Before gaining the right to host the 1988 Summer Olympics/Paralympics, Seoul (South Korean capital) hosts the international contest.
2. Television rights to the 1980 MU in Seoul are secured by the CBS. South Korea expected 600 million people to watch it on live television.
3. South Korea’s military ruler Cho Kyu-Ha enthusiastically welcomed the pageant. He receives candidates, from Bolivia and Brazil to Israel and Singapore, at the Government Palace at Seoul. During the meeting, he congratulated the participation entries and wished them the best luck!
4. NZ’s contestant Delyse Nottle defeats Katrina Judith Rose Redina of Australia to finish first in the Miss Photogenic Contest. In the first half of the 80s, Nottle was a well-known professional model in her homeland island alongside Linda Marie McManus and Lorraine Elizabeth Downes.
5. There are 10 judges from the States, Canada, Japan, South Africa and the host nation. During the preliminary competition, they will decide ,by electronic vote (from 5.000 to 9.999 points) who are the 12 semi-finalists.
6. Shawn Nichols Weatherly of America is one of the obvious favorites for the Miss Universe trophy, alongside leading beauty queens like Sweden’s Eva Brigitta Andersson and Austalia’s Katrina Judith Rose Redina, as well as Miss Philippines Maria Rosario Rivera Silayan and New Zealander Diana Delyse Nottle, whose popularity soared when won the Miss Photogenic title.
7. MU and politics are two fields totally disconnected, but Linda Gallagher of Scotland speaks out against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the capital city of Seoul. Well done Miss Gallagher!
8. As host of the 1980 MU pageant, the Asian country qualifies for the semis with Miss Kim Eun-jung.
9. America returns to the international podium at South Korea! Miss USA Universe, an aspiring journalist from South Carolina, gains the global title in front of a big crowd at Sejong Cultural Center in Seoul.
10. Political controversy surrounding the pageant: Because of South Africa’s apartheid policy, the South African representative is not allowed to compete at Miss Universe. However behind that there is a reason more important: As a result of their ambition for winning the right to hold the 1988 Summer Olympics, the South Korean dictatorship does not want to have major links with the racist state of South Africa ( and their puppet states as Transkei, Namibia, and Bophuthatswana ), which was expelled from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since the early 1960s.
11. The Cayman islands (UK’s dependency on the Caribbean) win the Miss Congeniality award with Dealia Devon Walter, a stewardess . During a poll, she listed her father as the “greatest person on the Planet”.
12. For the first time since 1968, Canada becomes a semi-finalist with Teresa “Terry” Lynn Mackay , heralding an interesting performance in the next two years at New York City and Lima: a first runner-up (1981) and a winner for the first time ever (1982).
13. The South Korean Organization offers all the Miss USA 1980 delegates an all-expense paid visit to Seoul to watch MU 1980. Thus, Arizona-born Jineane Ford, who was first-runner at Miss USA Universe 1980, became the first American to be crowned Miss USA on foreign soil, following Shawn Nichols Weatherly ‘s win in the Republic of Korea.