Colombia‘s Paulina Vega has been crowned Miss Universe, beating contenders from the United States, Ukraine, Jamaica and the Netherlands at the world’s top beauty pageant in Florida.
The 22-year-old model and business student triumphed over 87 other women from around the world on Sunday, and is only the second beauty queen from Colombia to take home the prize. The last time Colombia won the crown was in 1956 when Luz Marina Zuluaga took home the title.
Boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao played a starring role as one of the judges at Sunday’s Miss Universe Pageant. The Filipino ring king headlined the list of judges, which also included billionaire businessman Donald Trump and reality TV star Kristin Cavallari, in the competition which was won by Miss Colombia Paulina Vega.
As his role as judge, Pacquiao, whose career earnings surpassed $300million (£200m) in 2014, posed a question to Miss USA Nia Sanchez.
Miss Colombia Paulina Vega has been crowned Miss Universe, beating out contestants from 87 other countries. Miss USA Nia Sanchez and Miss Ukraine Diana Harkusha were the runners-up during Sunday’s competition. Miss Jamaica Kaci Fennell and Miss Netherlands Yasmin Verheijen were also among the top five.
Miss Netherlands Yasmin Verheijen also among the top five.
Miss Ukraine Diana Harkusha were the runners-up during Sunday’s competition.
Contestants including Miss India, Nigeria, Lebanon and Lithuania pose on stage during the 63rd Annual Miss Universe.
Jonas was among many celebrity guest performers, including singer Gaven Degraw.
Miss Colombia was crowned by the outgoing Miss Universe, Gabriela Isler of Venezuela. The broadcast included performances by singers Nick Jonas and Prince Royce.
Crowd favorite Miss Venezuela Migbelis Lynette Castellanos was cut after the top 10. The Miami suburb of Doral, which was host to the women during their stay, is also known as “Doralzuela” for its many Venezuelan residents.
Three of the last six Miss Universe titles have gone to Venezuela, where beauty pageants are big business.
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