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Miss World 2008

Miss World 2008, the 58th Miss World pageant was held at Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South African December 13, 2008. Originally, the pageant was going to take place in Kiev, Ukraine, but because of the ongoingcrisis between Georgia and Russia in neighboring South Ossetia, the Miss World Organization decided to move the pageant away from Eastern Europe. 109 contestants from all over the world compete for the crown, the second highest turnout in the 59 years of the pageant. Miss World 2007, Zhang Zilin of the People's Republic of China crowned Ksenia Sukhinova of

Russia

as the brand new Miss World.

10 out of 15 countries which made it into the semifinals, were not in the semifinals last year:

Barbados

(1974),Croatia (1999),

Kazakhstan

(2000),

Ukraine

(2001), Iceland, Russia,

South Africa

and

Spain

(2005), and Braziland

India

(2006).

Mexico

placed in the finals for the fifth consecutive year. Puerto Rico placed for the fourth consecutive year.

Angola

and

Venezuela

reached the finals for the third consecutive year.

Miss World 2006

Miss World 2006, the 56th Miss World pageant was held at Sala Kongresowa, the main 2,897-seat auditorium at the Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw,

Poland

on the September 30, 2006. It was the first time ever that the pageant was held in a Europeancity other than London,

United Kingdom

, having previously been held there in 2002 after the Nigeria Controversy. The pageantofficially concluded after Taťána Kuchařová from the

Czech Republic

was crowned Miss World 2006 by outgoing titleholder Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir of Iceland.
A total of 104 countries competed in the pageant, the sixth largest number behind 2009 (112), 2008 (109), 2004 (107) and 2007and 2003 (both 106). All contestants were divided in six regional groups: Africa, Americas, Asia Pacific, Caribbean, Northern Europe and Southern Europe.
Gdynia was the host of the Beach Beauty contest, Giżycko hosted the Miss Sports contest and Wrocław hosted the Miss Talentcompetition. The fourth event was Beauty With A Purpose.

Miss World 2007

Miss World 2007, the 57th Miss World pageant was held at the Crown of Beauty Theatre, Sanya, People's Republic of

China

on December 1, 2007. It was hosted by Fernando Allende and Angela Chow. Zhang Zilin of thePeople's Republic of China won the crown and succeeded Miss World 2006, Taťána Kuchařová of the Czech Republic. At an official press conference called on July 7, the Miss World organization announced that the delegates were expected in Sanya by November 2. They visited a number of popular spots in mainland China and view the preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games. A total of 106 contestants competed for the crown, making it the third largest edition, tied with 2003.

Unlike 2005 and 2006 editions, Miss World 2007 did not have "continental zones" in the selection of the semifinalists i.e. all the contestants vied for the 10 semifinals spots. Another 5 spots were for the winners of theBeach Beauty, Sports, Top Model, Talent, and Beauty With A Purpose contests, but there was a tie in the Beauty With A Purpose contest, so the number of semi-finalists increased to 16. The format was similar to that used in2004, with the exclusion of the "Contestant's Choice" award.

The 106 contestants recorded the official torch relay anthem Light the Passion, Share the Dream for the 2008 Olympics Games as a major cooperation between the Beijing Olympic Committee and Miss World Limited. The song had its first broadcast to a global audience at the 57th Miss World final on December 1.

In addition, to coincide with World AIDS Day, the pageant presented a special tribute to the fight against AIDS, with a televised speech from former South African President Nelson Mandela and the presence of his daughter and grandson, along with traditional dancers from South Africa who joined the contestants in a special song