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 Esta. Rami Atallah was crowned Mister Lebanon for 2018.

Mister Lebanon
Formation1995
TypeBeauty pageant
HeadquartersBeirut
Location
Membership
Mister World
Mister International
Manhunt International
Mister Global
Mister United Continents
Official language
Arabic
Organization
Lebanese Ministry of Tourism
WebsiteMister Lebanon Website

History edit

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.

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. Asaad Tarabay, Abdel Rahman Bala 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.

International crowns edit

Titleholders edit

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.[1]

Mister Lebanon
1995 Hadi Esta 1997 Ghassan Mawla 1998 Steve Basmadjian 2000 Omar Meyho 2001 Aziz Abdo
2003 Asaad Tarabay 2004 Anthony Hakim 2005 Wissam Hanna 2007 Basel Bou Hamdan 2008 Mohamed Chamseddine
2009 Abdel Rahman Bala 2010 Roy Emad 2011 Mohamed Hay 2012 Rudolphe Bou Nader 2013 Ayman Moussa
2014 Rabih Zein 2015 Farid Matar 2016 Paul Iskandar 2017 Michael Khoury 2018 Rami Atallah
2019 Mohamed Sandakli 2021 Hady Fakhreddine 2023 Seif El Walid Harb 2024 Mario El Hajj

List of Mister Lebanon at International pageants edit

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 Grand International Mister United Continents
1996 Hadi Esta
1998 Ghassan Mawla
1999 James Ghoril

(1st Runner-up)

2000 Omar Mehyo

(Top 10)

2003 Asaad 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)

Elie Najem
2013 Firas Abbas
2014 Ayman Moussa Rabih Zein

(1st Runner-up)

2015 Farid Matar

(Top 15)

Kamel Raad

(WINNER)

2016 Paul Iskandar

(WINNER)

Bilel Zaweel

(Top 16)

2017 Michael Khoury

(Top 16)

Gaetan Osman

(2nd Runner-up)

2018 Mohamed Taha Patrick Dahrieh

(Top 16)

2019 Jean-Paul Bitar

(Top 12)

2022 Hadi Fakhreddine
2023 Seif Al Walid Harb

(Top 20)

Seif Al Walid Harb

(WINNER)

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "MR.LEBANON,مستر ليبانون". lempimissit.suntuubi.com (in Finnish). 2013-11-21. Archived from the original on 2013-12-31. Retrieved 2018-09-17.

External links edit