Miss France
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| Formation | 1920 |
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| Type | Beauty pageant |
| Headquarters | Paris |
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Membership |
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Official language | French |
National Director | Sylvie Tellier |
| Website | tf1 |
Miss France is a French national beauty pageant, held annually in December. The competition was first held in 1920, and has been organized continuously since 1947. The trademark for the pageant is owned by the company Miss France SAS, and is a subsidiary of Endemol Shine France. The competition is aired on TF1.
Miss France was first organized in 1920, under the name La plus belle femme de France (English: The most beautiful woman of France), and was held for one additional year before being abandoned until 1927. That year, the competition was rebranded into Miss France, and was held annually until 1940, due to World War II. In 1947, following the end of the war, the competition was revived and has been held annually since. In 1954, Guy Lévy founded the Miss France Committee (French: comité Miss France) to organize the competition. Geneviève de Fontenay took over the Miss France Committee in 1981, until departing in 2007. Since then, Sylvie Tellier has served as the national director of Miss France.
Contestants of Miss France must meet a number of eligibility requirements and first win a regional title which qualifies them for the national competition, representing their region. A number of these regions also organize local competitions corresponding with cities and departments within the region, which must be won first before one can compete in the regional competition. The winner of Miss France resides in Paris during her year of reign in a rent-free apartment, in addition to winning a number of additional prizes and sponsorship deals while receiving a monthly salary. Typically, the winner represents France at either Miss Universe or Miss World, while her first runner-up competes at the other pageant.
The current Miss France is Amandine Petit, who was crowned on 19 December 2020 at Miss France 2021. She had previously been crowned Miss Normandy 2020, and is the seventh woman from Normandy to win the title.
History[]
Miss France was first organized in 1920, under the name La plus belle femme de France (English: The most beautiful woman of France). The competition was founded by journalist Maurice de Waleffe, who chose to have the winner be decided by French filmgoers.[1] After more than 1,700 women applied for the competition, 49 finalists were chosen. The competition was held over the course of several weeks, with filmgoers being given a ballot with seven women, and asked to select their favorite. Agnès Souret was selected as the inaugural winner. The following year, the competition was held again, with Pauline Pô winning the competition. However, La plus belle femme de France was later abandoned after 1921.[2]
Six years later the competition was revived under the name Miss France, with a new format organized by Robert and Jean Cousin.[2] Miss France continued to be held annually until 1940, when World War II disrupted entertainment events. The competition later resumed in 1947, following the end of the war, and has been held annually since then. In 1986, the competition was aired live on TF1, becoming the first edition of Miss France to be broadcast live on national television.[3]
Contestants[]
Each year, contestants are chosen through a series of regional pageants held throughout metropolitan and overseas France in the summer and autumn before the national competition. Over time, the regions represented at Miss France have varied slightly. The following 29 regional pageants currently send contestants to Miss France:
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The regional competitions are organized by regional committees, and contestants must reside or attend school in the region they choose to represent. Regional committees have their own discretion as to how they wish to field candidates for the regional competitions. Some choose to organize a number of local competitions corresponding to cities or departments within the region, while others use closed casting processes. Public voting is used to select winners of both regional pageants and the national competition.[4][5][6][7][8] The winner of the national competition subsequently receives a number of prizes, including a rent-free apartment in Paris, sponsorship deals, and a monthly salary.[9][10][11]
Rules and eligibility[]
In order to compete in Miss France, contestants must meet the following eligibility requirements:[4]
Contestants must:
- Be female and of French nationality through birth or naturalization.
- Be between ages 18 and 24 on 1 November of the year of the competition.
- Be at least 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) tall.
- Have a clean criminal record.
Contestants must not:
- Have had her image exploited in a manner that could be incompatible or pose an obstacle to the organizers' rights.
- Have taken part in a competing pageant.
- Have received cosmetic surgery or use appearance-altering products such as wigs or colored contact lenses.
- Have children.
- Have been married, divorced, widowed, or involved in a civil union.
- Have visible tattoos or piercings, not including earrings.
- Have ever posed partially or completely nude, including after the competition as well.
- Have associated with political or religious propaganda while a regional titleholder.
Titleholders[]
| Year | Miss France | Region | Host city | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Alicia Aylies |  French Guiana
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Montpellier | |
| 2018 | Maëva Coucke |  Nord-Pas-de-Calais
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Châteauroux | Top twelve at Miss World 2018 and top ten at Miss Universe 2019 |
| 2019 | Vaimalama Chaves |  Tahiti
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Lille | |
| 2020 | Clémence Botino |  Guadeloupe
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Marseille | |
| 2021 | Amandine Petit |  Normandy
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Les Epesses | Top 21 at Miss Universe 2020 |
Gallery[]
Miss France 2020
Clémence Botino
Miss France 2019
Vaimalama Chaves
Miss France 2018
Maëva Coucke
Miss France 2017
Alicia Aylies
Miss France and Miss Universe 2016
Iris Mittenaere
Miss France 2015
Camille Cerf
Miss France 2014
Flora Coquerel
Miss France 2013
Marine Lorphelin
Miss France 2012
Delphine Wespiser
Miss France 2011
Laury Thilleman
Miss France 2010
Malika Ménard
Miss France 2009
Chloé Mortaud
Miss France 2008
Valérie Bègue
Miss France 2007
Miss France 2006 and Miss Europe 2006
Alexandra Rosenfeld
Miss France 2005
Cindy Fabre
Miss France 2004
Lætitia Bléger
Miss France 2003
Miss France 2002
Sylvie Tellier
Miss France 2001 and Miss Europe 2001
Élodie Gossuin
Miss France 2000
Sonia Rolland
Miss France 1999
Mareva Galanter
Miss France 1998
Sophie Thalmann
Miss France 1992
Linda Hardy
Miss France 1987
Nathalie Marquay
Miss France 1949 and Miss Europe 1949
Juliette Figueras
Miss France 1938
Annie Garrigues
Miss France 1934
Simone Barillier
Miss France 1932
Lyne de Souza
Miss France 1931 and Miss Europe 1931
Jeanne Juilla
Miss France 1930
Yvette Labrousse
Miss France 1928
Raymonde Allain
Miss France 1927
Roberte Cusey
Miss France 1920
Agnès Souret
Winners by region[]
| Number | Region | Years |
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| 15 |  Île-de-France
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| 7 | Normandy
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 Rhône-Alpes
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| 6 |  Alsace
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 Brittany
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 Aquitaine
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| 5 | Tahiti
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 Côte d'Azur
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| 4 |  Picardy
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 Languedoc-Roussillon
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 Poitou-Charentes
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| 3 | Nord-Pas-de-Calais
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 Lorraine
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 Pays de la Loire
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| Guadeloupe
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| 2 |  Burgundy
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 Midi-Pyrénées
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 Réunion
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 Franche-Comté
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| 1 | French Guiana
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 Centre-Val de Loire
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 Provence
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 New Caledonia
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 Morocco[e]
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 Saar[f]
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 Corsica
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Notes[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b In 1972, winner Chantal Bouvier de la Motte of Île-de-France resigned the title after suffering serious injuries after falling off of a horse. She was replaced by her first runner-up, Claudine Cassereau of Poitou-Charentes, as Miss France 1972.
- ^ Jump up to: a b In 1978, winner Pascale Taurua of New Caledonia resigned the title shortly after winning due to her wishing to remain in New Caledonia and not move to Paris. She was replaced by her first runner-up, Brigitte Konjovic of Île-de-France, as Miss France 1978.
- ^ Jump up to: a b In 1983, winner Isabelle Turpault of Île-de-France was dethroned after images taken of her in an erotic photoshoot were released, against pageant rules. She was replaced by her first runner-up, Frédérique Marcelle Leroy of Aquitaine, as Miss France 1983.
- ^ Jump up to: a b In 1980, winner Thilda Fuller of Tahiti resigned the title three days after winning due to personal reasons. She was replaced by her first runner-up, Patricia Barzyk of Franche-Comté, as Miss France 1980.
- ^ Until 1956, Morocco was under control of France as the French Protectorate in Morocco.
- ^ Until 1935, Saarbrücken was part of the Territory of the Saar Basin, a region of Germany that was administered by the United Kingdom and France under the control of the League of Nations.
References[]
- ^ La société Miss France Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in French)
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Historique". Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
- ^ "Biographie de Geneviève De Fontenay". tf1.fr (in French)..
- ^ Jump up to: a b Miss France registration form[permanent dead link] (in French)
- ^ MISS FRANCE SAS sur SOCIETE.COM (in French)
- ^ WIPO Domain Name Decision (in French)
- ^ L'entreprise "Miss France" Archived 11 December 2012 at archive.today (in French)
- ^ Miss France 2010 : Malika Ménard élue avec 34% des votes du public Archived 18 July 2012 at archive.today (in French)
- ^ Boquet-Vautor, Lorelei (17 December 2017). "Miss France 2018 : La grande gagnante est Maeva Coucke alias Miss Nord Pas de Calais" (in French). TF1.
- ^ "À CHÂTEAUROUX, MAËVA COUCKE, MISS NORD-PAS-DE-CALAIS DEVIENT MISS FRANCE 2018 !" (in French). Wit. 16 December 2017.
- ^ "Maëva Coucke, Miss Nord Pas-de-Calais, wins Miss France 2018". Lucire. 17 December 2017.
External links[]
- Passion Miss
- Miss France
- (in French) Official site
- http://www.lempimissit.suntuubi.com
- Official Maldives partner page for 2011
- http://passionmiss.xooit.fr/index.php (Site for fans, in French)
- La vérité tirée du chapeau[permanent dead link] ("The truth pulled out of the hat", in French)
- Miss France controversy (summary, in English, of parts of "La vérité tirée du chapeau")
| show Miss France winners in the Big Four international beauty pageants |
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- Miss France
- French awards
- Miss Universe by country