Coming from Miss Universe placements back in 1984 and 1987, Ilma Julieta Urrutia and Laurie Simpson went on to win Miss International in the same years, respectively.
It no longer comes as a complete surprise that some Miss Universe placers went on to achieve greater victories in other beauty pageants.
Ilma julieta (2nd from right) during the MU1984 Top 10 Swimsuit Competition
Consider Ilma Julieta Urrutia Chang of Guatemala first. She is the only Big 4 pageant winner from the Central American country to date. After landing in Miami Beach for Miss Universe 1984, she was easily noticed and became one of the running favorites going into the finals. True enough, she found herself being called to join the Top 10. And while her climb to the Top 5 never materialized, she was still considered a very competitive beauty queen such that country organizers decided to field her once more. And at the Kanagawa Prefectural Civic Hall in Yokohama, Japan, she outlasted the competition and defeated early picks from Venezuela and Sweden (who became her runners-up) to become Miss International 1984.
Laurie Tamara Simpson during MU1987 in Singapore
There is also Laurie Tamara Simpson of Puerto Rico. Her first stop was Singapore for Miss Universe 1987. In the Lion City, she made heads turn and was constantly in the short-list of many pageant followers. And during the Coronation Night, she was initially part of the Top 10. From there, she performed well enough to snatch the fifth and final Top 5 spot (
from 6th placer Geraldine Asis of the Philippines). Eventual winner Cecilia Bolocco of Chile was a winner right from the start, though, and she got the 4th Runner-Up honor for her efforts.
But when it was time to conquer Tokyo, this Puerto Rican became a strong front-runner. At Nihon Seinen-Kan, she was elected Miss International 1987, big notches better than her MU achievement.
There are still other ladies who went the same route as Ilma and Laurie in the major beauty contests. But since Miss International 2014 will be starting soon, I opted to focus on them as the Throwback Thursday feature of the week. 😉
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1987 was an edition where the Bb. Pilipinas Universe frontrunner held on to the lead all the way to finals at the Big Dome. I can vividly remember cheering for Geraldine Edith “Pebbles” Asis right from the get-go. With her height and regal bearing, there was just no way I would trade her for any of the other candidates that year to be our Miss Universe 1987 representative. The modelesque stance and Oriental looks added more reasons why she deserved to win. And she did make us proud when she finished 6th overall in Singapore. As for the other titleholders that year, I am most pleased with Miss Maja Pilipinas Lourdes “Lilu” Jimenez who has such a beautiful face that did not go unnoticed in Merida, Mexico for Maja Internacional 1987. She finished in the Top 10. Ma. Lourdes “Luli” Enriquez was Bb. Pilipinas International with Avon Garcia getting the Tourism plum.
