New Delhi: Miss Venezuela has been named winner of the 2009 Miss Universe pageant in the Bahamas.
Stefania Fernandez was crowned at a glittering ceremony in Bahamas. Miss Dominican Republic, Ada Aimee de la Cruz, were crowned the runners up.
The televised event included musical performances by Flo Rida, Heidi Montag, David Guetta and Kelly Rowland.
The emcees of the evening were Billy Bush, co-anchor of Access Hollywood, and Claudia Jordan, former Miss Rhode Island USA who has appeared on several TV shows. Judges include actor Dean Cain and supermodel Valeria Mazza.
Miss China, Wang Jingyao, was named Miss Congeniality and Miss Thailand, Chutima Durongdej, won Miss Photogenic.
Miss Universe 2009 pageant kicked off in Bahamas early on Monday morning (India time) with beauties from Latin America and Asia going in as favourites according to the various polls conducted till Sunday night.
However, disappointment was in store for India as its contestant Ekta Chaudhary failed to make it to the top 15.
Three beauties from Latin America were among the top five finalists chosen to vie for the Miss Universe crown.
The five finalists were from Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Kosovo, Australia and Venezuela.
The 15 finalists were selected from among the 80 who appeared in cocktail dresses and then reappeared in bathing suits.
The final 10 will be chosen before the evening gown segment and the final five will take questions from the judges.
Earlier, dozens of beauty queens sporting sunglasses and toting suitcases made an informal parade down a wide hotel hallway Sunday, thrilling tourists as they headed to dress rehearsal hours before the Miss Universe pageant.
Many contestants have suffered from dehydration in recent weeks, and Jewel Selver, Miss Turks and Caicos, went home on Saturday to recuperate, said Esther Swan, Miss Universe spokeswoman. Selver was one of eight contestants from Caribbean islands.
A winner will be crowned by the reigning Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela.
The televised event includes musical performances by Flo Rida, Heidi Montag, David Guetta and Kelly Rowland. Hosts are Billy Bush, co-anchor of "Access Hollywood," and Claudia Jordan, former Miss Rhode Island USA who has appeared on several TV shows. Judges include actor Dean Cain and supermodel Valeria Mazza.
THE PERFORMANCES
Heidi Montag jumped onstage in tight sequined pants and a matching bra at the Miss Universe pageant, and gave her first live performance, singing Body Language from her debut album.
Fans cheered on the blonde star of MTV's The Hills, although NBC, which is broadcasting the event in the Bahamas live, blocked out more than half of her performance as they introduced the 15 finalists.
"I think people don't know what to expect, and how can they? It's my first performance live and it's in front of a billion eyes. So I'm very excited to show everyone what I'm coming with," said Montag prior to her performance.
She stuck to simple dance moves, and some appeared a bit stilted although fans cheered constantly.
TMZ.com reported, using unnamed sources, that Montag might not sing because production staffers were worried about her performance and had concerns that she could not remember the lyrics.
Montag had said she was unaware of such criticism and said she was excited about performing live.
"I'm very excited for everybody to see this," she said. "I think a lot of people are expecting something very different."
Comments
0 comment