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Miss Italia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Alessandra Meloni)
For the Patty Pravo album, see Miss Italia (album).

Miss Italia is a beauty pageant awarding prizes every year to young, female contestants from Italy. Since the first edition of the contest, in 1939, many of the contestants have gone on to notable careers in television and film.

History

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The forerunner of Miss Italia was Miss Sorriso (Miss Smile), started in 1939 by Dino Villani and sponsored by a brand of toothpaste. Contestants were judged by their photographs rather than competing on a runway.[citation needed]

After a break during World War II, the contest resumed in 1946 and adopted the present-day name of Miss Italia. It was held in Stresa, which had managed to maintain its hotel infrastructure despite the war. The venue then changed several times before it was established that Salsomaggiore Terme would be the permanent, annual host of the pageant.[citation needed]

Like contemporary Italian society itself, Miss Italia has gone through many changes over the years. In 1950 it was first broadcast on the radio. But since 1987 it has been broadcast live on television. As of 1990 the chest, waist, and hip measurements of the contestants are no longer judged, and in 1994 the contest was opened to married women and mothers (the 1987 winner had been disqualified when it was later discovered she was married). In 1996, Denny Méndez became the first Miss Italia woman of colour.[citation needed]

Among the participants finding later success in cinema and the entertainment industry at large (although many of them have not won the crown of Miss Italia itself) include: Silvana Pampanini, Sophia Loren,[citation needed] Marcella Mariani,[1] Lucia Bosè, Stefania Sandrelli, Mirca Viola, Simona Ventura, Patrizia Deitos, Anna Falchi and Martina Colombari.[citation needed]

Since 1959 the organizer of Miss Italia has been Enzo Mirigliani, to whose work the contest owes much of its current success. The jury groups that elect Miss Italia have included celebrities such as Totò, Giorgio de Chirico, Giovannino Guareschi, Luchino Visconti, Vittorio De Sica, Gina Lollobrigida, Alberto Lattuada, Marcello Mastroianni, Ugo Tognazzi, Lina Wertmüller, Dino Risi, Alberto Sordi, and Claudia Cardinale.[citation needed]

Besides the title of "Miss Italia", during the pageant other consolation prizes are also awarded, including "Miss Elegance" and "Miss Cinema". In 1991 a separate pageant was instituted, called "Miss Italia nel Mondo", a competition for Italian women living abroad.[citation needed]

Miss Italia will no longer be held in Salsomaggiore Terme, for economic reasons. This was announced in April 2011 and a long list of cities have expressed interest in hosting the pageant. Cities include Sanremo, Rome, Fiuggi, Taormina and many more. It was officially announced that Miss Italia 2011 will be held in Montecatini Terme. Milly Carlucci will not return as host of the pageant. Fabrizio Frizzi has replaced her for Miss Italia 2011. The pageant will only take place over two nights, rather than three.[2] This year the beauty pageant contest, back in a national broadcast television. The contest will be produced by Infront and RAI, The host will be Alessandro Greco. A program by Casimiro Lieto, Luca Parenti and Alessandro Migliaccio. Directed by Francesco Ebner.[3][4]

In July 2023, in response to Miss Nederland being won by an openly transgender woman (Rikkie Kollé), Miss Italia instituted a blanket ban on trans women from competing.[5][6] As a response, several trans men applied to enter the contest.[7]

Regional rankings

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Titles Region Winning Years
12  Lazio 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1993, 2000, 2015, 2020, 2022
11  Sicily 1954, 1966, 1976, 1977, 1988, 1995, 2003, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014
11  Lombardy 1940, 1941, 1947, 1956–1960, 1965, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1990, 2019, 2023
6  Veneto 1957, 1964, 1989, 1992, 2002, 2007
6  Tuscany 1946, 1973, 1980, 1996, 2016, 2024
5  Friuli-Venezia Giulia 1948, 1970, 1974, 1984, 1987
5  Calabria 1955, 1968, 1997, 2009, 2011
5  Piedmont 1939, 1983, 2004, 2005, 2023
4  Campania 1959, 1986, 2001, 2021
4  Marche 1949, 1969, 1981, 2018
3  Emilia-Romagna 1958, 1991, 1998
2  Trentino-Alto Adige 2006, 2017
2  Umbria 1962, 2010
2  Sardinia 1963, 1994
2  Liguria 1961, 1975
1  Apulia 1999
1  Abruzzo 1979
0  Aosta Valley
0  Basilicata
0  Molise

The winners of Miss Italia

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Miss Sorriso
1939 Isabella Verney 1940 Gianna Maranesi 1941 Adriana Serra
1942 No pageant 1943 No pageant 1944 No pageant
1945 No pageant  
Miss Italia
1946 Rossana Martini 1947 Lucia Bosè 1948 Fulvia Franco
1949 Mariella Gianpieri 1950 Anna Maria Bugliari 1951 Isabella Valdettaro
1952 Eloisa Cianni 1953 Marcella Mariani 1954 Eugenia Bonino
1955 Brunella Tocci 1956 Nives Zegna 1957 Beatrice Faccioli
1958 Paola Falchi 1959 Marisa Jossa 1960 Layla Rigazzi
1961 Franca Cattaneo 1962 Raffaella De Carolis 1963 Franca Dallolio
1964 Mirka Sartori 1965 Alba Rigazzi 1966 Daniela Giordano
1967 Cristina Businari 1968 Graziella Chiappalone 1969 Anna Zamboni
1970 Alba Balestra 1971 Maria Pinnone 1972 Adonella Modestini
1973 Margareta Veroni 1974 Loredana Piazza 1975 Livia Jannoni
1976 Paola Bresciano 1977 Anna Kanakis 1978 Loren Cristina May
1979 Cinzia De Ponti 1980 Cinzia Lenzi 1981 Patrizia Nanetti
1982 Federica Moro 1983 Raffaella Baracchi 1984 Susanna Huckstep
1985 Eleonora Resta 1986 Roberta Capua 1987 Michela Rocco di Torrepadula[8]
1988 Nadia Bengala 1989 Eleonora Benfatto 1990 Rosangela Bessi
1991 Martina Colombari 1992 Gloria Zanin 1993 Arianna David
1994 Alessandra Meloni 1995 Anna Valle 1996 Denny Mendez
1997 Claudia Trieste 1998 Gloria Bellicchi 1999 Manila Nazzaro
2000 Tania Zamparo 2001 Daniela Ferolla 2002 Eleonora Pedron
2003 Francesca Chillemi 2004 Cristina Chiabotto 2005 Edelfa Chiara Masciotta
2006 Claudia Andreatti 2007 Silvia Battisti 2008 Miriam Leone
2009 Maria Perrusi 2010 Francesca Testasecca 2011 Stefania Bivone
2012 Giusy Buscemi 2013 Giulia Arena 2014 Clarissa Marchese
2015 Alice Sabatini 2016 Rachele Risaliti 2017 Alice Rachele Arlanch
2018 Carlotta Maggiorana 2019 Carolina Stramare 2020 Martina Sambucini
2021 Zeudi Di Palma 2022 Lavinia Abate 2023 Francesca Bergesio
2024 Ofelia Passaponti 2025 2026

Hosts

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Lancia, E.; Poppi, R. (2003). Le attrici: dal 1930 ai giorni nostri. Dizionari Gremese (in Italian). Gremese. p. 225. ISBN 978-88-8440-214-1. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  2. ^ Keane (8 May 2011). "The Miss Italia beauty pageant comes to Barga". Barganews.com.
  3. ^ "Miss Italia". raiplay.it.
  4. ^ "Alessandro Greco a Blogo: 'Non si può dire di no a Miss Italia. Ecco cosa cambierò rispetto al passato'". tvblog.it. 12 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Miss Italy pageant bars transgender contestants, rejects 'glittery bandwagon of trans activism'".
  6. ^ "Miss Italy Won't Allow Transgender Competitors: Must Be Woman 'From Birth'". Newsweek.
  7. ^ Fanucci, Beatrice (25 July 2023). "Over 100 trans men enter Miss Italy pageant after organiser says only "women from birth" allowed". GCN.ie – via Yahoo News.
  8. ^ Rocco was chosen as winner following the disqualification of the previously declared winner, Mirca Viola of Forlì. Viola was discovered to be married, and a mother, and the initial results of the pageant were overruled.
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