Cervera Lavat of Merida, makes a travel to New York City (USA). She became Miss Mexico by defeating Martha Eugenia Ortiz, regarded as one of the most beautiful beauty queens in the Mexican territory. Although she was not one of the favorites from Latin America, she led Mexico to qualify for the second round, beating big favorites such as Maribel Fernandez of Costa Rica, Iris Mazorra of El Salvador, and Solange Abigail de Castro of Curacao.
4. Seventy-five republics and territories compete, from Belize and Bonaire to New Hebrides (Vanuatu since July 1980) and the Northern Marianas, in the telecast.
5. The contest is marked by new technology:electronic voting is used.
6. Despite the presence of Miss South Africa, the tiny Kingdom of Lesotho does not boycott the international tournament as if occurred during the 1977 Miss World when three African nations — Liberia, Mauritius, and Swaziland-withdrew to protest of South Africa’s system of apartheid. But that was not all! Lesotho’s black queen Joan Libuseng Khoali is one of the 12 pre-favorites to win the worldwide crown according to a Mexican newspaper. The landlocked Kingdom is completely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa and its pupet state Transkei.
7. Tiny oil-rich country of Trinidad Tobago re-captures Miss Amity title! The Caribbean island showed a remarkable two-year run between 1975 (El Salvador) and 1976 (Hong Kong).
8. Because of its policy against the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, the host country refuses to issue visa to Chilean delegate Marianne Muller Prieto (Mexico was one of the first countries in the world to drop ties with Chile after a junta ousted President Salvador Allende in 1973). However the MUO does not accept this policy and Miss Muller runs for the title.
9. Iris Yvette Mazorra Castro is the latest delegate from El Salvador who is hoping to end Central America’s 27 MU title drught. Alongside unforgettable beauties as Judi Anderson of Hawaii ( the best-ever beauty queen in U.S. history), Margaret Gardiner of South Africa, and Olga Zumaran from Lima,Peru, Salvadorean-born beauty Mazorra is one of the heavy favorites in this year, becoming the second Miss ES -after Maribel Arrieta in the mid-1950s– in history to accomplish that feat. However, her non-inclusion in the top 12 caused a huge deception. Because of her status as favorite in Acapulco’78, she took part at the Miss World at London, also being eliminated in the first phase.
10. Five non-favorites make the semi-finals: Francoise Helene Julia Moens ( Belgium), Marianne Muller (Chile), Karin Ingrid Gustafsson ( Holland), Lorraine Bernadette Enriquez ( Ireland), and Alba Margarita Cervera Lavat (host country). But none of them qualified for the next round.
11. Miss Peru makes headlines as a big favorite! The 22-year old psycology student Olga Roxana Zumaran Burga, who was twice elected Miss Peru (Universe’78 & World’81), possesses one of the ” most beautiful figures in the world”, winning the first Mexican polls to elect the pre-pageant favorite. For the first time, Peru’s candidate is one of the favorites to win the crown,although her participacion is marred by some facts. Firstly, she is accused of being married (three years ago, a Salvadorean newspaper published a false marriage report: ” Canada’s Sandra Campbell intended to marry a man from ES”). Secondly, the rivalry among the delegates to win the title is fierce: the shoes of Miss Peru Olga Zumaran are hidden by a non-favorite candidate (probably Colombia’s delegate Mary Shirley Saenz according to some resources from Peruvian press).Wearing her chaperone’s shoes,she competed in the semis. Despite all this, she’s got an awful lot of fans in the United Mexican States. Before being elected Miss Peru Universe in May 1978 (succeeding Isabel Frias Zavala), she had a brief encounter with Janelle Penny Commissiong, MU 77. As a result of her performance, she gained a scholarship from Televisa (the Spanish-Speaking World’s largest mass media company) to major in drama in Mexico City. There she met famous Latin stars such as Veronica Castro, Enrique Alvarez Felix, and Lucia Mendez. By the late 1980s, she attended the “Dance Fiebre del 2″, where she was one of the judges. Subsequently, she had an interesting career as a model and actress in her hometown of Lima, working with Efrain “Betito” Aguilar, one of Peru’s top TV producers. Additionally, she always is a honor guest and judge in the traditional national pageants in Lima and other Peruvian cities. She enjoys playing tennis, going to the gym, and is avid in the practice of yoga.
12. The Latin American republic of Colombia becomes a semi-finalist for the sixth consecutive year.
13. Long-haired Maribel Fernandez of Costa Rica wins the Miss Photogenic award, but she was eliminated to compete in the semis. Subsequently,in November, she competed at Miss World,qualifying for the second round. Though she returned without both titles, she gained fame when as “Maribel Guardia” was an actress in the Mexican territory.
14. In what may be the most famous moment in MU, South Africa’s 18-year-old Margaret Gardiner (who has a passing resemblance to former Miss Universe Christiane Martel) is crowned by outgoing titleholder Janelle “Penny” Commissiong (Trinidad & Tobago), the first black woman to win the event. In the following months, the amazing young was harshly criticized because of her country’s apartheid policy. Due to their Government’s outcast status, the South African state is not recognized by the global community, among them the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and UN. Under this atmosphere, Miss Gardiner could not travel to some countries during her reign.