Miss Universe 1983

Miss Universe 1983 was the 32nd Miss Universe pageant, held at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, on 11 July 1983. At the conclusion of the event, Lorraine Downes of New Zealand was crowned by Karen Baldwin of Canada.^[1] Eighty contestants competed in this year. This is the first, and so far the only time New Zealand won the pageant.

Miss Universe 1983
Miss Universe 1983, Lorraine Downes
Date	11 July 1983
Presenters	Bob Barker Joan Van Ark
Entertainment	John Schneider José Luis Rodríguez "El Puma"
Venue	Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Broadcaster	CBS (KMOX-TV)
Entrants	80
Placements	12
Debuts	Cook Islands Gambia
Withdrawals	New Caledonia Sint Maarten Suriname
Returns	Cyprus French Guiana Gibraltar Lebanon
Winner	Lorraine Downes New Zealand
Congeniality	Abbey Scattrel Janneh Gambia
Best National Costume	Jong-jun Kim South Korea
Photogenic	Lolita Morena Switzerland
← 1982 1984 →

Results

Miss Universe 1983 participating nations and results

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss Universe 1983	New Zealand – Lorraine Downes[1]
1st Runner-Up	United States – Julie Hayek[1]
2nd Runner-Up	Ireland – Roberta Brown[1]
3rd Runner-Up	Switzerland – Lolita Morena[1]
4th Runner-Up	England – Karen Moore[1]
Top 12[1]	Finland – Nina Rekola  Italy – Federica Moro  Norway – Karen Dobloug  Singapore – Lee Lee Bang  Spain – Isabel Herrero  Venezuela – Paola Ruggeri  West Germany – Loana Rabecki

Contestants

Eighty contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age[a]	Hometown
Argentina	María Daniela Carara	20	Buenos Aires
Aruba	Milva Evertsz[2]	24	Oranjestad
Australia	Simone Cox[3]	20	Sydney
Austria	Mercedes Stermitz[4]	25	Styria
Bahamas	Christina Thompson	18	Nassau
Belgium	Françoise Bostoen[5]	20	Roeselare
Belize	Shirlene Dianne McKay	-	Belmopan
Bermuda	Angelita Diaz	20	St. George’s
Bolivia	Cecilia Zamora	-	Tarija
Brazil	Mariza Fully Coelho	21	Manhumirim
British Virgin Islands	Anna Maria Joseph	19	Tortola
Canada	Jodi Yvonne Rutledge	22	Winnipeg
Cayman Islands	Effie Ebanks	18	George Town
Chile	María Josefa Isensee Ugarte	20	Santiago
Colombia	Pauline Sáenz	17	Bogotá
Cook Islands	Carmena Blake	-	Avarua
Costa Rica	María Gabriela Pozuelo	-	San José
Curaçao	Maybelline Altagracia Snel	22	Willemstad
Cyprus	Marina Elena Rauscher	18	Limassol
Denmark	Inge Ravn Thomsen	19	Copenhagen
Dominican Republic	Alexandra Astwood	17	Santo Domingo
Ecuador	Mariela García	19	Portoviejo
El Salvador	Claudia Oliva	21	San Salvador
England	Karen Moore	21	Southsea
Finland	Nina Marjaana Rekkola	20	Nakkila
France	Frederique Leroy	20	Bordeaux
French Guiana	Marie Georges Achamana	-	Cayenne
Gambia	Abbey Scattrel Janneh	19	Banjul
Gibraltar	Louise Gillingwater	20	Gibraltar
Greece	Plousia Farfaraki	18	Athens
Guadeloupe	Nicole LeBorgne	-	Basse-Terre
Guam	Pamela Booth	18	Yigo
Guatemala	Berta Victoria Gonzales	20	Escuintla
Holland	Nancy Lelleman Heynis	18	Zaandam
Honduras	Ollie Thompson	18	Islas de la Bahía
Hong Kong	Cherona Yeung	19	Hong Kong
Iceland	Unnur Steinsson	20	Álftanes
India	Rekha Hande	18	Bangalore
Indonesia	Andi Botenri	18	Jakarta
Ireland	Roberta Brown	20	Derry
Israel	Shimona Hollender	17	Tel Aviv
Italy	Federica Moro	18	Milan
Japan	Yuko Yamaguchi	25	Osaka
Lebanon	May Mansour Chahwan	19	Beirut
Malaysia	Puspa Mohammed	21	Alor Setar
Malta	Christine Bonnici	-	Sliema
Martinique	Marie Lina Laupa	-	Fort-de-France
Mexico	Monica Rosas	19	Durango
Namibia	Astrid Klotzsch	22	Windhoek
New Zealand	Lorraine Downes[6]	18	Auckland
Northern Mariana Islands	Thelma Mafnas	17	Saipan
Norway	Karen Elizabeth Dobloug	21	Furnes
Panama	Elizabeth Bylan Bennett	17	Balboa
Papua New Guinea	Shannelle Bray	20	Port Moresby
Paraguay	Mercedes Bosch	-	Asunción
Peru	Vivien Griffiths	22	Lima
Philippines	Rosita Capuyon	20	Manila
Portugal	Anabella Elisa Ananiades	-	Lisbon
Puerto Rico	Carmen Batiz	18	Trujillo Alto
Réunion	Eliane LeBeau	-	Saint-Denis
Scotland	Linda Renton	22	Edinburgh
Singapore	Kathie Lee	20	Singapore
South Africa	Leanne Hosking	18	Durban
South Korea	Kim Jong-jun	-	Seoul
Spain	Isabel Herrero	18	Zaragoza
Sri Lanka	Shyama Fernando	20	Colombo
Sweden	Viveca Miriam Jung	17	Gothenburg
Switzerland	Lolita Morena	22	Locarno
Thailand	Jinda Nernkrang	22	Bangkok
Transkei	Nomxousi Xokelelo	-	Mthatha
Trinidad and Tobago	Sandra Williams	-	Saint George
Turkey	Dilara Haraççı	-	Istanbul
Turks and Caicos Islands	Lolita Ariza	21	Grand Turk
United States	Julie Hayek[7]	20	La Cañada Flintridge
United States Virgin Islands	Julie Elizabeth Woods	-	Charlotte Amalie
Uruguay	María Jacqueline Beltrán	17	Montevideo
Venezuela	Paola Ruggeri[8]	21	Caracas
Wales	Lianne Gray	20	Cardiff
West Germany	Loana Katharina Radecki	20	Berlin
Western Samoa	Falute Mama Aluni	-	Apia

Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant