Miss Universe 2006

Miss Universe 2006
Miss Universe 2006, Zuleyka Rivera from Puerto Rico
Date	23 July 2006
Presenters	Nancy O'Dell, Carlos Ponce, Carson Kressley, Shandi Finnessey
Entertainment	Chelo, Vittorio Grigolo
Venue	Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, United States
Broadcaster	NBC, Telemundo
Entrants	86
Placements	20
Debuts	Kazakhstan
Withdrawals	Barbados, Belize, Curaçao, Italy, Kenya, Netherlands, Vietnam
Returns	Argentina, Cayman Islands, Estonia, Ghana, Iceland, New Zealand, Northern Marianas, St. Lucia, St. Martin, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Sweden
Winner	Zuleyka Rivera  Puerto Rico
Congeniality	Desiree Duran  Bolivia
Best National Costume	Kurara Chibana  Japan
Photogenic	Lia Andrea Ramos  Philippines

Miss Universe 2006, the 55th Miss Universe pageant, was held on 23 July 2006 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, USA. Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico crowned by Natalie Glebova of Canada at the end of the event. 86 contestants competed for the crown.

Results

Placements

Final results	Contestant
Miss Universe 2006	Puerto Rico – Zuleyka Rivera
1st Runner-up	Japan – Kurara Chibana
2nd Runner-up	Switzerland – Lauriane Gilliéron
3rd Runner-up	Paraguay – Lourdes Arévalos
4th Runner-up	USA – Tara Conner
Top 10	Bolivia – Desiree Durán  Canada – Alice Panikian  Colombia – Valerie Domínguez  Mexico – Priscila Perales  Trinidad & Tobago – Kenisha Thom
Top 20	Argentina – Magalí Romitelli  Brazil – Rafaela Zanella  Denmark – Betina Faurbye  Ethiopia – Dina Fekadu  Hungary – Adrienn Bende  India – Neha Kapur  Russia – Anna Litvinova †  Sweden – Josephine Alhanko  Thailand – Charm Osathanond  Ukraine – Inna Tsymbalyuk

Contestants

Countries and territories which sent delegates and results for Miss Universe 2006

Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles

Top 5 at Miss Universe 2006

•  Albania – Eralda Hitaj
•  Angola – Isménia Júnior
•  Antigua & Barbuda – Shari McEwan
•  Argentina – Magalí Romitelli
•  Aruba – Melissa Laclé
•  Australia – Erin McNaught
•  Bahamas – Samantha Carter
•  Belgium – Tatiana Silva
•  Bolivia – Desiree Durán
•  Brazil – Rafaela Zanella
•  Bulgaria – Galena Dimova
•  Canada – Alice Panikian
•  Cayman Islands – Ambuyah Ebanks
•  Chile – Belén Montilla
•  China – Gao Yinghui
•  Colombia – Valerie Domínguez
•  Costa Rica – Fabriella Quesada
•  Croatia – Biljana Mančić
•  Cyprus – Elena Ierodiakonou
•  Czech Republic – Renata Langmannová
•  Denmark – Betina Faurbye
•  Dominican Republic – Mía Taveras
•  Ecuador – Catalina "Katty" López
•  Egypt – Fawzia Mohamed
•  El Salvador – Rebeca Iraheta
•  Estonia – Kirke Klemmer
•  Ethiopia – Dina Fekadu
•  Finland – Ninni Laaksonen
•  France – Alexandra Rosenfeld
•  Georgia – Ekaterine Buadze
•  Germany – Natalie Ackermann
•  Ghana – Angela Asare
•  Greece – Olympia Hopsonidou
•  Guatemala – Jackelinne Piccinini
•  Guyana – Alana Ernest
•  Hungary – Adrienn Bende
•  Iceland – Sif Aradóttir
•  India – Neha Kapur
•  Indonesia – Nadine Chandrawinata
•  Ireland – Melanie Boreham
•  Israel – Anastacia Entin
•  Jamaica – Cindy Wright
•  Japan – Kurara Chibana
•  Kazakhstan – Dina Nuraliyeva
•  Korea – Kim Joo-hee
•  Latvia – Sanita Kubliņa
•  Lebanon – Gabrielle Bou Rached
•  Malaysia – Melissa Ann Tan
•  Mauritius – Isabelle Antoo
•  Mexico – Priscila Perales
•  Namibia – Anna Nashandi
•  New Zealand – Elizabeth Gray
•  Nicaragua – Cristiana Frixione
•  Nigeria – Tienepre Oki
•  Northern Marianas – Shequita Bennett
•  Norway – Martine Jonassen
•  Panama – María Alessandra Mezquita
•  Paraguay – Lourdes Arévalos
•  Peru – Fiorella Viñas
•  Philippines – Lia Ramos
•  Poland – Francys Sudnicka
•  Puerto Rico – Zuleyka Rivera
•  Russia – Anna Litvinova †
•  Serbia & Montenegro – Nada Milinić
•  Singapore – Carol Cheong
•  Slovak Republic – Judita Hrubyová
•  Slovenia – Nataša Pinoza
•  South Africa – Thuli Sithole
•  Spain – Elisabeth Reyes
•  Sri Lanka – Jacqueline Fernandez
•  St. Lucia – Sascha Andrew-Rose
•  St. Martin – Gisella Hilliman
•  St. Vincent & Grenadines – Shivern Peters
•  Sweden – Josephine Alhanko
•   Switzerland – Lauriane Gilliéron
•  Thailand – Charm Osathanond
•  Trinidad & Tobago – Kenisha Thom
•  Turkey – Ceyla Kirazlı
•  Turks & Caicos – Shaveena Been
•  Ukraine – Inna Tsymbalyuk
•  United Kingdom – Julie Doherty
•  Uruguay – Fatimih Dávila
•  USA – Tara Conner
•  US Virgin Islands – JeT'aime Cerge
•  Venezuela – Jictzad Viña
•  Zambia – Mofya Chisenga †

Judges

Final telecast

The following celebrities judged the final competition.

• James Lesure ^[1] – Actor from NBC's Las Vegas
• Claudia Jordan ^[1] – Model for Deal or No Deal; former Miss Rhode Island USA (1997) and Miss Rhode Island Teen USA (1990)
• Sean Yazbeck ^[1] – Winner of season 5 of The Apprentice
• Amelia Vega ^[1] – Miss Universe 2003 from Dominican Republic
• Emmitt Smith ^[1] – Former Dallas Cowboys player and Dancing with the Stars winner
• Marc Cherry ^[1] – American writer and producer
• Tom Green ^[1] – Actor and comedian
• María Celeste Arrarás – Telemundo host
• Patrick McMullan ^[1] – Fashion photographer
• Bridgette Wilson ^[1] – Miss Teen USA 1990 from Oregon
• Santino Rice ^[1] – Project Runway finalist

Note: Actress Bo Derek was scheduled to be a judge but was later replaced.

Notes

Debuts

•  Kazakhstan

Returns

Last competed in 1977:

•  St. Lucia

Last competed in 1997:

•  Iceland

Last competed in 2000:

•  St. Martin

Last competed in 2002:

•  Northern Marianas

Last competed in 2003:

•  Argentina
•  New Zealand

Last competed in 2004:

•  Cayman Islands
•  Estonia
•  Ghana
•  St. Vincent & Grenadines
•  Sweden

Withdrawals

•  Barbados
•  Belize
•  Curaçao
•  Italy
•  Kenya
•  Netherlands
•  Vietnam

References

1. "Miss Universe 2006 Pageant - 2005". Hollywood.com. February 5, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
2. "New Miss Universe hails from Puerto Rico". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. 24 July 2006. Retrieved 22 March 2011.

External links

• Miss Universe official website