The Miss Intercontinental Pageant is the oldest among the Next 5 pageants. The pageant started in 1971 and has been passed on to numerous owners.

Miss Intercontinental was founded by Rene Lacle in 1971 but it was only in 1973 when it officially began as Miss Teen Intercontinental. Currently, the pageant is headquartered in Germany and is under the stewardship of Manoj Chatlani.

True to its “Intercontinental” name, the pageant has a unique format. Candidates are vying for the limited slots to the semifinals which are evenly distributed per continent. So to move forward to the next round of competition, one must stand out within her own continental contingent.

This gives equal exposure and representation of each continent during the finals night. However, this has caused some undeserving exclusions, especially in some highly competitive continents like South America and Europe. This has also resulted in some inclusion of what were perceived as mediocre ladies, who have been fortunate enough to be part of a non-competitive continent.

The five slots in the finals are for the best ladies in:

North America
South America
Europe
Asia
Africa

One of the most prominent winners of Miss Intercontinental is India’s Lara Dutta. She won in 1997 before she won joined and won the Femina Miss India 2000 pageant. She eventually won Miss Universe 2000.

The reigning queen is Puerto Rico’s Heilymar Rosario. She was crowned in Sri Lanka, during the 45th anniversary show of the pageant.

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