Miss Universe 1981

The competition for the 30th Miss Universe with originally 77 participants took place on July 20, 1981 in the Minskoff Theater in New York . One participant, Miss Mauritius, got homesick and withdrew, leaving only 76 candidates fighting for the crown .

The winner of the competition Irene Sáez from Venezuela , who was already Miss Miranda and Miss Venezuela, was crowned by last year's US winner Shawn Weatherly .

Because most of the candidates in this competition were blonde , there were criticisms of alleged racist behavior. It was also was claimed by the candidates received more attention in the media .

Final competition

The participants

country	Spelling at Pageantopolis	Spelling in the native language	Participation in other competitions
Placements
1. Venezuela	Irene Lailin Sáez Conde	Irene Sáez	Miss Venezuela
2. Canada	Dominique Dufour	Dominique Dufour	Miss Canada
3. Sweden	Eva-Lena Lundgren	Eva-Lena Lundgren	Miss Sweden
4. Brazil	Adriana Alves de Oliveira	Adriana Alves de Oliveira	Miss Brazil
5. Belgium	Dominique van Eeckhoudt	Dominique van Eeckhoudt	Miss Belgium
Top 12
French Polynesia ( Tahiti )	Tatiana Teraiamano	Tatiana Teraiamano	Miss Tahiti
Norway	Mona Olsen	Mona Olsen	Miss Norway
BR Germany	Marion Kurz	Marion Kurz	Miss Germany
Netherlands	Ingrid Schouten	Ingrid Schouten
United States	Kim Seelbrede	Kim Seelbrede	Miss USA
Ecuador	Lucía Isabel Vinueza Urjelles	Lucía Isabel Vinueza Urjelles	Miss Ecuador
New Zealand	Donella Thomsen	Donella Thomsen	Miss New Zealand

Awards

Special awards	winner
Miss Amity	Bahamas - Linda Smith
Miss Photogenic	Denmark - Tina Brandstrup
Best national costume	Brazil - Adriana Alves de Oliveira

jury

• Sammy Cahn
• ChangKang Jae
• Anna Moffo
• Pelé
• Julio Iglesias
• Itzik Kol
• Lee majors
• Mary McFadden
• David Merrick
• Anna Moffo
• LeRoy Neiman
• Lorin Netherlandser
• Francesco Scavullo
• Corinna Tsopei Miss Universe 1964 from Greece

Participants

country	Surname
American Virgin Islands	Marise Cecile James
Argentina	Susana Mabel Reynoso
Aruba	Synia Reyes
Australia	Karen Sang
Bahamas	Linda Teresa Smith
Belgium	Dominique van Eeckhoudt (5th place)
Belize	Ivette Zabaneh
Bermuda	Cymone Florie Tucker
Bolivia	Vivian Zambrano
Brazil	Adriana Alves de Oliveira (4th place)
BR Germany	Marion Kurz
British Virgin Islands	Carmen Nibbs
Cayman Islands	Donna Marie Myrie
Chile	María Soledad Hurtado Arellano
Costa Rica	Rosa Inés Solís Vargas
Curacao	Maria Maxima Croes
Denmark	Tina Brandstrup
Dominican Republic	Fausta Lucía Peña Veras
Ecuador	Lucía Isabel Vinueza Urjelles
England	Joanna Longley
Fiji	Lynn Michelle McDonald
Finland	Merja Orvokki Varvikko
France	Isabelle Sophie Benard
French Polynesia	Tatiana Teraiamano
Gibraltar	Yvette Dominguez
Greece	Maria Nikouli
Guadeloupe	Bivouac rosette
Guam	Bertha Antoinette Harmon
Guatemala	Yuma Rossana Lobos Orellana
Honduras	Leslie Nohemí Sabillón Dávila
Hong Kong	Irene Lo Kam-Sheung
Iceland	Elisabet Traustadóttir
India	Rachita Kumar
Ireland	Valerie Roe
Israel	Dana Wexler
Italy	Anna Maria Kanakis
Japan	Mineko Orisaku
Canada	Dominique Dufour (2nd place)
Colombia	Ana Edilma (Eddy) Cano Puerta
Malaysia	Audrey Loh Yin Fong
Malta	Susanne Galea
Martinique	Ghislaine Jean-Louis
Mexico	Judith Grace González Hincks
Namibia	Antoinette Anuza
Netherlands	Ingrid Johanna Marie Schouten
New Zealand	Donella Thomsen
Northern Mariana Islands	Juanita Masga Mendiola
Norway	Mona Olsen
Austria	Gudrun Gollop
Panama	Ana María Henríquez Valdés
Paraguay	María Isabel Urízar Caras
Peru	Gladys Silva Cancino
Philippines	Maria Caroline (Maricar) de Vera Mendoza
Portugal	Ana Paula Machado Moura
Puerto Rico	Carmen Lotti Rodríguez
Reunion	Patricia Abadie
Scotland	Anne McFarlane
Singapore	Florence Tan
South Korea	Lee Eun-jung
South Africa	Daniela di Paolo
Spain	Frances Ondiviela
Sri Lanka	Renuka Varuni Jesudhason
St. Kitts and Nevis	Marva Warner
Sweden	Eva-Lena Lundgren (3rd place)
Switzerland	Bridget Voss
Thailand	Massupha Karbprapun
Trinidad and Tobago	Romini Samaroo
Turkey	Şenay Unlu
Turks and Caicos Islands	Frances Gloria Rigby
Uruguay	Griselda Dianne Anchorena
United States	Kim Seelbrede
Venezuela	Irene Sáez Conde (1st place)
Wales	Karen Ruth Stannard
Samoa	Lenita Marianne Schwalger
Cyprus	Katia Angelidou

Web links

• The Dish On The Universe The 80's - Part On By Jeannie Szoradi, Ph.D, Miss Universe-ology, In: Geocities.com
• The Robesonian - July 21, 1981 - Venezuelan Wins Title: Miss Univers. Retrieved October 10, 2019 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Amity, German: friendship, friendship, friendliness dict.cc