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The Big Four beauty pageants are: Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss Earth, and Miss International.
In the world of beauty pageants, these four have become the top international pageants. Miss Universe and Miss World have gained greater success and popularity, having started back in the 1950's as splinter contests to Miss America and being annually aired worldwide. Miss International came in the 1960's. Miss Earth, leaning more on the promotion of environmental issues, started in 2001.
The "Big Four" category (also known as the "Grand Slam" of beauty pageants) was created in 2001 by GlobalBeauties.com.
In terms of the average number of delegates attending the events, Miss World commands the highest number of attendance (over a hundred candidates), followed by Miss Universe (averaging from 75-85), Miss Earth (around 80), and Miss International (below 50).
Statistics
In terms of winning the "Grand Slam" (a country winning all four pageants, but not necessarily in the same year), only Brazil and Venezuela have done it so far, through their victories in the Miss Earth pageant.
Venezuela holds the most titles, winning 14 times, closely followed by USA, though the latter is yet to win in the Miss Earth to claim a Grand Slam.
USA has the most Miss Universe title with 7; Venezuela and India share the most Miss World title with 5 each; while Venezuela and the Philippines share the most Miss International title with 4 each. No country yet has won multiple Miss Earth title.
| Country | Miss Universe | Miss World | Miss Earth | Miss International | Total Grand Slam wins |
| Venezuela | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 14 |
| USA | 7 | 21 | 3 | 12 | |
| India | 2 | 5 | 7 | ||
| Australia | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | |
| UK2 | 43 | 3 | 7 | ||
| Puerto Rico | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| Sweden | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||
| Philippines | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | |
| Brazil | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Finland | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| Argentina | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
| Netherlands | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
| Germany | 1 | 15 | 2 | 4 | |
| Colombia | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Iceland | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||
| Poland | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Trinidad and Tobago | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| Peru | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| South Africa | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| France | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Greece | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Norway | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| Spain | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| Jamaica | 3 | 3 | |||
| Canada | 2 | 2 | |||
| Thailand | 2 | 2 | |||
| Dominican Republic | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Israel | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Lebanon | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| New Zealand | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Panama | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Austria | 2 | 2 | |||
| Costa Rica | 2 | 2 | |||
| Botswana | 1 | 1 | |||
| Chile | 1 | 1 | |||
| Japan | 1 | 1 | |||
| Mexico | 1 | 1 | |||
| Namibia | 1 | 1 | |||
| Bermuda | 1 | 1 | |||
| Egypt | 1 | 1 | |||
| Grenada | 1 | 1 | |||
| Guam | 1 | 1 | |||
| Ireland | 1 | 1 | |||
| Nigeria | 1 | 1 | |||
| Russia | 6 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Turkey | 1 | 1 | |||
| Denmark | 1 | 1 | |||
| Honduras | 1 | 1 | |||
| Kenya | 1 | 1 | |||
| Guatemala | 1 | 1 | |||
| Portugal | 1 | 1 | |||
| Yugoslavia7 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Total number of editions | 54 | 55 | 5 | 45 | 159 |
1 Marjorie Wallace was fired on March 8, 1974 but she still remains the official Miss World 1973.
2 Uses the name Britain in some of the pageants, while may compete as separate nations (i.e. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) at times.
3 Does not include the Miss World crown won in 1974, when Helen Morgan resigned.
4 Does not include Evangeline Pascual. She was the 1st runner up in Miss World 1973 and suppossedly becomes Miss World 1973 after Marjorie Wallace was fired. There are no rules at that time when a Miss World was dethroned a first runner up will take over. She becomes unofficial Miss World 1973 .
5 Does not include the Miss World crown won in 1980, when Gabriela Brum resigned.
6 Does not include the Miss Universe crown won in 2002, when Oxana Fedorova was dethroned.
7 Yugoslavia no longer exists as a country.
The above table also does not include the Miss Earth crown won by Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2002, when Dzejla Glavovic was dethroned.
Representation
It is ironic that the Big Four do not essentially represent all countries around the world, as the particiation of Middle Eastern countries is negligible.
Grand Slam
Unlike in the realm of sports, a nation winning a true Grand Slam (all these pageants in the same year) is unlikely. This is due to the fact that the winners are chosen by a panel of judges (or in the most recent trend, partly by the public), who may, consciously or unconsciously, be for or against a nation winning the Grand Slam. This is in contrast to a Grand Slam in sports where the achievement is based on an athlete's ability, not on a judgement by others.
The following table shows the performance of nations across all the "Big Four". Since a contestant is unlikely to represent her country in all four pageants, the evaluation is based more on the winning countries, however, there are some contestants who came closed to winning two of the four Grand Slam pageants (e.g. Gina Swainson of Bermuda, and Helen Morgan of United Kingdom).
See also
- Big Four, disambiguation
- Missosology.Org: Analyzing Beauty Pageants
"Big Four pageants"
