Miss Colombia

Miss Colombia is officially known as the Concurso Nacional de Belleza of Colombia, namely the National Contest of Beauty. It is the most significant pageant in a country that, like neighboring Venezuela, gives incredible weight to beauty contests. The Miss Colombia pageant elects representatives to Miss Universe and Miss International . The Miss Mundo Colombia pageant is a separate and smaller event that sends Colombia's representative to Miss World. The Miss Earth Colombia pageant is a separate yet sizable country-wide search for Colombia's representative to Miss Earth.

The Miss Colombia pageant is one of the most important cultural events in the country, held annually in the city of Cartagena de Indias. Massive coverage is given by the media to the contest, including by Cromos magazine which devotes entire issues to the individual contestants. Aspirants must compete in their respective Departments (about twenty of which are represented each year, fluctuating due to the continuing civil unrest in the country) to earn a title for the pageant. Colombia has the strictest rules regarding participation of any Miss Universe preliminary: once a contestant registers for the pageant, she is confined to her own Department and cannot jump states/provinces as happens frequently elsewhere. Colombia has the distinction of being one of a select few countries where taxpayer dollars are actually spent on the pageant: some Departmental governments will actually fund their individual contestants, pageants, or even appoint their representatives to the pageant.

The pageant has had its share of controversies, ranging from involvement of the country's powerful drug lords to allegations of racism. In 2001, Vanessa Mendoza of Choco won the pageant, becoming the first black woman to do so and setting off an immense debate over the country's treatment of its black minorities. A living "Cinderella" who came from abject poverty, she received numerous awards for her humanitarian work, including a postage stamp issued in her honor (rarely accorded to living celebrities, among them Gabriel Garcia Marquez) and government assistance for her home province, one of the country's poorest. Despite being the massive favorite of Latin American papers to win the Miss Universe pageant, she did not place.

Despite the country's fascination with pageants and the incredible efforts and funds expended to prepare winners (including appointing them teams of fashion designers and coaches), it has had a mixed record at international contests. Luz Marina Zuluaga remains the country's only Miss Universe, winning in 1958; she was awarded a mansion and tax exemption for life, an honor which is expected to follow any woman who can retake the world title. Colombians have come close on several occasions, including from 1992 to 1994 when Miss Colombia consecutively placed as first runner-up, but the Miss Universe title has continued to elude the country. In 2004 Jeimmy Paola Vargas became the first black woman to win the Miss International crown.

Because of its incredible drawing power in a country wracked by civil war and drug trafficking, the Miss Colombia pageant remains surrounded by as much legend and mystery as the neighboring Miss Venezuela contest. Among the most notable facts: schoolchildren are given two weeks' holiday in Cartagena when the pageant arrives; the gold crown designed for the winner contains a single pure Colombian emerald; the winner traditionally confers with the President of Colombia several times during her reign; and the precious tortoise-shell scepter and gold ring are carried with Miss Colombia at all times while she is in the country, and must be transferred by her hands to her successor in Cartagena.