They grinned and bared it. No mean feat for a pageant with blood on its hands

Driven from Nigeria by riots that left 200 dead, Miss World finally took place in drizzly London. Cole Moreton watched the pageant of frocks and aspirations for world peace

The new Miss World likes swimming, belly-dancing and comes from a country with almost as many human rights problems as that of her predecessor. Azra Akin of Turkey received the tarnished diamante crown before a billion television viewers – none of them in Britain – and a chilly crowd in the cavernous Great Hall of Alexandra Palace in north London yesterday.

When they said they wanted to meet people and travel the world, it's unlikely the 80 finalists were thinking of damp Muswell Hill, which accommodated their contest at short notice when tempers became too hot in Nigeria, home of the reigning champion. If there was none of the sunshine they might have enjoyed in Africa, there was no violence either. If anyone was stoned, it did not kill them.

The death penalty faced by Amina Lawal for bearing a child outside marriage in Nigeria had caused contestants to drop out and critics to say Miss World should not be held in that country. Then 200 people were killed and 400 injured last month in riots provoked by a newspaper article by a female journalist who suggested the Prophet Mohammed might have fancied marrying a potential winner.

As the women waited on stage to be told who would make it through to the last round yesterday, the English presenter Claire Smith read a statement from them all: "Thinking of Amina Lawal, let's take a moment to remember all the humans across the world who are threatened and abused.'' There was applause, then the cull began. Miss Nigeria made it through. The four from the British Isles did not.

Norway was the favourite but some other people had other ideas. "Turkey, hmm,'' said a man with a sigh watching through binoculars as Miss Akin flowed along the runway. "Champion.''

The organisers had been keen that we understood how much Miss World had changed since the days of 1970 when feminists threw flour bombs at the host Bob Hope as he cracked sexist jokes. This time the contestants included doctors, lawyers, scientists and economists. There was no swimwear section. The judges emphasised their search for personality and the male commentators of old had been replaced by a female voice, slightly less adoring, but no less cheesy. "Formula One racing is Miss Northern Ireland's passion. Let's hope she's not left in the pits after the show.''

To give credit, it was all of one hour and 26 minutes before anyone said their ambition was to help the children of the world. Otherwise everything was very familiar: big grins, floaty dresses, and aspirations for world peace. Miss America even sang "Kumbaya".

The production crew had built the set inside a huge black tent within the Great Hall at a week's notice, having waited like everyone else while the organiser Julia Morley scoured Britain for an alternative venue. The Ally Pally has known better days. It has endured its own trials, like being burned down in the 1980s, and spent a period unloved and unwanted. The parallels seem obvious: the Miss World competition invented by Eric Morley as a bathing beauty contest during the Festival of Britain in 1951 attracted millions of viewers in Saturday prime time 20 years ago but now it is not even shown live anywhere on UK television.

When they heard it was coming here an uneasy alliance formed between Liberals who thought the contest old-fashioned and even "toxic'' and those who said it was offensive to Islam. However, the students who had intended to protest outside the venue yesterday went to the Nigerian High Commission instead. One of the organisers Kat Fletcher, 22, the women's officer of the National Union of Students said: "With this situation in Nigeria, any bit of pressure is crucial. We plan this to coincide with Miss World, and we have a duty to try at the very least.

"We have to try and keep this case high on the agenda, especially on a day when the beauty queens are parading around Alexandra Palace not giving two hoots. We've got to keep the issues alive.''

Candles were lit, banners waved and makeshift stones thrown at the High Commission as crowds swelled in the late afternoon outside on Northumberland Avenue.

Nevertheless the popularity of Miss World has grown in some parts of the world. "This is a huge story in Albania,'' said Muhamed Veliu of the Albanian Gazette newspaper. "It is the first time Miss Albania has entered. Almost everyone in the country is expected to watch it on television. After communism, participation makes us feel part of the world community.''

Primrose Obeegadoo, wife of the Mauritian Ambassador to London, said: "Mauritius is a very small island. This is a very big thing. If Miss Mauritius won it would be very important for us.''

Yesterday's audience was a strange mix of wealthy followers of fashion and glamour from around the world, mostly in evening dress, some waving national flags; and rather scruffier natives who had paid £25 for a ticket. Stephen Kennard, a 35-year-old accountant, said he had come because he remembered watching the contest as a child. "It was massive on the television. When it moved to London I thought this would probably be my only chance to see it.''

Victoria Alldread, 24, said it was "not as bad as fashion models walking on the catwalk with nothing on, or wearing clothes you can't wear in the street, and telling me I've got to be thin. These are normal-sized girls''.

Her friend Nemone was against some of the modernisation. "I think they were stupid taking the swimwear parade out. They are there to flaunt themselves, and that's what they should do.''

Next year the contest will be held in China, where flaunting is usually frowned upon. As is dissent.

Additional reporting by Andrew Johnson and Jonathan Thompson