Miss Universe 2003

At the end of the Miss Universe 2002 pageant, hosts Phil Simms and Daisy Fuentes announced that this edition will be held in Panama City, Panama. It is the second time that Panama hosted the pageant; the first being in 1986.

Due to the ongoing SARS outbreak at that time, Juan Carlos Navarro, then-mayor of Panama City, required the candidates to show a medical certifications and other documents written in both English and Spanish at least two days before they arrive in Panama City in order to ensure that the virus would not spread in the city, as well as the host country.[3]

Contestants from seventy-one countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Five delegates were appointees to their position to replace the original dethroned winner.

The winner of Miss Czech Republic 2002, Kateřina Průšová was replaced by Kateřina Smržová due to her poor English skills.[4][5] Miss Egypt 2003, Horreya Farghally decided to give up the crown following several rumors of secret marriage, affecting her reputation's credibility receiving criticism by the press. Farghally was replaced by Nour El-Semary.[6] The winner of Eesti Miss Estonia 2003, Maili Nomm was replaced by Katrin Susi due to being underage.[7][8] The winner of Miss Poland 2002, Marta Matyjasik decided not to participate in Miss Universe 2003 due to academic reasons. Matyjasik was replaced by Iwona Makuch.[9]

Initially, the winner of Miss Russia 2002, Svetlana Koroleva was supposed to participate in Miss Universe 2003, but she went to Miss Europe 2002 in Lebanon and won the crown, making her unable to participate at Miss Universe.[10] Then, the Miss Russia organizers held a small pageant called Miss Russia Universe 2003 which was won by Yulia Ahonkova. However, she was also unable to compete in the Miss Universe pageant due to her being underage. After that, the Miss Russia Organizers chose Maria Smirnova, a 22-year-old model from Nizhny Novgorod, to participate in Miss Universe 2003, but the MUO officials rejected her due to her nude pictures for Playboy Russia.[11][12] With a few days to go before the end of entries, the Miss Universe Organization announced that it would accept the entry of Oksana Bondarenko, runner-up of Miss Russia 2002.

The 2003 edition saw the debut of Serbia and Montenegro, and the returns of Argentina, Barbados, Belize, New Zealand, and Chinese Taipei. Barbados last competed in 1999, Belize in 2000, while the others last competed in 2001. The British Virgin Islands, Chile, Ghana, Honduras, Kenya, the Northern Mariana Islands, Portugal, the US Virgin Islands, and Uruguay withdrew. Bethsaida Smith of the British Virgin Islands and Kimberly Castro of the Northern Mariana Islands withdrew due to lack of sponsorship. Chile, Ghana, Honduras, Kenya, Portugal, the United States Virgin Islands, and Uruguay withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.[13]

Miss Iceland 2002, Manuela Ósk Harðardóttir withdrew from the pageant, when dehydration caused by the weather prevented her from competing in the preliminary competition.[14][15] She stayed in Panama until the pageant was over, joined by her boyfriend. Donna Tuara of the Cook Islands and Joyce Ramarofahatra of Madagascar did not participate due to lack of sponsorship. Tiziana Mifsud of Malta did not compete after the Miss Malta pageant lost their Miss Universe licence.[16] Mounia Achlaf of Algeria[17] and Melanie Putria Dewita Sari of Indonesia withdrew due to undisclosed reasons.

One 9 May 2003, the Miss Venezuela Organization announced that Mariángel Ruiz, Miss Venezuela 2002, will not be competing at Miss Universe for the first time since 1959.[18] This is due to the strict foreign exchange controls imposed by then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to prevent capital flight, which made the organization unable to obtain their funds into dollars in order to send Ruiz to Panama. According to Osmel Sousa, president of the Miss Venezuela Organization, USD $80,000 was needed for the franchise fee to send Ruiz to the pageant. However, the withdrawal of Ruiz was prevented by Venezuelan businessman Gustavo Cisneros, who was able to fund Ruiz to Panama.[19] This is after Mireya Moscoso, then-President of Panama, urged Cisneros to ensure that a Venezuelan candidate will compete at Miss Universe.[20]

From ten, the number of semi-finalists was increased to fifteen— the latest edition of Miss Universe which had fifteen semi-finalists prior to this edition was in 1971. The results of the preliminary competition— which was composed of the swimsuit and evening gown competition and closed-door interviews, determined the fifteen semi-finalists. The fifteen semi-finalists competed in the evening gown and were narrowed down to ten afterward. The ten semi-finalists competed in the swimsuit competition and were narrowed down to five afterward. The five finalists competed in the question and answer round and the final look.[22]

• Maria Celeste Arraras – Puerto Rican author and broadcaster journalist at Telemundo[22]
• Deborah Carthy-Deu – Miss Universe 1985 from Puerto Rico[22]
• Roberto Cavalli – Italian fashion designer[22]
• Richard Johnson – American field artist and visual journalist at The Washington Post[22]
• Amelia Marshall – American actress[22]
• Audrey Quock – American model and actress[22]
• Peter Reckell – American actor[22]
• Mathew St. Patrick – American actor[22]
• Fernanda Tavares – Brazilian supermodel[22]