Miss World 2021 contestants to watch out for: from Somalia's hijabi queen to Miss Iraq

Toni-Ann Singh's reign as the longest Miss World title holder will come to an end on Thursday when she crowns her successor in Puerto Rico. With the annual event cancelled last year owing to coronavirus pandemic, Singh, a Miss Jamaica who was crowned Miss World in 2019, has been camped in the US territory for the past few weeks along with this year's contestants ahead of the finals in Coliseo de Puerto Rico.

The competition, which will pick its 70th Miss World, will feature participants from 98 countries including Khadija Omar, Somalia's first hijabi candidate.

Representatives from Iraq, Tunisia and Turkey will also participate.

Miss World, which began as a bikini contest, has drastically changed its format over the years. In 2014, it famously did away with the controversial swimsuit round.

"I don't need to see women just walking up and down in bikinis," chairwoman Julia Morley, whose late husband Eric Morley started the competition in 1951, told Elle magazine. "It doesn't do anything for the woman. And it doesn't do anything for any of us."

The Miss Universe pageant, however, still has a swimsuit segment in the competition, but is not enforced on contestants.

Ahead of the Miss World finals on Thursday, to be livestreamed on its website, here are seven contestants to watch out for:

Miss Somalia: Khadija Omar

This psychology student and make-up artist says she entered the Miss World pageant because she wanted to be a representative for hijabi women worldwide.

Ahead of her trip to Puerto Rico, Omar, 20, said she couldn't wait to make her country proud.

"I can’t believe I’m the first Miss World Somalia. Anyone who knows me, knows how long I’ve desired to compete in pageants and represent hijabi girls worldwide. To see that dream come true is not short of an honour," she posted on Instagram in November.

"I hope this inspires young hijabi girls and reminds them that they can dream as big as they aspire. I can't wait to make history in Puerto Rico, show the world how beautiful Somalia is."

Omar is the first hijabi contestant to represent Somalia at the Miss World contest, the Miss Somalia organisation said.

Miss India: Manasa Varanasi

Crowned in February, financial analyst Varanasi has the pressure of bringing home the Miss World crown this year, following Harnaaz Sandhu's historic win at the Miss Universe 2021 pageant on Sunday. India has won Miss World and Miss Universe crowns in the same year twice before, in 1994 when Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sushmita Sen brought home the respective titles. And in 2000, with Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Lara Dutta winning the crowns.

A trained Indian classical dancer with dreams of hosting her own talk show, Varanasi, 24, recently received a vote of confidence from Chopra Jonas.

"Lots of love and luck to @manasa5varanasi for the 70th Miss World competition," the international star posted on Instagram. "Let's all support Manasa Varanasi at the 70 Miss World competition!"

Miss Iraq: Maria Farhad

A computer science student, Farhad, 20, bested 17 other contestants to clinch the title in July in Baghdad. In 2014, Farhad and her family were forced to move from Mosul to Erbil when her hometown came under attack by ISIS terrorists.

"Maria enjoys playing volleyball and has ambitions to be an actress or a model," reads her biography on the Miss World website. "Since being crowned, Maria has supported projects around her local orphanage and a senior’s home. Her favourite film is Maleficent."

Miss Tunisia: Amani Layouni

A silver medalist in Taekwondo at the African Games in 2019, Layouni has won many national and international competitions and hopes to represent Tunisia in the 2024 Olympic Games. Layouni, 22, who was crowned in September at a pageant held virtually, has also won other contests including Miss Sousse 2021 and Miss Combat 2020.

Tunisia has never won a Miss World crown and Layouni will hope to make history with a win.

Miss America: Shree Saini

The first Indian-American to win the Miss America title, Saini is an advocate for heart health and has had a permanent pacemaker since she was 12, after a major car accident which also left her with burns all over her face.

"It's not just my win, but OUR collective win: it's a win for our inclusive and diverse America, for every race, for every culture, for everyone. It's a win for endless kindness, resilience and perseverance in tough times," Saini, 25, posted on Instagram after being crowned.

A journalism graduate, her dream is to become the Secretary of Education in the US, says her biography on the Miss World website.

Miss Philippines: Tracy Perez

Hailing from one of the most-crowned countries in international beauty contests, Perez has a huge support system behind her, including thousands of ardent pageant followers in the Philippines. Raised by a single mother, she's been passionate about her advocacy working on projects to help empower single parents.

"Throughout my life, I’ve experienced so many hardships. Even when pursuing my dream in pageantry, I’ve been told so many times that I lack so many things and that I cannot and will not be Miss World Philippines, [or] be Miss World. I’ve been criticised, looked down upon, judged, called names, made fun of and so many other things," she posted on Instagram after being crowned as her country's representative in October.

Perez, 28, also said: "But I realised, this is my life and if I truly want to be happy, I have to embrace every single bit of it and take charge, that even if my life is indeed difficult, it is still a miracle and a huge blessing from up above.

"Please join me in this fight, I will stop at nothing to bring pride and honour to our country and to us Filipinos because when life pushes us back, that is when we fight harder."

Miss Venezuela: Alejandra Conde

A medical student who also works as a Bitcoin trader and model, Conde, 24, will be the one to beat on Thursday, as she hails from the country with the most Miss World wins – six in total.

Crowned Miss Venezuela in 2020, Conde was born in Aragua state and defines herself as "spontaneous, responsible, upright, cheerful, fighter and persevering in achieving her dreams".

"Since she was a child, she was interested in beauty pageants and grew up watching Miss Venezuela pageants, dreaming of being able to be there one day, but it was not until she was 20 years old that she decided to participate for the first time in a modelling contest, and won Sambil Model 2017," reads her biography on the Miss Venezuela website.

"Conde decided to study medicine because since she was little she was interested in how the human body works and how she could help heal and save other people with her knowledge."

Scroll through the gallery below for images from the Miss World 2019 pageant:

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