MISS ITALY

The history of Miss Italy has been the same for years, and the winners has embraced cinema, television and fashion. All began when Dino Villani promoted the most important beauty pageant in the history of our usage.

The history began this way: the Gi.Vi. Emme, having to improve the image of a toothpaste, addressed to Dino Villani who thought of a photographic competition "Cinquemilalire per un sorriso" bound together with the weekly magazine "Il Milione"... It was 1939 and the fourteen-years-/old Isabella Vernay was elect Miss Sorriso, winning a photographic selection. After the WWII, the competition resumed with selections and footbridges: Miss Italy pageant was born just that year (1946), seeing the beautiful Rossana Martini be elected. The following year, in a cinema golden age, Lucia Bosè became reginetta; she would later become the wife of the great torero Domenguin. Beside her, on the footbridge of Stresa, there were the future stars of Italian cinema: Gina Lollobrigida, Silvana Mangano, Eleonora Rossi Drago and Gianna Maria Canale.

In 1950, a really unespected event was the missing of the title by Sofia Scicolone, better known in the cinema as Sofia Lazzaro (today's Sofia Loren). Her breast had been judged as beeing... overdimensioned for the title, but she was however rewarded with a wrap purposely created for her, that one of Miss Elegance. And since then, Miss Italy it has bound to the history of the cinema, until Anna Kanakis (Miss Italy 1977), Federica Moro (Miss Italy 1982), Michela Rocco di Torrepadula (Miss Italy 1987), Maria Grazia Cucinotta (that has become famous thanks to the film IL POSTINO of Massimo Troisi) and Anna Falchi (Miss Cinema 1989, a film with Federico Fellini, showgirl in the Festival of Sanremo and conductress of a "ZECCHINO D'ORO"), Claudia Pandolfi e Anna Valle (Miss Italy 1995).
Beyond these, other names in the history of Miss Italy have become famous: Stefania Sandrelli, Milly D'Abbraccio, Ombretta Colli, Simona Ventura (who participated to Miss Italy in 1986 and represented Italy by 1988 Miss Universe).

Curiosities do not lack on Miss Italy's way; for instance, in 1959 Marisa Jossa was elected and 27 year later her daughter Roberta Capua (right photo) won the pageant as well; or two sisters Layla Rigazzi and Alba Rigazzi having both won the competition respectively in 1960 and 1965; or even two participant twins, who arrived one among the first hundred and the other among first sixty (in the 1997 edition), and two other twins in the 1999 edition.

In 1988 the pageant was broadcast by RAIUNO; this agreement has proved to be largely successful; a huge audience has indeed been following Miss Italy programmes in the last years. Fabrizio Frizzi has been the conductor of the evenings. These last years have been characterized by many dramatic turns of events.
In 1988 Nadia Bengala won: it was afterwards discovered that the beautiful Nadia is about to sign a contract with one TV show on the Fininvest networks (now Mediaset). In 1990, upon suggestion of the president of the jury Maurizio Costanzo, the "measures" were abolished: the famous 90-60-90 (cm) would no more be the participants' nightmare; in that year Rosangela Bessi became the new Miss Italy.

"Miss Italy in the World" was born in 1991, that is the competition who rewards the most beautiful among the Italian girls who live in the foreign countries (a sort of acknowledgment to the Italians living abroad).
In 1993 there was another dramatic turn of events: Arianna David won the title, despite of the fact that, having already partecipated in a television show, she would have had to lose the title; but also this time the organiser Enzo Mirigliani left the crown on the beautiful roman girl's head.
In 1994 the Competition opens its doors to mothers and married women: before then, Mirka Viola, the Miss Italy 1987 had been disqualified because she was wife and mother. That year, the tuscanian Beatrice Bocci, married and mother, was the first "particular" runner-up and became "Miss mother" to everyone.
In the 1995, Mirigliani abolishes the "traditional footbridge": the new way to parade gives greater freedom to the girls, that can eventually give free rein to they own fantasy and creativity; that year, among the finalists, there is a black girl, Iony Vecchi, born in Brazil, and next year (1996) a girl with the same characteristics, Denny Mendez, born in Santo Domingo, gained the title of Miss Italy. It never happened during the 57 years of the competition and her election divided Italy. Italians were astonished not certainly by that fact that she was a black girl; she couldn't just actually represent the beauty of a typical Italian girl. Italy isn't indeed yet become a multi-racial Country, like U.S.A. or South Africa.

1997 is marked by the participation of one blind girl, Annalisa Minetti, having been considered as a favourite since the beginning of that year pageant; nevertheless the calabrian Claudia Trieste gained the title, but the beautiful Annalisa took her revenge winning the "Festival di Sanremo 1998".
There were polemics also at the end of the 1998 edition: the new Miss Italy, Gloria Bellicchi, was judged to be too standoffish; she in fact did produce not even a tear at the moment of its crowning and the competition came suspected of being made up.

The 1999 edition, instead, has been reminded due to a mistake during the selection of 24 among 60 candidates. A girl was excluded instead of another. This way the selection had to be done among 25 instead of 24 girls.

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