Miss Universe 1994

77 Contestants Competed for the Title.

Country/Territory	Contestants	Placements
Argentina	Solange Magnano †
Aruba	Alexandra Ochoa
Australia	Michelle van Eimeren
Bahamas	Meka Knowles
Belgium	Christelle Roelandts
Bolivia	Cecilia O'Connor-d'Arlach
Brazil	Valéria Melo Peris
British Virgin Islands	Delia Jon Baptiste
Bulgaria	Nevena Marinova
Canada	Susanne Rothfos
Cayman Islands	Audrey Elizabeth Ebanks
Chile	Constanza Barbieri
Colombia	Carolina Gómez Correa	1st Runner Up
Cook Islands	Leilani Brown
Costa Rica	Yasmin Camacho
Curaçao	Jasmin Clifton
Cyprus	Maria Vasiliou
Denmark	Gitte Andersen
Dominican Republic	Vielka Valenzuela
Ecuador	Mafalda Arboleda
Egypt	Ghada El-Salem
El Salvador	Claudia Méndez
Estonia	Eva-Maria Laan
Finland	Henna Meriläinen
France	Valerie Claisse
Germany	Tanja Wild
Great Britain	Michaela Pyke
Greece	Rea Toutounzi	Top 10
Guam	Christina Perez
Guatemala	Katya Schoenstedt
Honduras	Jem Haylock
Hong Kong	Mok Hoi-Yan
Hungary	Szilvia Forian
Iceland	Svala Björk Arnardóttir
India	Sushmita Sen	Miss Universe 1994
Ireland	Pamela Flood
Israel	Ravit Yarkoni
Italy	Arianna David	Top 10
Jamaica	Angelie Martin
Japan	Chiaki Kawahito
Luxembourg	Sandy Wagner
Malaysia	Liza Koh
Mauritius	Viveka Babajee †
Mexico	Fabiola Pérez Rovirosa
Namibia	Barbara Kahatjipara
Netherlands	Irene van der Laar
New Zealand	Nicola Brighty
Nigeria	Suzan Hart
Northern Mariana Islands	Elizabeth Tomokane
Norway	Caroline Saetre
Panama	María Sofía Velásquez
Paraguay	Liliana González
Peru	Karina Calmet
Philippines	Charlene Gonzales	Top 6
Poland	Joanna Brykczynska
Portugal	Mónica Pereira
Puerto Rico	Brenda Robles
Republic of China[7]	Joanne Wu
Romania	Mihaela Ciolacu
Russia	Inna Zobova
Republic of Malta	Paola Camilleri
Singapore	Alien Sun
Slovakia	Silvia Lakatošová	Top 6
South Korea	Goong Sun-young
Spain	Raquel Rodríguez
Sri Lanka	Nushara Pramali
Swaziland	Nicola Smith
Sweden	Domenique Forsberg	Top 10
Switzerland	Patricia Fässler	Top 10
Thailand	Areeya Chumsai
Trinidad and Tobago	Lorca Gatcliffe
Turkey	Banu Usluer
Turks & Caicos	Eulease Walkin
Uruguay	Leonora Dibueno
United States	Lu Parker	Top 6
Venezuela	Minorka Mercado	2nd Runner Up
Zimbabwe	Yvette D'Almeida-Chakras

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 pre-pageant shows including the national costume and opening show held at the Araneta Coliseum, and swimsuit and evening gown during the preliminary competition held at its main venue, the Philippine International Convention Center. 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 (US$357,000) profit out of the pageant, as well as the accompanying media exposure.[10] 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.[10] Some of the expected sponsorship money did not materialize, leading the shortfall to be covered by the government.[11] 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.[12]
• 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".[13]
• 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.[14] The cost of the event was also criticised by the Philippine Congress, despite it being endorsed by President Fidel Ramos.[14] 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.[15]
• 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.[16] 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.[17]
• 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.[18] This was also criticised by Miss Thailand, Areeya Sirisopha Chumsai, even though the same incident occurred in Thailand in the Miss Universe 1992 pageant.[19]
• 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.[20]
• Miss Malaysia, Liza Koh, made a public apology on behalf of her country about the arrest of 1200 Filipina domestic helpers in Kuala Lumpur.[21] As a result, the Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi admonished her not to make any further political remarks.[22]
• 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 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 Slovakia, who was also celebrating her birthday, and Miss Mexico by their respective placements.[23]

• "Miss Universe 1994". pageantopolis.com. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

• Miss Universe official website