Miss Grand Cuba

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Formation20 August 2023; 2 years ago (2023-08-20)
TypeBeauty pageant
HeadquartersMiami, Florida
Miss Grand Cuba
Formation20 August 2023; 2 years ago (2023-08-20)
FounderDaryanne Lees
TypeBeauty pageant
HeadquartersMiami, Florida
Location
  • United States
MembersMiss Grand International
Official language
  • English
  • Spanish
National director
Cristian Aguiar
WebsiteMissGrandCuba.com
Miss Grand Cuba
licensees timeline
2014 
2016 
2018 
2020 
2022 
2024 
2026 
 
 
 
 
Miss Cuba Organization
Vicar Abel
Miss y Mister Cuba
Cristian Aguiar

Miss Grand Cuba is a national title given to a woman chosen to represent Cuba at the Miss Grand International pageant.[1][2][3] The first titleholder was a Mexican-Cuban model from Sinaloa, Jamillette Gaxiola, who was appointed by the Miss Cuba organization to compete at the inaugural edition of the mentioned international contest in Thailand,[4] where she was ranked in the final 10.[5] Since then, Cuba has always sent their representatives to compete every year; however, most of them were appointed to the position without organizing the respective pageant until 2022,[6][7][8] when a Miami-based Cuban pageant, Miss y Mister Cuba, acquired the license and the Miss Grand Cuba titleholder was elected through such a contest.[9]

The first stand-alone contest of Miss Grand Cuba happened in mid-2023 in Tampa, Florida, organized by former Miss Grand International 2014, Daryanne Lees, after she took over the franchise from the Miss y Mister Cuba organization,[10]

Cuba has usually been sending their representatives to compete at the Miss Grand International since 2013,[4] and won the contest once in 2014 by a Cuban-Puerto Rican, Daryanne Lees,[11] who later became the director of the Miss Grand Cuba pageant in 2023.[10] From 2013 to 2020, the license belonged to a Miami-based pageant organizer chaired by Noemi Meléndez, Miss Cuba.[1][2][12] However, no national contests were organized for Miss Grand International; Cuban representatives for the mentioned period were all appointed.[3][13]

In 2021, the license was taken over by another group of Cuban Americans, Vicar Abel and Miledy de los Santos, and was then transferred to Julio César Cruz and Faddya Halabi in 2022, when Miss Grand Cuba was one of the main titles in their national pageant, Miss y Mister Cuba.[9] However, Daryanne Lees, with a former licensee, Noemi Meléndez, as chief financial officer, took the license back in 2023 and organized the first contest of Miss Grand Cuba in Tampa, Florida, in mid-2023, to select the country representative for the 2023 edition of Miss Grand International.[10] The license was then transferred to a Florida-based Cuban photographer, Cristian Aguiar, the following year.

Editions

Location and date

The following are the details of the Miss Grand Cuba edition, which was held as a stand-alone pageant only once in 2023.

Edition Date Final venue Entrants Ref.
1st 20 August 2023 Tampa Marriott Westshore, Tampa, Florida, United States 5 [14]
2nd 28 March 2025 Mayu restaurant, Miami, Florida, United States 10 [15][16]

Competition result

Edition Winner Runners-up Ref.
First Second
1st Sofia Acosta
(Miami)
Lourdes Feliu
(Miami)
Maria Karla Vilches
(Miami)
[14]
2nd Dailyn Rodriguez
(Isla de la Juventud)
Laura Perez
(Villa Clara)
Yisel Yero
(Matanzas)
[16]

International competition

Participating national finalists

The following list is the national finalists of the Miss Grand Cuba pageant, as well as the competition results.

Represented 1st 2nd
Ciego de Ávila
No Province title
Y
Cienfuegos 6
Holguín Y
Isla de la Juventud
La Habana 6
Matanzas
Pinar del Río Y
Santiago de Cuba 6
Trinidad Y
Villa Clara
Total510
Color keys
  •    : Declared as the winner
  •    : Ended as a 1st runner-up
  •    : Ended as a 2nd runner-up
  •    : Ended as a 3rd runner-up
  •    : Ended as a 4th runner-up
  •  A  : Ended as a finalist, semifinalist (N) and unplaced (Y)
  •  ×  : Ended as withdrew during the competition
  •  ×  : Ended as no representative

References

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