Miss Universe Live. "The 64th Annual Miss Universe Pageant," hosted by Natalie Morales ("TODAY") and Thomas Roberts ("MSNBC Live"), will air on NBC from Florida International University in Doral Miami, Florida. Musical performers include Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw, platinum-selling solo artist Nick Jonas and twenty-time Latin Billboard Award winner Prince Royce. Manny Pacquiao, Kristin Cavallari, William Levy, Lisa Vanderpump, Louise Roe, Emilio Estefan, Nina Garcia and DeSean Jackson also serve as judges. Contestants from around the world will be judged in three categories, swimsuit, evening gown and interview, as they vie to become the next Miss Universe. Gabriela Isler from Venezuela will crown her successor at the conclusion of the live telecast.
During the early years of the pageant, the delegates who made the first cut were announced after the preliminary competition. From 1965 to the present day, the semifinalists were not announced until the night of the main event. The semifinalists once again competed in evening gown and swimsuit and five finalists were announced. An interview portion was introduced in 1960 to decide the runners-up and the winner.
From 1959 to 1964 there were slight format changes. From 1959 through 1963 there was no cut to reach the five finalists. The runners-up and winner were called from the assembled 15 semifinalists. In 1965 the pageant returned to the original format of a cut to five finalists, and remained so until 1989. In 1969 a final question was posed to the last five contestants. The final question was an on-and-off feature of the pageant. In 1990 it had taken root, and with every pageant since the final contestants have had to answer a final question. In 1990 the pageant implemented major changes in the competition itself. Instead of five finalists, the field was reduced from ten semifinalists to six. Each contestant then randomly selected a judge and answered the question posed by the judge. After that, the field was narrowed down further to a final three. In 1998, the number of finalists was reduced to five, although there still was a cut to a final three. This continued until 2001, when the final five format was reinstated.