Free Republic

A 20-year-old Boston University sophomore and a self-described 'cellist-nerd' brought the Miss Universe crown back to the U.S. for the first time in more than a decade when she won the televised contest on Wednesday. Olivia Culpo beat 88 other beauty queens to take the title from Leila Lopes of Angola during the two-hour competition at the Planet Hollywood casino on the Las Vegas Strip. In a refreshing change, the Miss Universe title, which makes Olivia unequivocally one of the world's most beautiful women, appears to have been bestowed on a girl with a healthy streak of normality. Following the...

Miss Lithuania 2012: Greta Mikalauskyte (Missology) More/swimsuit video at Reaganite Republican...

¡Ay, caramba! \ More/video at Reaganite Republican _____________________________________________________ Missology   RPP   e-zineMark   Denshamine   Miss Universe (official)   ShinyMeteor 

International outrage is growing over the disqualification of transsexual model Jenna Talackova from the finals of Miss Universe Canada. With blond locks, long legs and delicate features, Talackova was a strong competitor in pageant but was disqualified, she says, because she used to be male, even though she made it to the finals of the contest. The story has now flared through the British, U.S. and Canadian media in recent days, sparking online protests. “This is discriminatory, unjust, and quite frankly disgusting,” said Oscar Dimant of Brooklyn, New York, listed as the author of the online petition at change.org. “She...

Miss Universe Canada officials have banned 23-year-old transsexual Jenna Talackova from participating in the pageant finals to be held in Toronto in May, 2012. The Vancouver contestant was one of sixty-five women chosen to compete in the national contest (which is owned by Donald Trump). The Daily Mail Reports that Denis Davila, national director of Miss Universe Canada, asserts that every contestant must be a "naturally born female." Critics of the decision claim that the rules do not specifically address sex change or plastic surgery.

Live Thread: 2011 Miss Universe Pageant live from Sao Paulo, Brazil, tonight 9-11pm on NBC.

Beautiful beyond belief and anti-Marxist. Now, that’s a winning combination!… (Powerline)- We missed an important moment at the Miss Universe pageant on Saturday night. The outgoing Miss Universe made a little political statement on her final catwalk that was visible to Venezuelans but probably no one else, holding up an obsolete seven star pre-Chavez era flag. She did it to signal distress in her country, and nowhere is that move evident than in Venezuela’s violent crime. This week the news came out that Caracas is the most violent city in the world, a distinction it holds over Kabul, Baghdad, Sao...

Socialism: Quick, what's the murder capital of the world: Kabul? Juarez? Try Caracas, Venezuela, a city whose dictator, Hugo Chavez, has made murder a means of extending his control. The silent protest at Monday night's Miss Universe Pageant in Las Vegas was invisible to nearly everyone — except Venezuelans. On her final catwalk, the ranking Miss Universe, Stefania Fernandez, suddenly whipped out a Venezuelan flag in a patriotic but protocol-breaking gesture.

Miss Mexico Jimena Navarrete was crowned Miss Universe 2010 during a pageant that aired Monday night on NBC. Miss Jamaica Yendi Phillipps was first runner-up in the pageant, hosted by Natalie Morales and Bret Michaels. Stefania Fernandez from Venezuela was the 2009 Miss Universe. Her 2009 victory was the second consecutive Miss Universe win for Venezuela.

Miss USA (the Muslim gal from Michigan) is NOT among the 15 Finalists in the LIVE broadcast of Miss Universe 2010 right now.... on NBC.... Wow! Is Trump a Racist?

'Bared' beauties take a shellacking By TODD VENEZIA Last Updated: 11:45 AM, Posted: 3:06 AM, August 15, 2010 Here are the sexy photos that have caused a world of controversy for the Miss Universe pageant. The beauty contest has been rapped for having its contestants strip down -- with some even doffing their bikini tops -- for a series of racy photos that feature them wearing little more than decorative body paint. >snip< "The contestants who compete at Miss Universe are diverse, as they represent more than 82 countries around the globe. Many of their cultures embrace nudity," said a...

Las Vegas Gears Up For Miss Universe 2010 Pageant   Ready to crown another worldly beauty, the 2010 Miss Universe contestant photo shoot was held in Las Vegas, Nevada on Wednesday (August 11). Taking place at the 'Welcome to Las Vegas' sign on Las Vegas Boulevard, Miss Universe 2009 Stefania Fernandez spearheaded the event alongside Mayor Oscar B. Goodman and Erika Paola Gutierrez. As for the pageant itself, the Miss Universe competition will be held on August 23rd at the luxurious Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Airing live on NBC from 9-11PM ET, the show will be hosted by...

A Yemeni Canadian will compete in the Miss Universe Canada beauty pageant for the first time, wearing a sari over her bathing suit to avoid offence. The press release issued by Maria Al-Masani's company about her participation contained a scant three paragraphs. In it, she refers to herself as "a documented direct descendent of Prophet Mohammed." "Yemen is a conservative Islamic country better known for the underwear bomber," the release notes. It also quotes Ms. Al-Masani: "I grew up wearing a niqab, watching Miss Universe on TV," she says. "I love breaking stereotypes!" The story behind Ms. Al-Masani, however, is...

The choreograpaher for the Miss Universe pageant, Michael Schwandt, said in an interview that Donald Trump hand picks six of the 15 Miss Universe finalists, and that the judges are only responsible for the final nine. "His reason for doing so, as he told me and he’s told the girls before, is that he left it all up to preliminary judging in the past and some of the most beautiful women, in his opinion, were not in the top fifteen and he was kind of upset about that," Schwandt told the website Guanabee.com. "And he decided that he would pick...

NASSAU, Bahamas – Miss Venezuela has been named winner of the 2009 Miss Universe pageant in the Bahamas. Stefania Fernandez was crowned Sunday night. Miss Dominican Republic, Ada Aimee de la Cruz, was the runner up.

We've introduced you to all 84 beauties participating in the Miss Universe pageant on August 23. You voted and we've narrowed down on the 10 most popular contestants.Which of these 10 do you think will take home the crown?Has Miss India made it to the final list?Move ahead to find out and vote once more at the end for the country you think will win the 2009 pageant! The lovely Angelika Jakubowska, 20, Miss Poland, just about made it to the top 10, with 456 readers voting for her. Luscious-locked Lourdes Figueroa, 21, was a favourite with 480 readers -- she nabbed...

NBC's coverage on the Miss Universe contestants. HULU still has commercials, but they are only one at a time!

Bolivia and Peru are not always on the best of terms but their latest row is not of a political nature - it's down to the choice of a dress. For her appearance at the Miss Universe contest in the Bahamas this month, Miss Peru has chosen a dress inspired by an Andean dance popular in both nations. She will perform in a costume bedecked with diabolical horns and eyes. Bolivia has accused the Miss Peru organisers of unfairly appropriating Bolivian cultural heritage. The issue has pricked national pride on both sides of the border. It has prompted angry newspaper...

Iveta Lutovska, Miss Czech Republic, poses poolside at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas in preparation for the Aug. 23 finals of the Miss Universe 2009 pageant. Lourdes Figueroa, Miss Guatemala. Mareike Baumgarten Oroa, Miss Paraguay.

The contestants worked the runway in the Bahamas in a swim wear show leading up to the biggest pageant in the world on August 23.

* Miss Universe Australia visits croc park * Gets too close to "Eric" * Monster saltie chooses her over chicken MISS Universe Australia Rachael Finch met some crocodiles during her Northern Territory visit yesterday and had to run for her life when a 5m croc named Eric lunged at her. The stunner told the Northern Territory News it was an incredible - yet scary - experience. She said it was one of the more unusual events she had been involved in since being announced winner of the pageant in April. "As soon as I saw him move I got nervous,"...

Just one day after learning that Carrie Prejean will keep her Miss California crown, state pageant director Shanna Moakler resigned. _________________________________ Prejean was named first runner-up at the April 19 pageant, during which she cause a firestorm by responding to a judge's question by saying she favored limiting marriage to a man and a woman.Shortly afterward, Moakler and her co-director Keith Lewis criticized the beauty queen for appearing in advertisements for groups opposed to same-sex marriage and for failing to reveal that she had posed in racy photos. Lewis slammed Prejean Monday, saying her actions caused the Miss California title...

Carrie Prejean didn't lie to beauty pageant officials even though she'd appeared semi-nude in photos a few years back, so let's just get off that high Godiva horse right now. Here's the thing: Since the old pictures were of her real breasts, she never actually exposed the new breasts she's now using for contests. Those were the old, God-given breasts, see? So, technically speaking, the world has never actually gotten a look at her current breasts. No exposure, no violation of pageant rules. Case closed. I may not know this for a true fact because I'm not canonballing into the...

A glowing report by the reigning Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela speaking of her trip to Guantanamo Bay has disappeared from her blog, only to be replaced by a censorious and political correct note from the President of the Miss Universe organization. Dayana Mendoza's now-deleted late-March posting sounded like a note home from a spring breaker. "We hung out with the guys from the East Coast and they showed us the boat inside and out, how they work and what they do, we took a ride around the land and it was a loooot of fun!" Mendoza wrote. "The...

<p>Reigning Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza caused more than a few jaws to drop when she described her recent tour of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as "a lot of fun" and a "relaxing, calm, beautiful place," Reuters reported Tuesday.</p> <p>"It was a loooot of fun!" Mendoza wrote of her time at the camp, a prison surrounded by barbed-wire fence and minefields. She wrote that she went to a bar on the naval base and visited the "unbelievable" beach, Reuters reported.</p>

Paris Hilton may not be ready for her planned charity work in Rwanda, but she was up for judging a beauty contest in Tokyo on Tuesday. Hilton and her younger sister, Nicky, each chose one finalist for the Miss Universe Japan contest. A dozen or so more will be selected next month. "I love Tokyo," Hilton said. "The shopping is great."

MARIA ELENA SALINAS Showing the ugly side of a nation June 4, 2007 The young ladies were handpicked from among the most beautiful women in the world, but it was not a pretty sight. Miss USA, Rachel Smith, slipped and fell during a crucial moment in the Miss Universe pageant on May 28. The formal gown competition is not just about how you look in the gown, but about how you carry yourself in it. Smith stepped on her dress and fell on her rear end. She picked herself right up and, unfazed, struck a pose with a wide smile....

The United States government is on the verge of approving a mass amnesty to millions of illegal aliens — a plan pushed aggressively by meddling Mexican officials who reap billions of dollars in remittances (illegal aliens' earnings sent back to Mexico) without having to lift a finger to clean up their own country. And the thanks we get? Internationally televised public humiliation. On Monday night, the beautiful young woman who represented America in the Miss Universe pageant was booed and mocked as she competed on stage in Mexico City. Rachel Smith, 22, did her best to respond with grace and...

MEXICO CITY - A 20-year-old dancer from Japan was crowned Miss Universe 2007 on Monday night, marking only the second time her country has won the world beauty title. Dressed in a black, red and purple Japanese-style gown, Riyo Mori nervously grabbed the hands of first runner-up, Natalia Guimaraes of Brazil, just before the winner was announced. Then she threw her hands up and covered her mouth, overcome with emotion. But she gathered herself together enough to catch the diamond-and-pearl-studded headpiece valued at $250,000 as it slipped off her head when Miss Universe 2006 Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico crowned...

I just caught the last 30 minutes or so of the Miss Universe pageant which was held in Mexico City. When I turned on the tv, they were down to ten girls including Mexico and USA. The girl from USA actually slipped and landed right on her butt, but made a nice save and finished well. When the judges announced which five would move to the next round, USA was announced and the crowd started booing loudly. I haven't seen the Miss Universe pageant in a long time, but I don't ever remember a crowd booing. I know that an...

MEXICO CITY - This year's Miss Universe pageant is missing one of its most noted contestants: Miss Sweden, a statuesque blonde whose country is one of the few to win the crown three times. Isabel Lestapier Winqvist, 20, has dropped out because Swedes say the Miss Universe competition, airing live Monday night from Mexico City's National Auditorium, is degrading to women and weighed down by scandals. "We're taking a big beating by being linked to it," said Panos Papadopoulos, the organizer of the Miss Sweden contest, which scrapped its swimsuit competition and allowed women to apply for the position like...

The pageant's still a few days away, but the contestants have already hit the catwalk to show off "native dress" costumes.

22 March 2007, 13:47 To love somebody else’s husband is not Christian - Miss Universe winner Oxana Fyodorova Moscow, March 22, Interfax - Romantic feeling to someone who already has a family is contrary to the Christian commandments, the Miss Universe 2002 winner, TV presenter and actress Oxana Fyodorova thinks. ‘To love somebody else’s husband is not for me, it is not Christian! I would never consider mine a man who is already in relationship with another woman,’ Fyodorova said in her interview for Komsomolskaya Pravda daily published on Thursday. She told some married men attempted to court her. ‘I...

Zuleyka Rivera Mendoza's reign as the new Miss Universe got off to a rocky start when the 18-year-old from Puerto Rico fainted briefly after winning the crown.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Miss Puerto Rico, Zuleyka Rivera Mendoza, the youngest of the five finalists, was crowned Miss Universe on Sunday night. The first runner-up to Mendoza, 18, was Miss Japan, Kurara Chibana, 24.

See for example this thread first. I'll keep today's poem quite terse Lebanon, Israel are no worse And to my delight Not a burqa in sight Cause I'm talking 'bout Miss Universe!

LOS ANGELES - Peace reigns at least at the Miss Universe 2006 contest, where beauties Miss Lebanon and Miss Israel are the "best of friends" despite the bloody fighting between the two countries back home, their companions said. Even as Israel has bombarded Lebanon in the wake of a missile barrage by the Hezbollah militia in the country's south, the two women -- Gabrielle Bou Rached of Lebanon and Israel's Anastacia Entin -- have struck up a friendship ahead of Sunday's tough competition to see who is named the world's most beautiful woman. "I think the perpetrators of the current...

Miss Universe pageant owner Donald Trump says he is considering a tribute to the newly crowned Miss Iraq, who has been hiding amid death threats. "She is very proud to have won, and now she is in a very tough position," Trump told Friday's New York Post. "She is extremely brave." Silvia Shahakian, 23, a Christian of Armenian ancestry, was crowned Sunday when the original winner stepped down after receiving threats from extremists. Shahakian told ABC's "Good Morning America" she was going into hiding, but the Post said it is believed she is still in Iraq. Trump said there may...

Toronto gives Miss Universe cold shoulder CBC News The city of Toronto, which years ago prevented the Barenaked Ladies from playing at City Hall because of the group's name, has now barred Miss Universe from opening a festival over concerns about sexual stereotyping. "I was a little bit hurt by the whole thing. I love Toronto. It's my hometown," said Natalie Glebova, the 23-year-old Canadian woman who captured the Miss Universe title in Bangkok in May. Natalie Glebova in Toronto, Tuesday. "I definitely don't think that the Miss Universe title is any kind of stereotype or sexual stereotype." Glebova was...

Natalie Glebova in Toronto, Tuesday. "I definitely don't think that the Miss Universe title is any kind of stereotype or sexual stereotype." The city of Toronto, which years ago prevented the Barenaked Ladies from playing at City Hall because of the group's name, has now barred Miss Universe from opening a festival over concerns about sexual stereotyping. "I was a little bit hurt by the whole thing. I love Toronto. It's my hometown," said Natalie Glebova, the 23-year-old Canadian woman who captured the Miss Universe title in Bangkok in May. Glebova was set to open the Tastes of Thailand...

NEW YORK, NY, May 24 /PRNewswire/ - Sportsbook.com has released odds on who will win the Miss Universe competition, which will be televised live by NBC on May 30 from Bangkok, Thailand. Eight of the top ten favorites according to odds makers come from the Caribbean and the Americas, led by Renata Sone from the Dominican Republic and Cynthia Olavarria from Puerto Rico, both listed at 12-1. The US delegate, Chelsea Cooley from Charlotte, North Carolina, is a 25-1 favorite.

Miss Universe organisers scrambled on Thursday to calm a furore over photos of bikini-clad contestants posing near an ancient Buddhist temple in pageant host Thailand after the images infuriated religious leaders. The photos, which showed beauty queens on a Bangkok river cruise with the famed Wat Arun, or "Temple of Dawn", in the background, were swiftly removed from the pageant Web site. But religious leaders and culture watchdogs are still upset, saying the episode violated traditional values and morality just days before a key Buddhist holiday. "This is the time of Visakha Bucha when we are reminded of Lord Buddha's...

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Miss Universe organizers scrambled on Thursday to calm a furor over photos of bikini-clad contestants posing near an ancient Buddhist temple in pageant host Thailand after the images infuriated religious leaders. The photos, which showed beauty queens on a Bangkok river cruise with the famed Wat Arun, or "Temple of Dawn," in the background, were swiftly removed from the pageant Web site. But religious leaders and culture watchdogs are still upset, saying the episode violated traditional values and morality just days before a key Buddhist holiday. "This is the time of Visakha Bucha when we are reminded...

Beauty queen brighter than nuclear physicist A Slovenian TV programme that tried to prove top models were brainless bimbos was scrapped after a beauty queen turned out to have a higher IQ than a nuclear physicist. Iris Mulej, a former Miss Universe contestant, was found to have an IQ of 156 by scientists working for the programme makers.She had to take a series of logic tests looking at spatial awareness, mathematical equations and problem solving ability.The test result forced Slovenia TV, the state broadcaster, to cancel its programme involving the model who left school at 16 to pursue a...

The Newcastle woman recently crowned Miss Universe has found a simple way of avoiding any repeat of an embarrassing fashion incident. Former cheerleader Jennifer Hawkins yesterday gave hundreds of shoppers in Sydney's south an unintended view of her underwear during a fashion parade when her skirt fell off. Today she arrived back in Newcastle for the first time since winning her title. She says she will ensure there is no similar mishap at a catwalk appearance in a local shopping centre tonight. "Safety pins. I'll be having safety pins," she said. "I don't know if I'll be wearing that dress,...

Miss Universe de-frocked: Jennifer Hawkins stumbled during a fashion show at Westfield shopping centre in the Sydney suburb of Miranda yesterday, snagging her dress on her shoe and losing the lot. Her modesty was saved by a g-string. Photos: Russell Scarf/Network Ten

SPIEGEL ONLINE - 30. Juli 2004, 8:33 URL: http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,310945,00.htmlGirl-Power Beauty Queen Knocks Down Attackers The two men probably hadn't reckoned with that when they attacked the petite woman: The 20-year-old Dominican Republic beauty queen not only commands the art of the charming smile, but judo as well. AP Larissa del Mar Fiallo: "I knocked the taller one down" Santo Domingo -- Larissa Del Mar Fiallo suspects that the two men wanted to kidnap her. Yesterday afternoon, unknown men tried to drag her into a car on a shopping street in Santo Domingo. "I defended myself. They began to beat on me." Fiallo - a...

A JUDGE in the Miss Universe pageant selected because of his role in Donald Trump's US television reality show The Apprentice has been sacked from the competition panel. Kwame Jackson, a contestant for the reality show's April 15 final prize - a year-long, US$250,000 ($350,000) job with the billionaire developer - was disqualified by pageant organizers for waving at beauty queens he bumped into in their hotel lobby. "Kwame is intelligent, charming and we were really looking forward to him judging on our panel," pageant president Paula Shugart said in a statement. "But his interaction with the delegates, albeit unintentional,...

LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Bolivia's entrant in next week's Miss Universe contest faces calls to quit after she described herself as being a tall, white woman and not a short Indian peasant. The remarks by Gabriela Oviedo, 21, caused furore in Bolivia, one of the Western hemisphere's poorest countries. "Unfortunately, people that don't know Bolivia very much think that we are all just Indian people ... poor people and very short people and Indian people," local media quoted her as saying in English in Ecuador, where the Miss Universe pageant will be held on Tuesday. "I'm from the other...

Miss USA Is A Strong Supporter of President Bush Shandi Finnessey, 25, won the title Monday night over 50 other contestants and will represent the United States at the Miss Universe pageant in Quito, Ecuador, on June 1. Shandi, a 5-foot-11, blue-eyed blonde from Florissant, Mo., holds bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology and counseling from Lindenwood University, and would like to use her counseling degree in a television job. She has published a children's book, and has listed bungee jumping and wrestling a greased pig in a mud pit as among the craziest things she has ever done....