The picturesque city of Quito, in the equatorial country of Ecuador- the land of frequent volcanic eruptions, will play host to voluptuous display of beautiful bodies, to pick the most gorgeous damsel of the universe, in the Miss Universe Contest for 2004. The modern history of this Latin American city dates back to sixteenth century, when it was founded by the Spanish conqueror Sebastian de Benecalzar. Now a World Heritage site, it is replete with landmarks bearing testimony to its rich colonial past. The city administration and the Ecuadorian people are gearing themselves up well, to host the planet earth’s biggest exposition of feminine beauty and brains on June 1st 2004.

The program will culminate in a grand finale when Amelia Vega of Dominican Republic, the reigning Miss Universe, will bequeath her tiara to the winner of the competition, out of eighty contestants from across the world. It will be broadcast live in well over 125 countries. Besides, the awards for Miss Photogenic, Clairol style, Congeniality and the Best National Costume, shall be up for grabs in this fifty-second edition of the international fest. Mikimoto, Preciosa, Tadashi, Endless Sun, and Nina and d Cover- Girl, The School for Film And Television are among the main sponsors of the programme.

The body behind the show is the Miss Universe Organization. Unlike its Miss World counterpart, the MUO is predominantly an American show with its offices based in New York and Los Angeles. The inception of the Miss Universe competition too took place in USA, and as such it intricately relates itself to the Miss USA pageant year after year. The contest owes its origins to a comparatively modest ‘bathing beauty’ competition that took place in 1952 at Long Beach in California promoted by the Catalina Swimsuits. The Miss Universe and Miss USA were chosen concurrently. For the first eight years, the competition was held at the same venue on the Western Coast. It was at Miami Beach, Florida; in 1960 that the program was broadcast live, for the first time.

With the passage of time, the competition has evolved and has become a cynosure of million of eyes. Hundreds and thousands of girls from USA and across the globe have tried their luck at it. No doubt, the program has given a big thrust to the beauty and cosmetic industry the world over. Apart from the sponsorships, the winners become official representatives of the Miss Universe Organisation and get to meet various dignitaries and important persons worldwide to promote good will, peace and humanitarian initiatives amongst the nations.

Sushmita Sen (1994) and Lara Dutta (2000) have brought laurels for our country by wining the competition, which has generally favoured girls from the American continents. This time too our nation of 1 billion is pining its hopes on dusky and black haired typical Indian beauty, Tanushree Dutta making it to the crown. However, Kathrine Sørland (Norway) Oleksandra Nikolayenko (Ukraine) Shandi Finnessey (USA) Yanina Gonzalez (Paraguay) Jennifer Hawkins (Australia) are far ahead of her in popular ratings.