India gears up to host Miss World for the second time: Venues, contests, et al
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After a gap of 28 years, the Miss World Competition is once again arriving on Indian soil. The events of the mega beauty pageant will be held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi and Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai between February 18 and March 9.
The opening ceremony of the 71st Miss World pageant and 'India Welcomes the World Gala' will be held on February 20 and the event will be hosted by the India Tourism Development Corporation at Hotel Ashok in New Delhi. The grand finale of the Miss World event will be held at Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai on March 9.
India hosted the Miss World event last time in 1996 in which Irene Skliva of Greece was crowned the title. The venue of the grand finale of the event organised by Amitabh Bachchan's ABCL was Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
India's first Miss World crown was bagged by Reita Faria Powell in 1966 in London. Again, after a hiatus of 28 years, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won the Miss World title in 1994. Three years later, Diana Hayden won the crown in 1997 followed by Yukta Mookhey in 1999. After Priyanka Chopra won the title in the very next year India had to wait for another 17 years until Manushi Chhillar was crowned Miss World in 2017. Karolina Bielawska of Poland who is the current Miss World will crown the Miss World 2024.
The 71st Miss World Final is being produced by Endemol Shine India and the main competitions include World Top Designer Award and Miss World Top Model, Miss World Talent Final, Miss World Sports Challenge, Head to Head Challenge Final, Multi-media Challenge, Miss World Red Carpet Special, Continental Beauty with a Purpose Challenge among others.
The Miss World Competition, the oldest among existing beauty pageants was funded by British television host, Eric Douglas Morley in 1951. Julia Morley, his widow is now the head of the beauty pageant and his son, Steve Douglas is one of the presenters. Kerstin 'Kiki' Hakansson from Sweden was the winner of the first Miss World contest.