Miss Angola becomes first from her country to be crowned Miss Universe

Leila Lopes made history for her country yesterday, after becoming the very first Miss Angola to be crowned Miss Universe.The 25-year-old laughed and smiled as she hugged runner-up Miss Ukraine, Olesia Stefanko, before having her crown firmly placed on her head at the pageant held in Sao Paulo, Brazil.The business student from Angola’s seaside city of Beguela, dazzled the panel of judges with both her beauty and brains.

Taking the crown: Miss Angola, Leila Lopes, was crowned Miss Universe by the 2010 winner Miss Mexico, Ximena Navarrete in Sao Paulo, Brazil

A winning combination: Miss Angola's evening wear and swimsuit parade won her Miss Universe, as well as her intelligent answered

When she had been asked earlier what she might change about her physical characteristics, Leila replied that she was satisfied with who she was.'I consider myself a woman endowed with inner beauty,' she told the judges and the audience.'I have acquired many wonderful principles from my family, and I plan to follow those through the rest of my life.'Her down-to-earth nature was complemented with immense outer beauty too though, which she showed off in a bright yellow bikini during the swimsuit parade.

The moment of glory: Leila Lopes can't stop smiling and laughing as she is crowned Miss Universe in front of the other contestants

Congratulations: Former Miss Universe, Ximena Navarrete of Mexico gives Leila a kiss on the cheek

After displaying her bikini body to millions of fans watching the pageant on TV around the world, Lopes paraded around the stage with poise in a form-fitting gold and silver sequinned evening gown.Miss Angola bet 88 competitors in the 60th annual Miss Universe pageant.Finalists accompanying Lopes into the top five were Miss Ukraine Olesia Stefanko, Miss Philippines Shamcey Supsup, Miss China Luo Zilin and Miss Brazil Priscila Machado.While the other countries that made the top ten were Miss Australia Scherri-lee Biggs, Miss Costa Rica Johanna Solano, Miss France Laury Thilleman, Miss Portugal Laura Goncalves and Miss Panama Sheldry Saez.

Top ten: The finalists making the top ten were Miss Australia, Miss Costa Rica, Miss France, Miss Ukraine, Miss Portugal, Miss Panama, Miss Philippines, Miss China and Miss Brazil

Finalist: Miss Brazil, Priscila Machado, made it into the top five in her home country, where the competition was held

Pretty in pink: Miss France, Laury Thlleman paraded in a pink bikini and a coral evening gown, but it wasn't enough to wow the judges

As well as competing in categories ranging from swimsuits to evening gowns, the women also had to answer the critical question that tells the judges a bit about them.In fan voting, Lopes tallied only a 3.6 score for the swimsuit but earned a 7.2 for her evening gown.Fan voting, however, did not count in the final tallies from nine judges.The panelists, who ranged from race car driver Helio Castroneves to actress Vivica A. Fox and journalist Connie Chung, scored the women on each contest, narrowing from a group of 16 down to a final five.

Top five: Miss Universe, Ukraine's Olesya Stefanko, the Philippines' Shamcey Supsup, China's Luo Zilin, Brazil's Priscila Machado and Angola's Leila Lopes pose during the ceremony of coronation of Miss Universe 2011

Australia to America: Miss Australia Scherri-lee Biggs (left) models a silver gown, while Miss USA, Alyssa Campanella, dazzled in a canary yellow gown (right)

Colourful crowd: The 89 contestants display an array of colourful dresses on stage in the pageant in Sao Paulo

The show was hosted by U.S. television personalities Andy Cohen and Natalie Morales.Out of the past 13 pageants held in the past decade, seven have been won by Latina contestants, making Miss Angola’s win even more exciting for her home country.Miss Angola started competing in the Miss Universe competitions in 1998, with the first ever contestant from the African nation being Emilia Guardado.Since 1997, two Miss Angolas have been semi-finalists in the top 15 and one made it into the top 10, but Leila Lopes is the first to be crowned with the title.

Stage show: Millions of fans around the world watch the 60th annual Miss Universe competition on television

Who will it be? Miss Ukraine, Olesia Stefanko, and Miss Angola hold each other's hands and wait to find out who is the winner, before Leila Lopes' name was called

Lost for words: Miss Angola Leila Lopes was greeted by the other participants after being crowned Miss Universe

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Mexican Ximena Navarrete visits India

MUMBAI: Miss Universe Ximena Navarrete Rosete of Mexico is on her first visit to India for promoting designer Sanjana Jon's Celebrate The Girl Child Campaign.

She has been on a 10-day tour. She said that this is her first trip which is mostly time bound with prior commitments for work but soon she will visit India again on a leisure trip.

She also mentioned that she is meeting people and collecting few tips for her next trip, like where to go, what to do, so that she can come to India with all prior preparations done.

Venezuela Wins Again! Miss Universe 2009

NASSAU, Bahamas — Miss Venezuela was the fairest of them all, again.Venezuelan Stefania Fernandez won the 2009 Miss Universe pageant in the Bahamas on Sunday night.Dressed in a flowing red gown, Fernandez embraced runner up Miss Dominican Republic as the announcement was made, and received the crown from last year's winner, Dayana Mendoza, of Venezuela. The sparkling tiara fell to the floor at one point, as Fernandez danced in joy.

Venezuela, a beauty-obsessed South American country, has won the Miss Universe pageant six times.During a question-and-answer segment with the five top finalists, Fernandez said she believed women have overcome obstacles such as hitting the proverbial glass ceiling."I feel we have reached the level that men are at," she said.The other top-five finalists were runner-up Ada Aimee de la Cruz, followed by Miss Kosovo, Droga Ganusha; Miss Australia, Rachael Finch; and Miss Puerto Rico, Mayra Matos Perez.The top 15 finalists appeared in bathing suits before the final 10 were chosen for the evening gown segment.

Pageant co-owner Donald Trump told reporters, "I think this is the most beautiful group of women I've ever seen."The televised event includes musical performances by Flo Rida, Heidi Montag, David Guetta and Kelly Rowland.Montag gave her first live performance, singing "Body Language" from her debut album.Fans cheered on the blond 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.

"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 before her performance.Hosts were Billy Bush, co-anchor of " Access Hollywood," and Claudia Jordan, a former Miss Rhode Island USA who has appeared on several TV shows. Judges included actor Dean Cain and supermodel Valeria Mazza.Miss China, Wang Jingyao, was named Miss Congeniality and Miss Thailand, Chutima Durongdej, won Miss Photogenic.

Many contestants have suffered from dehydration in recent weeks, and Jewel Selver, Miss Turks and Caicos, went home Saturday to recuperate, said Esther Swan, Miss Universe spokeswoman.

The Los Angeles Times