For the first time in history of Miss Universe, the pageant was held on African soil exactly in the newly independent state of Namibia. It gained the independence from the neighboring South Africa in 1990.
And it’s a great achievement for Namibia to host one of the most popular world-class event like Miss Universe 5 years after its independence. And 82 beautiful young women competed for the prestigious title of Miss Universe 1995. The event was held at Windhoek Country Club & Resort in Windhoek, Namibia and watched by some 600 million viewers in more than 60 countries worldwide.
————————————————————————————————————-
PAGEANT REVIEW
Top 10
 |
| From L to R: Colombia, Canada, Puerto Rico, India, El Salvador |
 |
| From L to R: India, El Salvador, USA, Venezuela, Dominican Republic (Trinidad&Tobago and South Africa were unseen) |
1 – USA
Chelsi Smith
Swimsuit : 9.719 (1)
Interview : 9.639 (3)
Evening Gown : 9.656 (8)
Average : 9.671 (1)
Top 6 : 9.789 (2)
Chelsi Smith won the 1995 Miss USA pageant representing Texas. Coincidentally, Sushmita Sen crowned her three times; first in Miss Texas USA, then Miss USA and the last in Miss Universe. Chelsi was a multiracial American, became the first Miss Universe from USA in 15 years!(The last won in 1980 by Shawn Weatherly). Although she was not among the top favorites in the pageant, however she placed 1st in the preliminaries.
2- India
Manpreet Brar
Swimsuit: 9.378 (8)
Interview: 9.573 (4)
Evening Gown: 9.700 (3)
Average: 9.550 (6)
Top 6: 9.748 (3)
Manpreet was the darkhorse in the semifinal. She followed her predessecor, Sushmita Sen to be at 1st during the interview preliminary. She has never been in the list of favorites, but her exotic look and brain brought her so far to be 2nd and almost made the back-to-back title for India. Her unforgettable answer when asked about discrimination against color: “There’s saying that goes: if your back is bent, only then someone will be able to climb on it. So stand up straight and no one will climb on your back.”
3 – Canada
Lana Buchberger
Swimsuit: 9.598 (2)
Interview: 9.538 (5)
Evening Gown: 9.789 (1)
Average: 9.641 (2)
Top 6: 9.818 (1)
Lana Buchberger gave the only placement for Canada during 1990s editions of the pageant. She finished at 3rd; although she was favored by crowd in Namibia. She was born in Singapore and ever lived in Malaysia, Dubai and Abu Dhabi during her life. The experience of living in many different countries gave her the amazing experience to tell us.
 |
| Trinidad & Tobago |
4 – Trinidad & Tobago
Arlene Peterkin
Swimsuit: 9.515 (6)
Interview: 9.499 (7)
Evening Gown: 9.674 (5)
Average: 9.563 (5)
Top 6: 9.724 (4)
 |
| Puerto Rico |
Arlene Peterkin had the most beautiful smile among the semifinalists. She was the oldest contestant in the pageant, 27 at that time. However, her exciting personality delivered her to the 4th place.
5 – Puerto Rico
Desiree Lowry
Swimsuit: 9.561 (5)
Interview: 9.653 (2)
Evening Gown: 9.661 (6)
Average: 9.625 (3)
Top 6: 9.658 (5)
Puerto Rico appeared as a strong contender by Desiree Lowry after being unplaced in the previous edition. Desiree was the hot favorite in the contest, and her interview was really excellent; placed at 2nd behind El Salvador. Her ambition was to become a diplomat or lawyer. However, she failed to bring the 4th Miss Universe crown for Puerto Rico after the darkhorse of India gave a very good answer in Top 6.
6 – Venezuela
Denyse Floreano
 |
| Venezuela |
Swimsuit: 9.566 (4)
Interview: 9.499 (7)
Evening Gown: 9.705 (2)
Average: 9.590 (4)
Top 6: 9.425 (6)
Unlike her predessecor in 1993 and 1994 who finished at Top 3, Denyse just placed 6th overall. She was also a favorite to win, however her interview was really weak. Irene Saez, Miss Universe 1981 of Venezuela who was a judge in the contest, gave her perfect score 9.99 in all areas of competition. Her effort helped Denyse to advance in Top 6, not to Top 3.
 |
| South Africa |
Denyse was 18 at that time, but she looked mature and fatter than when she was crowned Miss Venezuela 1994. Miss Philippines who was Denyse’s close friend in the pageant confirmed that Denyse had the pregnancy of 5 months 10 years later. Two months after crowning Alicia Machado as Miss Venezuela 1995, Denyse gave birth her first child.
7 – South Africa
Augustine Masilela
Swimsuit: 9.348 (9)
Interview: 9.525 (6)
Evening Gown: 9.688 (4)
Average: 9.520 (7)
Augustine was the first delegate of South Africa since 1984 (where it placed 2nd that year). South Africa was allowed to compete again in Miss Universe after its long absence of 10 years (1985 – 1994). It was caused by the demonstration against the apartheid politic in the country.
Augustine was a broadcaster and 26 at that time. She was the unexpected contestant in Top 10, but her intelligence in interview and good presentation in evening gown, brought her to 7th place overall.
 |
| El Salvador |
9 – Dominican Republic
Candida Lara
Swimsuit: 9.573 (3)
Interview: 9.219 (9)
Evening Gown: 9.573 (9)
Average: 9.455 (9)
10- Colombia
Tatiana Castro AbuchaibeeSwimsuit: 9.430 (7)
Interview: 9.020 (10)
Evening Gown: 9.599 (8)
Average: 9.350 (10)
Tatiana Castro was #1 hot crowd favorite. After she was announced to Top 10, the crowd thought that it would be a battle between Colombia, Puerto Rico and Canada. Wrong! Tatiana just finished at 10th. She placed 3rd in the preliminaries, but she could not repeat the same performance in the final. She broke the dream of Colombians to win the 2nd Miss Universe crown for their country after placing 2nd in 3 consecutive years (1992, 1993 & 1994).
Top 6
 |
| From L to R: Trinidad & Tobago, USA, Venezuela, India, Canada and Puerto Rico |
___________________________________________________________________
CONTESTANTS
 |
| Miss Universe 1995 USA’s Chelsi Smith posed with all judges; from L to R: Lucero, Phil Gallo, Zakes Mokae, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Freddy Taylor, Peter Kwong, Chelsi Smith, Irene Saez, Dan McVicar, Natasha Alexandrovna and Ann Magnuson. |
This article is a special edition archive of Miss Universe Pageant Hall.
Photo Courtesy: Miss Universe Pageant Hall
Universe & World 