The Miss World 2008 is underway in Johannesburg, South Africa and once again, beauty pageant connoisseurs worldwide are having a field day watching the sexy women in the competition and, of course, predicting the winners. There are 109 contestants competing for the crown this year, marking this the biggest turnout in the 58 years of the pageant, surpassing the previous record of 107 during Miss World 2004.

Unlike other famous beauty pageants, namely the Miss Universe, Miss International and the Miss Earth, the Miss World has a unique way of choosing its winner. Although there are the
requisite beauty, poise and brains consideration, some semi-finalists are chosen from different fast track events, namely Miss World Beach Beauty, Miss World Top Model, Miss World Sports, Miss World Talent and Miss World Beauty with a Purpose. Winners of these fast track competitions automatically qualify for the semi finals. While the other fast track events are self-explanatory, the 'Beauty with a Purpose' (formerly known as Miss World Scholarship) title goes to the contestant with the most relevant and important charity project in her nation. Another fast track event this year is the Miss World People's Choice competition wherein the winner is chosen from an internet poll worldwide. Understandably, there is a voting frenzy going on at present and the winner will be revealed on pageant night on December 13, 2008. Other fast track events that were used in the past were Personality and Contestants' Choice.

UPDATE Miss World 2008 Winners and Results

Miss World 2008: Miss Russia
1st Runner-up: Miss India
2nd Runner-up: Miss Trinidad and Tobago

Five Finalists
Miss India
Miss Trinidad and Tobago
Miss Angola
Miss Russia
Miss South Africa

Fifteen Semi-Finalists

Miss Russia, Miss Mexico, Miss Barbados, Miss Trinidad and Tobago, Miss Iceland, Miss Venezuela, Miss Ukraine, Miss Croatia, Miss Brazil, Miss Angola, Miss Kazakhstan, Miss Puerto Rico, Miss Spain, Miss South Africa, Miss India

The winners of the some fast track events have already been determined: They are Miss Mexico for Miss World Beach Beauty, Miss Russia for Miss World Top Model, Miss Iceland for Miss World Sports and Miss Barbados for Miss World Talent. The Miss World Beauty with a Purpose, on the other hand, has narrowed down its finalists to four: Hungary, Kenya, Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago. The winner will be revealed on pageant night as well.

As usual, the Latinas are doing very well in the competition. However, contestants from Europe and Africa are likewise on top of the favorites list, preventing the South American beauties to dominate the competition like they have done in the past. According to globalbeauties.com, which tracks polls and conducts its own judging system, here are the top fifteen (15) favorites as of December 09, 2008.

Miss World 2008 current favorites

Occupying the top five spots are (from left): Miss Ukraine, Miss South Africa, Miss Russia, Miss Mexico and Miss India, followed by the following:

6. Miss Spain
7. Miss Brazil
8. Miss Czech Republic
9. Miss Angola
10. Miss Iceland
11. Miss Venezuela
12. Miss Philippines
13. Miss Trinidad & Tobago
14. Miss United States
15. Miss Belgium

It is interesting to note that Miss India is again one of the top favorites this year after several prominent placings in the Miss Worlds of the past. In fact, they've already won twice in the past ten years. Other Miss World favorites are Iceland and Russia. My best bet for this year is Miss Mexico. She has the combination of glamor and sex appeal that Miss World judges usually go for, and her good showing in the Beauty with a Purpose event is a very encouraging plus factor as well. My second choice is Miss Russia. Her beauty and poise are excellent, things the Miss World judges also go for.

The strong showing of Miss Philippines in the top fifteen is very encouraging. Though I am not expecting her to win I hope she does very well in the competition. Who knows, she may surprise us all by winning this year! This will be great considering that she's just a replacement for the country's actual representative for Miss World 2008. Janina San Miguel, the 'blunder beauty' (he he), withdrew from the competition a few weeks ago and 19 year-old first runner up Danielle Castaño was called in to replace her. This is what I consider luck and I hope Lady Luck will be favoring her through the rest of the competition. Good luck Danielle. Hope your name will be next on the following list.

Miss World winners of the past ten years

Year	Miss World	Country	Location
2008	TBA	TBA	Johannesburg, South Africa
2007	Zhang Zilin	China	Sanya, China
2006	Taťána Kuchařová	Czech Republic	Warsaw, Poland
2005	Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir	Iceland	Sanya, China
2004	María Julia Mantilla	Peru	Sanya, China
2003	Rosanna Davison	Ireland	Sanya, China
2002	Azra Akın	Turkey	London, UK
2001	Agbani Darego	Nigeria	Sun City, South Africa
2000	Priyanka Chopra	India	London, UK
1999	Yukta Mookhey	India	London, UK
1998	Linor Abargil	Israel	Mahé, Seychelles

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who won Miss World 2008: Miss World 2008 results & winners

Miss World 2008 current favorites

Miss World winners of the past ten years

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