Miss Universe 2001 was the 50th anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant, held at the Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez in Bayamón, Puerto Rico on May 11, 2001. The contest was won by Denise Quiñones of Puerto Rico who was crowned by Lara Dutta of India. This was Puerto Rico's fourth win in the history of the pageant.
Contestants from seventy-seven countries competed in this pageant. The competition was hosted by Elle Macpherson and Naomi Campbell, Todd Newton acted as backstage correspondent, while Miss Universe 1997 provided commentary for the whole event. Ricky Martin and La Ley performed in this edition.
Background
Selection of participants
Seventy-seven countries and territories competed in the pageant. Three candidates were appointed to their position to replace the original winner.
Replacements
Poland was to be represented by the first runner-up of Miss Polonia, Malgorzata Rozniecka. Studies prevented her from attending, and the organization replaced her with Monika Gruda. The organization invited Miss Russia 2001, Oxana Fedorova, to attend the pageant, but she was unable to compete due to studies, but competed in 2002. She was replaced by first runner-up, Oxana Kalandyrets, who reached the top 10. Fedorova would go on to win the following year's Miss Universe pageant, only to be replaced with her runner-up four months later.[citation needed] Miss Spain 2001, Lorena van Heerde Ayala, was unable to compete as she was underage (17 at the time). She was replaced by first runner-up, Eva Sisó. Ayala was due to compete in Miss Universe 2002, but after the threat of lawsuit by her family against the Miss España Organization for breach of contract,[1] she cut all ties with the Miss España organization and lost the right to represent Spain at any international pageant.[2]
Debuts, returns, and withdrawals
This edition marked the debut of Slovenia;[3] and the returns of Antigua and Barbuda who last competed in 1979; and Curaçao, Nicaragua, the Northern Mariana Islands, Turkey, and the United States Virgin Islands who last competed in 1999.[4]
Juliana Borges of Brazil admitted to the media that she had undergone plastic surgery nineteen times, stating "It's like studying for a math exam and you get good grades... you study and you work hard to have the perfect body". Despite a public outcry she was allowed to compete.[8]
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