Mister Lebanon

Mister Lebanon
Formation 1995
Type Beauty pageant
Headquarters Beirut
Location
Membership
Mister World
Mister International
Manhunt International
Mister Global
Mister United Continents
Official language
Arabic
Organization
Lebanese Ministry of Tourism
Website Mister Lebanon Website

Mister Lebanon (Arabic: مستر ليبانون) is a male beauty pageant which is held annually to select a young man who takes on humanitarian duties and represents Lebanon in international beauty pageants, most notably Mister International. The first Mister Lebanon competition was held in 1995 and concluded with crowning Hadi El Esta.

History

Mister Lebanon winners often graduate from the pageant circuit to become models, actors or TV hosts. Lebanese titleholders proved considerable performances at international pageants, placing almost every year since the launching of the male beauty pageantry, leading the world to classify Arab men generally, and Lebanese men particularly, among the most attractive in the world.

The competition is sponsored by Lebanese Tourism Services which has often contracted with modeling agencies, most notably Nidal's Agency to assign representatives instead of throwing competitions, due to special circumstances such as the 2006 Lebanon War.

Many of the Mister Lebanon winners and competitors went to become celebrities of wide fame and popularity. Ghassan Mawla dominated throughout 2004-2007 with many reality television appearances, a music album and some successful enterprises. In 2012, Wissam Hanna placed fifth in the Arabic version of Dancing with the Stars. The latter and fellow Miss Lebanon winner Rosarita Tawil brought the pageant circuit in Lebanon to massive media and public attention through the show. Assaad Tarabay, Abdel Rahman El Balaa and Ali Hammoud began successful careers in the modeling and fitness domains after their highly publicized wins.

The current titleholder is Farid Matar who won the prestigious title in late August 2015 and took a break from his interior design studies at Lebanese American University to fulfill his duties, which were politically oriented, unlike the previous Mister Lebanon winners who mostly worked on environmental and social causes. He competed in Mister International 2015 and was placed among the Top 15.

Lebanese delegates proved successful internationally, unlike those from the female parallel of the Mister Lebanon contest, Miss Lebanon. In 2012 Ali Hammoud was assigned to represent Lebanon in Mister International 2012 and was crowned after winning two awards for Best Body and Most Handsome, thus becoming the second Lebanese man to win the pageant, the first being Wissam Hanna. 2012 official Mister Lebanon placed within the Top 10 in one of the greatest male pageants on the planet, Mister World.

Titleholders

The winner of Mister Lebanon represents his country at Mister International. On occasion, when the winner does not qualify (due to age) for either contest, a runner-up is sent. Previously, in some instances the winner has also competed at another pageant.

Mister Lebanon
1995Hadi Esta1997Ghassan Mawla1998Steve Basmadjian
2000Omar Meyho2003Asad Tarabay2004Antes Melhem
2005Wissam Hanna2007Basel Bou Hamdan2008Mohamed Chamseddine
2009Ibrahim Afif Ballout2010Roy Emad2011Mohamed Hay
2012Rudolphe Bou Nader2013Ayman Moussa2014Rabih Zein
2015Farid Matar2016Paul Iskandar

List of Mister Lebanon at International pageants

Color key
  •      Declared as Winner
  •      Ended as runner-up
  •      Ended as one of the finalists or semifinalists
Year Mister World Mister International Manhunt International Mister Global Mister United Continents
1996 Hadi Esta
1998 Ghassan Mawla
2000 Omar Mehyo (Top 10)
2001 Omar Elias Halahel
2003 Asad Tarabay
(1st Runner-up)
2005 Wissam Hanna (Top 15)
(Mister Photogenic)
2006 Wissam Hanna (WINNER)
(Best National Costume)
Rafic Bou Zeid
2007 Anthony Hakim (Top 12) Basel Bou Hamdan
(4th Runner-up)
(Best National Costume)
Pedro Kiwan (Top 15)
2008 Mohamed Chamseddine
(1st Runner-up)
2009 Marcelino Gebrayel
(2nd Runner-up)
2010 Abdel Rahman Bala (Top 5) Mohamed Ali Arabi Murad Mouawad (Top 15)
2011 Mohamed Hay Marcelino Gebrayel
2012 Rudolphe Bou Nader (Top 10) Ali Hammoud (WINNER)
(dethroned)
Elie Najem
2013 Firas Abbas
2014 Ayman Moussa Rabih Zein(1st Runner-up)
2015 Farid Matar (Top 15) Mohamed Akel Kamel Raad (WINNER)
2016 Paul Iskandar Bilal Zaweel (Top 16) Mario Sfeir

International winners

See also


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