Miss France

Miss France, Miss France is the trademark of an annual beauty pageant. Rights to the trademark were obtained in 2002 by the Dutch television production company Endemol through its subsidiary Miss France SAS, whose director general is Sylvie Tellier, Miss France 2002.Endemol also holds the rights in France to send contestants to the Miss World and the Miss Universe pageants. Local and regional pageants that provide entrants for the Miss France contest are organized by the Comité Miss France, whose president is Geneviève de Fontenay.

The pageant is held each year in December, and the winner is designated by the year that begins in the ensuing January. Miss France 2010, Malika Ménard, was chosen December 5, 2009. Her prizes included a new car, use of a Paris apartment for one year, and a monthly net salary of 4,000 euros.

Rules

The pageant is contested by regional winners of local contests from Metropolitan France and its overseas territories. The method of choosing the winner has varied over the years, ordinarily with a jury of celebrities choosing a set of finalists. The winner in recent years was chosen by a weighting of the jury's opinion and votes of television viewers of the pageant (who pay a fee for each vote). For the Miss France 2010 contest, the winner was chosen entirely by the votes of viewers for the first time.

to be born female and of French nationality or naturalization,

to have an age of 18 to 24 years on November 1 of the year of the contest,

to be at least 1.7 meters tall,

to be never married and without children, and not to live in cohabitation,

to have a good reputation, morals, culture and a clean police record

One should not:

have had her image exploited in a manner that could be incompatible or pose an obstacle to the organizers' rights,

have taken part in a competing pageant,

have appearance prosthetics (wig, colored contact lenses, etc),

have visible tattoos or piercings (except earrings).

History

[edit]Before World War II

The first organizer of the Miss France contest was Maurice de Waleffe, a journalist. In 1920 he organized a beauty contest whose winner was to be chosen by filmgoers. The contest was called "La plus belle femme de France" -- "France's most beautiful woman".

The first contest had 1,700 entrants, from which a jury chose 49 finalists. Each week for seven weeks, filmgoers received a ballot with seven different names. The winner was Agnès Souret. The contest was repeated in 1921, with the winner Pauline Pô, after which it was discontinued.

In 1926, the contest winner was called "Miss France" for the first time. The contest was discontinued after the 1940 contest because of World War II, and de Waleffe died in 1946.

After World War II

Starting in 1947, several different groups organized national beauty contests, some of which carried the name Miss France. One of them, founded by Jean Raibaut, was formally organized under the name "Club Charly's" in 1950[8]. The contest organized by Endemol traces its roots to a contest run by an informal group led by Guy Rinaldo and Louis de Fontenay that called itself "Comité Miss France" and crowned its first winner in 1947. After the commencement of the Miss World contest in 1951 and the Miss Universe contest in 1952, the "Comité Miss France" formally organized in 1954, with Rinaldo as president, under the name "Comité Miss France - Miss Europe - Miss Universe."

In these early days, however, the organizers of the global contests did not necessarily have entrants who had won what might be considered the corresponding national contest. The entrant for Miss Universe 1953 from France, for instance, was Christiane Martel, who had won the Miss Cinémonde contest, also organized by Rinaldo, and not Sylviane Carpentier, who had won the Miss France contest. Similarly, the entrant for Miss World 1953 was Denise Perrier. As a result, even though France won both the Miss World and Miss Universe contests in 1953, two different women were the winners, and neither was the winner of the Miss France contest.

The Miss France War

The administrative secretary of the "Comité Miss France - Miss Europe - Miss Universe" was Geneviève Mulmann, who along with Louis de Fontenay ousted Rinaldo on September 14, 1956. Louis and Geneviève subsequently both took the name de Fontenay, presented themselves as a married couple and had two children together, though they never married. Rinaldo formed a rival association called the "Comité Miss France de Paris". And "Club Charly's" continued to name its own Miss France. Several lawsuits and countersuits ensued.

The war claimed its first injury in April 1983. The de Fontenay committee had deposed Isabelle Turpault for posing for nude photographs. After Turpault made some disparaging remarks about Geneviève de Fontenay, Turpault alleged that one of the de Fontenay children, Xavier, punched her on the Champs-Élysées.

In 1986, Geneviève de Fontenay registered the trademark "Miss France" with the Institut National de la Propriété Intellectuelle (INPI), and defended it from a challenge by the Rinaldo committee. She renewed the trademark in 1996.

In 1999, Eric Morley, founder and organizer of the Miss World contest, revoked the license of the de Fontenay committee and awarded it to the Rinaldo committee, headed by Antoine de Villejoie after Rinaldo's death in 1991. The license was subsequently awarded to Endemol, and starting in 2005 the winner of the Endemol contest or her designated replacement has participated in Miss World.

[edit]Disputes and Vacancies

The title has been declared vacant on several occasions, with the runner-up generally fulfilling the term of the winner.

Year Winner Replacement Reason

1935 Elisabeth Pitz Giselle Preville Pitz returned her crown after 2 hours and was replaced by Preville.

1954 Irène Tunc Danielle Génault No reason given[12], though Tunc was already starting to appear in movies.

1956 Maryse Fabre Gisèle Charbit Fabre's election rescinded after public protests. Charbit was elected the following evening[.

1961 Luce Auger Michèle Wargnier Auger deposed for being a mother, even though she had informed the organizers.

1966 Michèle Boulé Monique Boucher No reason given[12], although Boulé competed in both the Miss World and Miss Universe pageants.

1972 Chantal Bouvier de la Motte Claudine Cassereau Resigned because of injuries from a fall from a horse[.

1978 Pascale Taurua Brigitte Konjovic Taurua resigned to return to New Caledonia rather than stay in France for a year. The first runner-up, Kelly Hoarau from Reunion Island, declined also, but competed in the Miss World contest. Konjovic, second runner-up, took the position and competed in Miss Universe.

1983 Isabelle Turpault Frederique Marcelle Leroy Deposed for posing nude in a magazine.

1988 Sylvie Bertin Claudia Frittolini Deposed for refusing to participate in Miss Universe contest.

2004 Laetitia Bléger Lucie Degletagne Deposed for six months for posing nude in Playboy. Restored after apologizing. Successfully sued her agent for manipulating her.

2008 Valérie Bègue Laura Tanguy Repudiated by Geneviève de Fontenay for "scandalous" photos in a magazine, but retained her title with the support of Endemol. She agreed not to compete in the global contests. The first runner-up, Miss New Caledonia, Vahinerii Requillart, decided to not compete in Miss Universe because she wanted to continue studying. Tanguy, the second runner-up, competed in the Miss World and Miss Universe contests.

[edit]Miss World and Miss Universe

In the early years of the Miss World and Miss Universe contests, it was rare for the winner of the Miss France contest to compete in both (see table below). From 1961 to 1993, however, the winner of Miss France, or her runner-up, generally competed in Miss World.

The first winner of the Miss France contest to compete in both the Miss World and Miss Universe contests was Michèle Boulé in 1966. However, she was stripped of her Miss France title by the de Fontenay committee for unspecified reasons.

In 1971, the Miss France winner, Myriam Stocco, competed in both the Miss World and Miss Universe contests. From then until 1993, 17 of the 23 Miss France winners competed in both global contests.

Starting in 1994, the de Fontenay committee stopped sending the winner or runner-up to Miss World, a situation that led to the shift of the license to the Rinaldo committee in 1999. Since 2005, however, the entrant in both global contests has been the winner of the Miss France contest organized by Endemol or her designated replacement.

Representatives of France

La plus belle femme de France

Year Winner

1920 Agnès Souret

1921 Pauline Pô

Pre-World War II

Year Miss France

1926 Roberte Cusey

1927 Raymonde Allain

1928 Germaine Laborde

1929 Madeleine Mourgues

1930 Yvette Labrousse

1931 Jeanne Juillia

1932 Lucienne Nahmias

1933 Emilienne Quesson de Souza

1934 Simone Barillier

1935 Elisabeth Pitz

1936 Lynne Lassal

1937 Jacqueline Janet

1938 Annie Carrigues

1939 Ginette Catriens

1940 Joséphine Ladwig

Post-World War II

Boldface indicates winner of the Miss World or Miss Universe pageant. (As of 2009, the only winners from France were in the two contests held in 1953.)

Entrant in Miss World or Miss Universe was winner of Miss France contest

Entrant was first runner-up in Miss France contest

Year Miss France Miss World France Miss Universe France

1947 Yvonne Viseux

1948 Jacqueline Donny

1949 Juliette Figueras

1950 Maryse Delort

1951 Nicole Drouin Jacqueline Lemoine

1952 Josiane Pouy Nicole Drouin Claude Godart

1953 Sylviane Carpentier Denise Perrier Christiane Martel

1954 Irène Tunc Claudine Bleuse Jacqueline Beer

1955 Véronique Zuber Gisele Thierry Claudie Petit

1956 Maryse Fabre Genevieve Solare Anita Treyens

1957 Sylvie-Rosine Numez Claudette Inés Navarro Lisa Simon

1958 Monique Negler Claudine Auger Monique Boulinguez

1959 Monique Chiron Marie Hélène Trové Françoise St-Laurent

1960 Brigitte Barazer de Lannurien Diane Medina Florence Eyrie

1961 Luce Auger Michèle Wargnier Simone Darot

1962 Monique Lemaire Monique Lemaire Sabine Surget

1963 Muguette Fabris Muguette Fabris Monique Lemaire

1964 Jacqueline Gayraud Jacqueline Gayraud Edith Noël

1965 Christiane Sibellin Christiane Sibellin Marie-Thérèse Tullio

1966 Michèle Boulé Michèle Boulé Michèle Boulé

1967 Jeanne Beck Carole Noe Anne Vernier

1968 Christiane Lillio Nelly Gallerne Elizabeth Cadren

1969 Suzanne Angly Suzanne Angly Agathe Cognet

1970 Micheline Baurain Micheline Baurain Françoise Durand-Behot

1971 Myriam Stocco Myriam Stocco Myriam Stocco

1972 Chantal Bouvier de la Motte Claudine Cassereau Claudine Cassereau

1973 Isabelle Nadia Krumacker Isabelle Nadia Krumacker Isabelle Nadia Krumacker

1974 Edna Tepava Edna Tepava Brigitte Marie Flayac

1975 Sophie Sonia Perin Sophie Sonia Perin Sophie Sonia Perin

1976 Monique Uldaric Monique Uldaric Monique Uldaric

1977 Véronique Fagot Véronique Fagot Véronique Fagot

1978 Pascale Taurua Kelly Hoarau Brigitte Konjovic

1979 Sylvie Hélène Marie Parera Sylvie Hélène Marie Parera Sylvie Hélène Marie Parera

1980 Patricia Barzyk Patricia Barzyk Brigitte Choquet

1981 Isabelle Sophie Benárd Isabelle Sophie Benárd Isabelle Sophie Benárd

1982 Sabrina Belleval Martine Marie Philipps Martine Marie Philipps

1983 Isabelle Turpault Frederique Marcelle Leroy Frederique Marcelle Leroy

1984 Martine Robine Martine Robine Martine Robine

1985 Suzanne Iskandar Nathalie Jones Suzanne Iskandar

1986 Valérie Pascale Catherine Carew Catherine Carew

1987 Nathalie Marquay Nathalie Marquay Nathalie Marquay

1988 Sylvie Bertin Claudia Frittolini Claudia Frittolini

1989 Stephanie (Peggy) Zlotkowski Stephanie (Peggy) Zlotkowski Pascale Meotti

1990 Gaëlle Voiry Gaëlle Voiry Gaëlle Voiry

1991 Maréva Georges Maréva Georges Maréva Georges

1992 Linda Hardy Linda Hardy Linda Hardy

1993 Véronique de la Cruz Véronique de la Cruz Véronique de la Cruz

1994 Valérie Claisse Radiah Latidine Valérie Claisse

1995 Mélody Vilbert Hélène Lantoine Corinne Lauret

1996 Laure Belleville Séverine Deroualle Laure Belleville

1997 Patricia Spehar Laure Belleville Patricia Spehar

1998 Sophie Thalmann Véronique Caloc Sophie Thalmann

1999 Maréva Galanter Sandra Bretones Maréva Galanter

2000 Sonia Rolland Karine Meier Sonia Rolland

2001 Élodie Gossuin Emmanuelle Chossat Élodie Gossuin

2002 Sylvie Tellier Caroline Chamorand Sylvie Tellier

2003 Corinne Coman Virginie Dubois Emmanuelle Chossat

2004 Lætitia Bléger Lætitia Marciniak Lætitia Bléger

2005 Cindy Fabre Cindy Fabre Cindy Fabre

2006 Alexandra Rosenfeld Laura Fasquel Alexandra Rosenfeld

2007 Rachel Legrain-Trapani Rachel Legrain-Trapani Rachel Legrain-Trapani

2008 Valérie Bègue Laura Tanguy Laura Tanguy

2009 Chloé Mortaud Chloé Mortaud Chloé Mortaud

2010 Malika Ménard

(source:Wikipedia)