The 67th Miss Universe competition was held in Bangkok on Sunday.
Once again hosted by Steve Harvey — who famously crowned the wrong Miss Universe back in 2015, a mistake he managed to avoid repeating — this year’s pageant represented a record-breaking 94 different countries and territories. In fact, the hosts’s bedazzled jacket was designed with that fact in mind, featuring one jewel for every participant.
“This is about love and forgiveness,” Harvey said at the top of the broadcast, which was delayed by a football game on the east coast. “What this world needs is more love and forgiveness. That’s what this show is about tonight.”
Supermodel Ashley Graham, RuPaul’s Drag Race mainstay Carson Kressley and runway coach Lu Sierra provided running commentary throughout the competition, which featured a special performance from Ne-Yo, star of NBC’s wildly underrated The Wiz Live!
The 94 contestants were narrowed down to 20 shortly into the broadcast, with the judges selecting five women from Europe, the Americas and Africa/Asia-Pacific, respectively; the final five were “wild cards” from any continental groupings. Based on their opening statements, half of that group went on to compete in the swimsuit and evening gown rounds, before once again being halved.
This year’s Top 5, which proceeded to the Q&A portion of the event, included Catriona Gray (Miss Philippines), Kiara Ortega (Miss Puerto Rico), Tamaryn Green (Miss South Africa), Sthefany Gutierrez (Miss Venezuela) and H’Hen Nie (Miss Vietnam). Here’s how the final results shook out:
Fourth/Fifth Place: H’Hen Nie (Miss Vietnam) and Kiara Ortega (Miss Puerto Rico)
Third Place: Sthefany Gutierrez (Miss Venezuela)
Second Place: Tamaryn Green (Miss South Africa)