1.Africa opens door to Miss Universe! The international competition takes place in Windhoek, Namibia, one of few countries in the developing world with high ecological education; the first event held in continental sub-Saharan Africa;Namibia is the only African country to have offered to host the pageant.
2. The pageant coincides with the fifth anniversary of Namibia as an independent country on the “Dark Continent”.
3.”Africa”, a 1982 song by the American rock band Toto, has become the soundtrack to footage of the Miss Universe Pageant in Namibia.
4.For unknown reasons, the host nation has not any international judge for the first time in history. Namibia has not world-famous individuals? Of course, yes! The young African nation holds two personalities from the world of sport and entertainment: Michelle McLean, the statuesque MU 1992, and the U.S.-educated Frankie Fredericks, twice Olympic silver medalist at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics.
5.Africa’s only international judge in Namibia is South African performer Zakes Mokae.
6.Chelsi Smith from Texas repeats Janelle Commissiong’s 1977 feat, becoming the second black woman ( and the first bi-racial woman) in the world to win the universal award during a spectacular show attended by Namibia’s Head of Government Hage Geingob.
7.Upon winning the crown in 1994, India sends another world-class delegate to Namibia, placing second in the finals.
8.For the first time since on July 16, 1977, Trinidad & Tobago makes the semi-finals at Windhoek, Namibia’s capital. The Delaware-size country made their first appearance in the mid-1960s.
9.Miss South Africa makes a triumphant return to MU with their national delegate Augustine Masilela,a black beauty from Soweto. This is a key moment for the pageant. She did win the Miss South Africa Universe 1995 while working as a TV presenter in her homeland. Masilela is the only African delegate to be named among the 10 semifinalist in Namibia.
10.The International jury, where there is only a telecast judge from the Spanish-speaking world, show a preference for women from Latin America: Colombia and Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Venezuela are semi-finalists on the Namibian soil.
11.Salvadoran-born Eleonora Carrillo was regarded as one of the most beautiful girls in the Western Hemisphere in 1995. At that year, when she was called among the 10 semifinalists at the Miss Universe at Windhoek, Namibia (sub-Saharan Africa), the Salvadorans celebrated the classification of its national contestant as if they had qualified for the FIFA World Cup. Due to her excellent interwiew during the semifinals (the best among the 82 candidates), she placed eighth in the universal competition.