Miss Universe 2010

•  Montenegro: It had been announced that Marijana Pokrajac would represent Montenegro, however she was never entered, thus being the first time that the Balkan nation has been absent from the contest in its short independent life.

•  Guatemala: Alejandra Barillas, winner of the Miss Universe Guatemala title, was not sent by her organization due to an injury and Jéssica Schell competed in her place. Barillas competed in Miss Universe 2011.
•  Philippines: Maria Venus Raj won the title of Miss Philippines Universe (Binibining Pilipinas Universe 2010), but due to inconsistencies regarding her birth documents - date, place, parental information - it was withdrawn. The Philippine national organization decided to send to the Miss Universe 2010 pageant the second substitute for the title, Helen Nicole Henson; but Raj, by legally disagreeing, had the opportunity to regularize her situation by obtaining a legal Philippine passport; When she obtained it, Raj regained the title of Miss Philippines Universe (Binibining Pilipinas Universe 2010) and the opportunity to represent her country in Miss Universe 2010.
•  Romania: Alexandra Cătălina Filip, winner of the Miss Universe Romania 2010 pageant, renounced the title because the commitments it required her to fulfill conflicted with her preparation as a dancer for a major dance competition in the Republic of Korea. Her substitute was Oana Paveluc.
•  Slovenia: Due to a computational error Sandra Marinovič had been announced as the representative of Slovenia in Miss Universe 2010; When correcting the mistake, it turned out that the real winner of the national contest was Marika Savšek, so she was the Slovenian representative in the contest.
•  Turkey: Gizem Memic, winner of the Miss Turkey 2010 pageant, represented her country in place of Serenay Sarikaya, elected in the same pageant to compete for Turkey in Miss Universe. The change is due to Sarikaya's minority.

•  Ghana: Awurama Simpson was selected to represent her country, Ghana, privately.
•  Spain: The Miss Spain pageant, traditionally held in the spring, was delayed until September; Given the impossibility of choosing the new Miss Spain before the Miss Universe, Adriana Reverón was appointed after a casting in which several former contestants were invited to Miss Spain.

The judges for the preliminary competition are listed below:[2]

• Basim Shami – President of Farouk Systems
• BJ Coleman – Publicist, Journalist & Television Personality
• Carlos Bremer – CEO and General Director of Value Grupo Financiero
• Corinne Nicolas – President of Trump Model Management
• Louis Burgdorf – Talent Producer for MSNBC's Joe Scarborough & Mika Brzezinski
• Natalie Rotman – Television Host and Fashion Expert
• Sadoux Kim – Television producer

The following celebrities judged the final competition:[2]

• Niki Taylor – Model
• William Baldwin – Actor, producer and writer
• Chynna Phillips – Singer and actress
• Evan Lysacek – Olympic Gold Medal Figure Skater and Dancing with the Stars finalist
• Tamron Hall – MSNBC anchor
• Chazz Palminteri – Actor and writer
• Jane Seymour – Actress and Dancing with the Stars participant
• Criss Angel – Illusionist and musician
• Sheila E. – Musician

Last competed in 1989:

•  Haiti

Last competed in 2002:

•  British Virgin Islands

Last competed in 2004:

•  Botswana

Last competed in 2007:

•  US Virgin Islands

Last competed in 2008:

•  Denmark
•  Kazakhstan
•  Sri Lanka
•  Trinidad & Tobago

•  Bulgaria – The Miss Bulgaria Organization did not send a representative to compete in Miss Universe 2010.
•  Cayman Islands – On 8 September 2009, it was announced that the Miss Cayman Islands 2009 contest would not take place due to lack of funding and sponsorship. Since the winner of that contest also competes in Miss World, there was no Caymanian representative to Miss World 2009 either.[3]
•  Estonia – Valeri Kirss, Estonia's national director, was selling the Eesti Miss Estonia pageant.
•  Ethiopia
•  Iceland
•  Montenegro – Original contestant Nikolina Lončar was not allowed to participate because she was only 16 at the time of her crowning. She later participated in Miss Universe 2011.[4]
•  Namibia – Miss Namibia 2010, Odile Gertze, was crowned on 31 July 2010. Since that was only one week from the official start of Miss Universe 2010, national director Connie Maritz decided not to send the winner to Miss Universe but to Miss World 2010 instead.
•  Vietnam – Miss Model Photogenic 2001 - Phạm Thị Thanh Hằng, who competed in Miss Intercontinental 2005, was invited to participate in Miss Universe 2010. She declined due to lack of preparation time and Vietnam subsequently withdrew from the 2010 pageant[5]

•  Australia - Miss Congeniality (Jesinta Campbell)
•  Thailand - Miss Photogenic and Best National Costume (Fonthip Watcharatrakul)