Grand Slam Ranking and Country of the Year 1968
11-Denmark; 12-Netherlands; 13-Japan; 14-Peru; 15-South Africa; 16-Colombia; 17-Italy; 18-Venezuela; 19-Australia; 20-Iceland; 21-Austria; 22-Philippines; 23-India; 24-Korea; 25-Norway; 26-Thailand; 27-Canada; 28-Taiwan; 29-Ireland; 30-Jamaica; 31-Spain; 32-New Zealand; 33-Egypt; 34-Switzerland; 35-Ceylon; 36-Hong Kong; 37-Yugoslavia; 38-Uruguay; 39-Cuba; 40-Hawaii; 41-Panama; 42-Guyana; 43-Chile; 44-Belgium; 45-Mexico; 46-Rhodesia; 47-Tahiti; 48-Poland; 49-Wales; 50-Turkey; 51-Malaysia; 51-Paraguay; 53-Curaçao; 54-El Salvador; 55-Nicaragua; 56-Tunisia; 57-Costa Rica; 58-Liberia; 59-Scotland; 60-Czechoslovakia; 61-Bolivia; 62-Morocco; 63-Lebanon; 64-Dominican Republic; 65-Honduras; 65-Suriname; 67-Cyprus; 68-Alaska; 68-Guatemala; 70-Ecuador; 71-Ghana; 71-Kenya; 73-Haiti; 74-Montserrat; 75-Puerto Rico; 76-Singapore; 77-Guam; 78-Luxembourg; 79-Jordan; 80-Portugal; 81-Bahamas; 82-Aruba; 83-Gibraltar; 83-Okinawa; 83-West Indies; 86-Malta; 86-Burma; 88-Bermuda; 88-Madagascar; 88-Nigeria; 88-Trinidad & Tobago; 88-US Virgin Islands; 93-Gambia; 94-Bonaire; 94-Congo DR; 94-Indonesia; 94-Monaco; 94-Syria; 94-Tanzania; 94-Uganda; 101-Dahomey; 101-Borneo; 101-Grenada; 101-Martinique; 101-Saint Vincent; 101-South Pacific.
BRAZIL REPEATED FRANCE 1953, BY WINNING TWO GRAND SLAM TITLES IN A SINGLE YEAR! IT´S NOW 5TH IN THE GRAND SLAM RANKING
The fight to be the #1 power in Latin America between Brazil and Argentina got really intense! After a historical year, with two Grand Slam victories, Brazil took the lead in the region once again, this time in 5th place. Argentina fell to the 8th position. A Miss World victory allowed Australia to move 8 notches up in the Grand Slam Ranking, going from 27th to 19th place. Guyana´s 3rd consecutive placement in Miss World, made it keep on moving forward. It was in 73rd place in 1965, 60th in 1966, 49th in 1967, and 42nd in 1968! The biggest mover of 1968 was, without a doubt, Curaçao, after nearly capturing the Miss Universe title (it was 2nd): +30 (from 83rd to 53rd)!
Miss World Ranking in 1968 (Top 10): 1-UK; 2-France; 3-Sweden; 4-United States; 5-Germany; 6-Denmark; 7-South Africa; 8-Argentina; 9-Finland; 10-Netherlands.
Miss Universe Ranking in 1968 (Top 10): 1-United States; 2-Brazil; 3-Sweden; 4-Germany; 5-Finland; 6-England / UK; 7-Greece; 8-Argentina; 9-Japan; 10-Israel.
Miss International Ranking in 1968 (Top 10): 1-United States; 2-Brazil; 3-Iceland; 4-Germany; 5-Argentina; 6-England / UK; 7-Netherlands; 8-Philippines; 9-Israel; 10-Colombia.
1968: TWO GRAND SLAM TITLES FOR BRAZIL IN A SINGLE YEAR
In the 1950s and 60s, the Miss Brazil pageant was a major sensation! It was held at the Maracanãzinho stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, where 40.000 (yes, forty thousand people!!!) got together every year to cheer for their favorite candidates. It was also watched by every single person who had a TV set in the country (audience of 90 to 100%) and the winners were on the cover of major magazines and newspapers everywhere. Get this: when Brazil won the 1958 World Cup @fifaworldcup for the first time, it was Miss Brazil, Adalgisa Colombo, who was on the cover of Manchete magazine, rather than the players! So it was not surprising that the Brazilian beauty queens did really well in those days, and 1968 was and remains until today, the most successful pageant year for Brazil. Martha Vasconcellos was elected @missuniverse in Miami Beach and Maria da Glória Carvalho won the first edition of @missinternationalofficial held in Japan, two months after Marta's victory. Angela Stecca, who ironically was the favorite to become Miss Brazil (she placed 2nd, which gave her the title Miss Brazil #2, or Miss Brazil World), did not even place in Miss World. But the other two triumphs were enough to put Brazil on top by a fair distance, as Country of the Year 1968.
Australia came 2nd after winning its first Miss World title, with Penelope Plummer, and Sweden was 3rd, with the vice-Miss International and semi-finalists in MU and MW.
1- Brazil - 5751 points;
2- Australia - 3002 points;
3- Sweden - 2050 points.