Semi Finalists

Since 1965 till the present times of Miss Universe, the semi-finalists of the beauty pageant are not announced until the night of the main event. The top ten contestants are the semi-finalists of the beauty pageant, according to the current Miss Universe organizing format. From 1959 to 1964, a different format was followed for choosing the Miss Universe. In these times not top ten but top fifteen were the semi-finalists and the winner and the runners-up were announced from among these semi-finalists.

In the present times as mentioned above, the top ten contestants are the semi-finalists, who are chosen after weeks of rehearsals, preliminary rounds and other competitive events. The semi finalists are chosen in the final order of placement by the judges, after giving them scores for the evening gown and swimsuit rounds. The top fifteen contestants are selected after the evening gown round, who then compete in the swimsuit round, to qualify as the semi-finalists. In the year 2006, twenty semi-finalists were announced, who then competed in the swimsuit round. This format however was soon dropped for the top ten contestant becoming semi-finalists. Once again, it is from these top ten contestants that the five finalists are chosen. The competition between the semi-finalists gets really tough as they come closer to the Miss Universe Crown.

Top ten contestants Miss Universe 2008
The top 10 contestants of Miss Universe 2008 were announced after the finalist walked in bikinis for the swimsuit competition.
The top ten finalists of Miss Universe 2008 are Dayana Mendoza (Venezuela), Elisa Najera (Mexico), Zana Krasniqi (Kosovo), Laura Dundovic (Australia), Marianne Cruz Gonzalez (Dominican Republic), Taliana Vargas (Columbia), Vera Krasova (Russia), Claudia Ferraris (Italy), Crystle Stewart (USA) and Claudia Moro (Spain).