The first Miss Universe contest was held in the Long Beach (California) in 1952. According to Miss Universe election of that year the winner was Armi Kuusela from Finland. What is interesting about this girl is that she gave up to get married before her traveling year got over. The first televised event of the Miss Universe contest was in 1955. It was broadcasted by CBS, but at the same time this company showed Miss USA pageant. Since 1960 till 1965 these shows have been combined. The television rights for Miss Universe contest broadcasting were taken over by NBC in 2003. It is worth admitting that the main event of the Miss Universe contest was held annually in the USA until 1972 (city of Dorado). But since that time it was usually held in different cities of the country (including Las Vegas, Manila, Panama city, Bangkok, Miami). The current president of the Miss Universe organization is Paula Shugart. The main activity of this institution is selling television rights to the contest in other countries of the world; as well as production of the Miss Teen USA. As a matter of fact, the girl who wins the Miss USA is the one who represents the country on the Miss Universe contest. Miss Universe rules are pretty interesting and peculiar. Each year all the wishing countries are engaged in making bids for selecting the Miss Universe contestant for a particular country. Such procedure leads to the competition between various contests to hold the license of the country (for example, as happened with Miss France and Miss Italy). As a rule, selection of each country's candidate involves beauty competitions in its major cities, but this does not occur all the time. Here are the most significant national beauty contests of the world: Miss Philippines, Miss India, Miss USA, Miss Peru, Miss Colombia, Miss Venezuela and Miss Puerto Rico. They always commanded high interest and outstanding television ratings. The members of the Miss Universe organization make constant attempts to expand the Miss Universe contest. However participation of such countries as Algeria and Indonesia proved the fact that expanding the boundaries of pageant can be difficult due to various cultural barriers. According to Miss Universe rules the minimum age of the pageant contestant is 18 years of age. But many European countries used to allow even 17-year-old girls to apply. Miss Universe contest is known to prohibit transsexual applicants. Speaking about the Miss Universe contest, it is impossible to forget admit that it takes place annually in May or June. The winner of the year is crowned by the titleholder of the previous year. It is interesting that Miss Universe contest cannot be won on looks only. It can be won by the woman who is intelligent, cultured and well-mannered. It is very important for the contestant to give good clear answers during the question and answer round. The procedure of judgment is rather simple: each judge is to rank every of 3-5 candidates. The one with the best score becomes the Miss Universe winner.