Controversial Mistake by Host at 2015 Miss Universe Pageant

The Miss Universe pageant held on Sunday night in Las Vegas, USA, became one of the most controversial nights in the history of the competition due to a mistake by American comedian and actor Steve Harvey in announcing the winning country. Steve Harvey initially announced the beauty queen from Colombia as the winner, and the pageant officials placed the crown on Ariadna Gutiérrez. A few seconds later, Harvey announced that he had made an error and that the Miss Universe 2015 was Pia Wurtzbach from the Philippines. With this announcement, the crown was taken from the Colombian representative and placed on her Filipino competitor. This controversial mistake sparked a wave of reactions on social media. The event, which was broadcast live in many countries around the world, had nearly ten million television viewers. Steve Harvey and the Miss Universe Organization apologized to the viewers as well as the representatives of Colombia and the Philippines, calling it a 'human error' in a live television event. The Miss Universe competitions are conducted by the Miss Universe Organization, based in New York City. This competition has a sixty-three-year tradition and is one of the most-watched television programs worldwide. Selected representatives from around the world gather for two weeks in the last month of the calendar year, and ultimately one of them is crowned. However, these competitions are not the only beauty queen contests. The Miss World competition is another event held by the Miss World Organization, which was established in 1951, a year earlier than the Miss Universe pageant in England. Mireia Lalaguna Royo from Spain won the 2015 Miss World competition held on Saturday, December 19, on a Chinese island called 'Sanya.' According to the Miss World Organization, the motto of this beauty pageant is purposeful beauty. Organizers believe that in the evaluations of this competition, in addition to physical beauty, criteria such as personality, intelligence, social relationships, athletic abilities, general and political knowledge, as well as the special skills and talents of each participant are also considered. The Miss World Organization states that they also take into account criteria other than physical beauty in selecting 'Miss World.' The winner of the Miss World title, in addition to receiving the crown and cash prizes, must travel to various countries around the world for a year from her residence in London and engage in charitable activities for the Miss World Organization. Alongside 'Miss World' and 'Miss Universe,' the 'Miss Earth' competition has also been added to the beauty queen contests since 2001. The winner of the Miss Earth title must work for a year to support the environment and raise awareness about threats to environmental health. Women's rights activists around the world oppose beauty queen contests, viewing them as objectification of women and promoting unhealthy and homogenized standards of beauty.