1.MUO has already declared Acapulco (Mexico) will bid to host the 1978 MU.
2. Sun-bronzed blonde Kimberly Tomes from the United States visits the Philippines before arriving to Santo Domingo, Latin America’s oldest City. In Manila, she was a guest of honor at Miss Philippines Universe 1977, alongside Rina Messinger.
3. The Dominican Republic -birthplace of the legendary Queen Anacaona of the Taino Kingdom of Xaragua– is the setting for the annual telecast. A record 80 countries and dependencies show up, but without the participation from Martinique (a French territory on the Caribbean) and Turkey. The telecast becomes the model for future events.
4. Already an ambassador for the 1978 MU, Mexico’s actor Mario Moreno (better known as “Cantinflas”) travels to DR to attend the 1977 MU.
5. Outgoing MU 1976 Rina Messinger from Israel is received with full honors by the Dominican Republic’s Head of State Joaquin Balaguer, an avid pageant watcher.
6. Trinidad’s representative Janelle Commissiong defeats Eva Maria Duringer of Austria to finish first in the Miss Photogenic Contest, thus paving the way for a universal title in the following days. It was the second time that a black candidate received that trophy. By the early 1970s, Margaret Hill from the tiny island of Bermuda (Caribbean) made history when won the coveted title.
7. It’s impossible to predict the future, but Uri Geller, the world-famous psychic, predicts the victory of Janelle Penny Commissiong, a 24-year-old U.S.-educated fashion designer,just days before the finals on the island of the Dominican Republic.
8. Tribute to the host country! At home in Santo Domingo, Blanca Aurora Sardinas becomes the first Dominican beauty queen to be elected semi-finalist by a side of judges (under the leadership of the fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, perhaps the most famous Dominican around the world) in MU history, thrilling a nation, among them Joaquin Balaguer (the island’s head of state between 1966 and 1978 and again from 1986 to 1996), when the announcement of its qualification as the last semi-finalist country was made by America’s host Bob Barker, a phase where there were 12 entries, a select group made up of beauties from Western Europe and the Americas.
9. The sophisticated and exotic Beatriz Lacayo Obregon has reportedly been on the “short list” of huge favorites by the Dominican newspaper Listin. Without a doubt, she’s got an awful lot of fans on the Caribbean island. By that time, Nicaragua was internationally famous for two extraordinary beauties: Barbara Carrera (Hollywood’s actress) and, of course, Bianca Jagger (the “queen of queens” at New York’s most fashionable discos in the mid-1970s). Since then, Miss Nicaragua Beatriz Lacayo is the first favorite entrant of Central America at MU since the mid-1970s as the host country’s contestant Carmen Elena Figueroa did it in San Salvador. In the national capital of Santo Domingo, Lacayo’s Latino beauty and figure impressed Oscar de la Renta, among the judges. Representing to her homeland Rivas, she beat Miss Matagalpa, Ana Isabel Oliver Rosales -a girl of Venezuelan descent– to win the national title being crowned by outgoing Miss Nicaragua 1976 Ivania Navarro Yenic, who was defeated in the first round at the 25 th Miss Universe. From the beginning, Rosales was the frontrunner. Shortly after her win,she was declared the “favorite daughter of Rivas”. Two years later, the country’s national pageant was banned by the Cuban-backed rule of Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega Saavedra. Alongside Carrera and Bianca Jagger, Miss Lacayo is regarded as one of Nicaragua’s most outstanding beauties.
10. Miss USA, Kimberly Tomes, is eliminated in the semifinals by a panel of judges with four celebrities from the States, including Gordon Parks (referred to as one of the world’s top photographers) and Dionne Warwick (known for her song “I Say a Little Prayer”).
11. Asia is eliminated in MU for the first time: The 12 entries, from Hong Kong and India to Sri Lanka and Thailand, are defeated in the preliminaries.
12. The world gets first black MU! Trinidadian-born Janelle Commissiong is the first black woman to become MU on July 16, 1977, putting her island-nation on the world map. Trinidad’s black beauty –whose popularity soared when won the Miss Photogenic title- is considered as one of the most memorable beauty queens in the 20 th century. Suddenly she was thrust into the spotlight in 1977 as she became the first black to win the title–along with names like John Travolta, the Nobel Prize winner Anwar Sadat of Egypt, and U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Commissiong’s triumph is a milestone in the history of Miss Universe.
13. On July 17, Commissiong, who received both the Miss Photogenic and the title of Miss Universe, is invited to the national Palace to meet with Joaquin Balaguer, President of the Dominican Republic. Wihout a doubt, the global title catapulted her from obscurity to international stardom.
14. The telecast judges show a preference for women with Latin roots. An unprecedent six out of 12 semi-finalists are from the Spanish-Speaking World: Argentina (Maritza Jurado), Colombia (Aura Maria Mojica), Nicaragua (Beatriz Lacayo Obregon), Spain ( Luz Maria Polegre Hernandez), Venezuela (Cristal Montanez), and the host country. In addition to these Latino beauties, Janelle Commissiong of Trinidad holds Venezuelan roots.