Miss Universe 1994, the 43rd Miss Universe pageant, was held on May 21, 1994 at the Plenary Hall of the Philippine International Convention Center in the city of Pasay, Philippines, a suburb of Manila. Sushmita Sen of India was crowned by Dayanara Torres of Puerto Rico at the end of the event. This marks the first time that India won the pageant. 77 contestants competed in this year.
Manila was announced as host city for the pageant in October 1993. It was the second time the pageant was held in the Philippines, after it was staged in Manila in 1974. It was staged at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila, at approximately 8:00 in the morning (Philippine local time), to allow CBS in the United States to televise the pageant live in prime time.
The delegates started arriving in Manila by mid-April and were involved in nearly four weeks of events and competitions. They also visited different locations and attractions throughout the Philippines.
Prior to the final telecast, all contestants competed in swimsuit and evening gown during the preliminary competition. They also participated in interviews with the judges.
During the final competition, the top 10 contestants (based on their preliminary scores) competed in the swimsuit, evening gown and interview. The top six contestants participated in a final round of on-stage interviews, and cut to the final top three before the runners-up were announced and the new Miss Universe named.
The country expected to make 10 million PHP ($357,000 USD) profit out of the pageant, as well as the accompanying media exposure. The 150 million pesos ($5.3 million) spent on hosting the pageant was funded from the private sectors, with sponsors such as Nestlé, Kodak and Hertz. Some of the expected sponsorship money did not eventuate, leading the shortfall to be covered by the government. By mid May, as the contestants were already in Manila, organizers confirmed that they were short of money and were unsure whether a profit would be made from the event.
In the midst of power shortages around the time of the pageant, the Philippine government promised to ensure that the weekend of the pageant's coronation night would be "blackout-free".
The pageant came under public attack from the Nationalist Movement of New Women, a branch of the National Democratic Front, which claimed that it was being used to promote sex tourism. The cost of the event was also criticised by the Philippine Congress, despite it being endorsed by President Fidel Ramos. A social function attended by the delegates held prior to the final broadcast was picketed by the women's group, who opposed the nature of the pageant and the lavish spending.
During rehearsal on the day prior to the pageant, a small homemade bomb exploded outside the pageant venue where the contestants had earlier been rehearsing, though it caused minimal damage and there were no injuries were taken. As a result, more than 3000 Filipino police officers were involved in protecting the delegates, as well as dozens of policewomen assigned as personal or group bodyguards.
During May there was also a probe by the Commission on Human Rights as to whether a police round-up of street children was intended to improve Manila's international image during the pageant events. This was also criticised by Miss Thailand, Areeya Sirisopha Chumsai, even though the same incident occurred in Thailand in the Miss Universe 1992 pageant.
Miss Russia Inna Zobova was detained for 15 hours in a windowless room at an airport in Bangkok, Thailand en route to Manila due to a lack of transit visa.
Miss Malaysia, Liza Koh, made a public apology on behalf of her country about the arrest of 1200 Filipina domestic helpers in Kuala Lumpur. As a result, the Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi admonished her not to make any further political remarks.
Miss Mauritius Viveka Babajee became a controversial figure due to her involvement in the 1994 Metro Manila Film Festival scandal where she was a presenter for the Best Actress award together with actress Gretchen Barretto, an award which was highly disputed among the Philippine media.
Miss Indonesia Venna Melinda was not allowed to compete in the pageant because of her country's conservative Islamic prejudice towards the swimsuit competition, though she eventually traveled to Manila to watch the pageant as an observer.
Miss Philippines Charlene Gonzales gained criticism for winning the Best National Costume award as the judges were also criticized for allegedly favouring the host nation's delegate. Miss British Virgin Islands, Delia Jon Baptiste publicly declared that Gonzales won the award because of Filipino favouritism and that the other delegates disagreed with the choice. Miss Venezuela Minorka Mercado won the Philippine costume Terno award, followed by Slovak Republic who was celebrating her birthday, and Miss Mexico by their respective placements.
