"Beauty is always a welcome guest," the famous classic said. The emergence of contests in which a symbol of female beauty is selected is a completely natural process that began in post-war Europe more than 50 years ago.
In 1947, the official Miss Europe competition was founded. The leadership of the international committee first came up with the idea of creating special committees in all European countries, empowered to elect the "Miss" of their state with the aim of her subsequent participation in the Miss Europe competition.
In 1953, the directorship of the Miss World contest was established, and a few years later - the Miss Universe, and the most beautiful representatives of all nations were able to glorify their countries, winning international beauty parades. It was then that the rules for holding such contests were developed, which are unchanged to this day: participants must defeat the jury, appearing on stage in national dress, evening dresses and bathing suits, and also demonstrate their intelligence in mini-interviews. In addition, contenders for the title of first beauty must be single, no less than 17 and no more than 24 years old and, of course, incredibly beautiful.
The fusion of sports passion, art and beauty made the bright final shows of such contests so popular that, despite the protests of feminists and jealous husbands, a variety of international beauty contests have been held in various parts of the world for over 50 years.
In 1991, Ukraine became an independent member of all three federations that hold official beauty contests "Miss World", "Miss Universe" and "Miss Europe". Their headquarters are located in London, New York and Paris, respectively. And licenses for the right to hold national contests, the winners of which represent Ukraine at the most prestigious beauty parades, were received by the National Committee "Miss Ukraine" represented by its president Sergei Matyash.
Over the years, the winners and awardees of the Miss Ukraine contest have won quite a few titles. Natalia Romanenko from Kiev became "Vice-Miss" at the "Miss International - 1993" contest in Tokyo, Kharkiv Natalia Shvachiy won the title "Vice-Miss Europe" in 1994. In the same year, Natalya Kozitskaya from Kiev returned from the Miss World contest with the title of Miss European Continent. Yulia Frolova from Kharkov at the "Queen of Clubs" competition (Singapore, 1996) received the title of "The Best Figure in the World".
In 1998, with the crown "Vice-Miss" returned from the international competition "Miss All Nations", which takes place in Brazil, Julia Zharkova from Mariupol. And finally, 1999 was a happy year for Lilia Zalunina from Dnepropetrovsk, who won the same competition in Brazil, receiving the title "Miss All Nations".
In continuation of this list of victories, Alexandra Nikolaenko from Odessa, the future owner of the title "Miss Ukraine - 2001", received the title "Miss Tourism Europe" in the summer of 2000 in Greece.
Twice Ukrainian beauties were included in the top ten super-finalists of the Miss World contest - Elena Shcherban in 2000 and Alexandra Nikolaenko in 2001. Ksenia Kuzmenko, owner of the title "Miss Ukraine - 1997", one of the leading Ukrainian models, successfully represented the country at the contest "Miss Europe" in 2002.
In 1997, for the first time in Eastern Europe, Ukraine hosted the final of the international contest "Miss Europe". The Miss Ukraine National Committee received a license to hold this competition after a tender in which 4 more European countries took part. The final show was broadcast by Eurovision and was recognized as a spectacular show and an outstanding cultural event.
The significance of the competition movement was noted by the congratulations of the President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma to the participants and guests of the Miss Ukraine 2000 Jubilee competition and the appeal of the Prime Minister of Ukraine Anatoly Kinakh to the Miss Ukraine 2002 competition.
An important indicator of public importance was the inclusion of the "modeling" nomination in the All-Ukrainian rating of popularity and quality "Golden Fortune". The first winner of this nomination with the title "Founder of the Model Business in Ukraine" was Sergey Matyash.
Today the Miss Ukraine National Committee unites subsidiaries, directorates and structures that annually hold qualifying (city and regional) beauty contests in almost all corners of our country.
In addition to traditional beauty contests, the National Committee "Miss Ukraine" also holds all-Ukrainian finals of the international modeling competition "Elite Model Look".
The Miss Ukraine beauty pageant takes its rightful place in the social and cultural life of the country, which contributes to the spiritual integration of Ukraine into the world community.