Miss Universe pageant

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This Country Gets Its First Miss Universe Crown

Miss Nicaragua Sheynnis Palacios wins 72nd edition of the beauty pageant

(Newser) - Miss Nicaragua Sheynnis Palacios won the Miss Universe competition late Saturday in El Salvador, the first to wear the crown from her country. Palacios is a 23-year-old communicologist, reports the AP , who says she wants to work to promote mental health after suffering debilitating bouts of anxiety herself. Miss Thailand,...

Miss Netherlands Scores a First
Miss Netherlands
Scores a First
Jul 10, 2023 11:10 AM CDT

Miss Netherlands Scores a First

Rikkie Valerie Kolle is the first trans woman with the crown and will compete for Miss Universe

(Newser) - Here she is—Miss Netherlands. And for the first time, Miss Netherlands is a transgender woman. With her new crown, Rikkie Valerie Kolle will be the second trans woman to compete for the title of Miss Universe later this year, NPR reports. Kolle is looking to support young women and...

Transgender Tycoon Buys Miss Universe Organization

Chakrapong Chakrajutathib is a prominent trans activist in Thailand

(Newser) - A Thai business tycoon and transgender activist has purchased the Miss Universe Organization for $20 million, her company announced Wednesday. Chakrapong "Anne" Chakrajutathib, who controls JKN Global Group Public Co. Ltd., is a celebrity in Thailand who has starred in reality shows and is outspoken about being a transgender...

New Miss Universe Will Focus on Self-Defense

Latest winner is from South Africa

(Newser) - Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, who represented South Africa, won the Miss Universe crown Sunday. The 22-year-old, who wants to use her reign to champion HIV/AIDS and self-defense causes, was crowned at the AXIS theater at Planet Hollywood on the Las Vegas Strip, the AP reports. "HIV/AIDS is a very big problem...

Just-Crowned Miss Teen USA Sorry for Racial Slurs

Texas high school senior took to Twitter at 2am Sunday to do damage control

(Newser) - Miss Teen USA 2016 was supposed to take a step in the direction of feminism and equal rights as the contest ditched the swimsuits for athletic wear . But in the wee hours following the event that crowned Miss Texas Karlie Hay, the 18-year-old high school senior took to Twitter to...

Want to Win Miss Universe? This Yale Law Grad Can Help

Jeff Lee was smitten by the pageant at 9 years old

(Newser) - Jeff Lee saw the Miss Universe Pageant at his cousin's California home in 1995. "Pudgy, legally blind without his glasses, [and] deaf in one ear," the 9-year-old was captivated, feeling "an ache inside, something like longing," writes Burt Helm. In a sprawling profile in GQ ...

Miss Colombia: This Was 'My Destiny'

Ariadna Gutiérrez posts message to Instagram

(Newser) - Miss Colombia is a gracious winner-er-oops!-actually-runner-up. Ariadna Gutiérrez posted a message on Instagram Tuesday after she was accidentally crowned Miss Universe , then quickly un-crowned, People reports. "After the storm comes the calm," she writes. "I am the most fortunate and thankful for having the support...

Oops: Wrong Woman Named as Miss Universe

Miss Colombia's crown taken away after Steve Harvey misreads card

(Newser) - In what must rank as one of the biggest beauty pageant blunders of all time, Miss Colombia was named Miss Universe in Las Vegas on Sunday night and was still basking in the glory when host Steve Harvey returned to the stage to admit he had screwed up. "OK,...

Now World's No. 2 Rich Guy Spurns Trump

And Mexico won't be sending a contestant to Miss Universe pageant

(Newser) - Suffice it to say that Latinos don't love Donald Trump : The second richest guy on planet Earth has joined the burgeoning list of Latino-affiliated groups jumping ship in the wake of the candidate's derogatory remarks about Mexican immigrants. Carlos Slim announced yesterday that his Ora TV would back...

Univision Dumps Miss USA Over Trump

Given 'insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants,' breaking up not hard to do

(Newser) - Several things stood out when Donald Trump announced his presidential bid — liberal glee, conservative scorn , escalators, paid supporters —but what many in the Latino community heard was his proposal to build a "great, great wall" on the US-Mexico border to block Mexican drugs, crime, and rapists. Outrage...

Miss Colombia Crowned Miss Universe

USA's Nia Sanchez comes in 2nd

(Newser) - Miss Colombia Paulina Vega, a relative pageant newcomer, has been crowned Miss Universe, beating out first runner-up Miss USA Nia Sanchez and contestants from more than 80 other countries at last night's pageant in Miami. Vega, a 22-year-old student of business administration from Barranquilla, Colombia, said she would wear...

Miss Venezuela Now Miss Universe

Gabriela Isler, 25, is TV personality

(Newser) - A 25-year-old Venezuelan who appears on TV in her country and is an accomplished flamenco dancer is the new Miss Universe. Gabriela Isler was crowned in the pageant at a sprawling exhibition hall on Moscow's outskirts. In the excitement just after the announcement, the tiara fell off Isler's...

Andy Cohen Won't Return to Miss Universe: I Could Be Arrested

It's being held in Russia this year, and the former co-host is gay

(Newser) - Missing from this year's Miss Universe pageant: regular co-host Andy Cohen. The competition is being held in Russia on Nov. 9, and the country's anti-gay laws "make it unsafe for the gays who live there and gays coming to work or visit," Cohen tells E!'...

Transgender Beauty Will Likely Compete in Pageant

Trump organization backs down on Jenna Talackova controversy

(Newser) - The Trump organization appears to have had a change of heart about a Canadian beauty who had a change of sex. Jenna Talackova—a transgender contestant booted from the Miss Universe Canada pageant —will be allowed to take part "provided she meets the legal gender recognition requirements of...

Miss Universe Execs Boot Transgender Contestant

Jenna Talackova not 'naturally born female' as rules require

(Newser) - Jenna Talackova might look like a babe, but that's not what it says on her birth certificate, so she's getting the boot from Canada's Miss Universe pageant. The transgender contestant from Vancouver might be a "real girl" now, say officials, but pageant rules require that each...

Miss France Laury Thilleman: Miss Universe Winner Leila Lopes Often Wore Jeans, No Make-Up
 Miss France: 
 Miss Universe 
 Wears Jeans 
BITTER MUCH?
Sep 15, 2011 10:29 AM CDT

Miss France: Miss Universe Wears Jeans

Leila Lopes didn't deserve to win, Laury Thilleman implies

(Newser) - Sounds like someone's a sore loser: Miss France Laury Thilleman snarked about Miss Angola Leila Lopes after Lopes was crowned Miss Universe , complaining to a French magazine about Lopes' fashion sense, among other things. The Washington Post offers a translation: "She was the only girl I didn’t...

Miss Angola Now Miss Universe

Leila Lopes wins the top honor

(Newser) - In a competition that was, for once, scandal-free, Miss Angola Leila Lopes was crowned Miss Universe last night in Brazil. Get a taste of the evening via the best lines, as reported by the AP :
  • Lopes, 25, during the pageant's Q&A portion: Asked what she would change about
...

Miss Brazil Robbed at Gunpoint

The 'well-dressed' robber even took the car she won in the 2010 pageant

(Newser) - Miss Brazil has been robbed at gunpoint in front of her home. Debora Lyra was held up as she approached the entrance of her gated condo in Sao Paulo on Sunday, the Miss Brazil pageant press office said. A well-dressed man with a pistol approached Lyra as she pulled up...

The Beauty Pageant Is Dead
 The Beauty Pageant Is Dead 
OPINION
Aug 24, 2010 10:51 AM CDT

The Beauty Pageant Is Dead

Miss Universe is all business, no fun

(Newser) - Beauty pageants used to be “a hoot and a holler and a half,” but last night’s Miss Universe competition hailed their death. “Even as a gay man, I couldn't find joy or fun in last night's monument to wax figurines and Donald Trump,” writes Louis...

Miss Mexico Crowned Miss Universe

Jimena Navarrete wants to improve her country's image

(Newser) - Miss Mexico Jimena Navarrete won last night’s Miss Universe pageant, giving her home country its second-ever Miss Universe title. “I want the whole world to know about my country and my people,” said Navarrete, 22, adding that she hopes her victory will help Mexico’s image. Miss...

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