Miss Universe 2007

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naturally all girls are beautiful

[Parinaz_M]

naturally all girls are beautiful

but Iranian girls are naturally more beautiful

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now i can understand y iranian leaders are too possessive.

[Rasputin]

Miss Universe Pageant 2007 to be Held in Mexico City

Mexico City will be hosting Donald Trump’s Miss Universe Pageant 2007, marking the second time in 15 years that the city—one of the world’s largest--has played host to this top-line event.

The pageant, to be held for the second time at Mexico City’s state-of-the-art National Auditorium (the first was in 1993), will be broadcast live May 28 at 9:00 Eastern Standard Time (EST) by NBC and the Spanish-language network Telemundo.

Prior to the show, contestants will visit a variety of locations throughout Mexico to prerecord segments and attend special events. Tourism locales featured in the show will include the colonial cities and prehispanic sites of the southeastern state of Chiapas as well as Cancun’s world-famous beaches, whose turquoise waters and white-sand shores will serve as a breathtaking backdrop for the pageant’s swimsuit photo shoot.

The pageant’s host city boasts attractions that rival the beauty of the contestants themselves. These include the world’s third-largest flower market (Cuemanco), three World Heritage Sites (the canals of Xochimilco, Luis Barragan’s House and Studio and the downtown area), the only castle in the Americas (Chapultepec) and more museums than any other city in the world. The pageant’s host venue also offers a rich history, having been the site of the 1968 Summer Olympic Games’ gymnastics competitions.

Zuleyka Rivera, Miss Universe 2006, joined Francisco Lopez Mena, CEO of the Mexico Tourism Board, one of the pageant’s sponsors, to disclose the details of this event at the Cancun Media Marketplace, a one-day seminar in New York to showcase the tourism amenities of Mexico’s premier resort city.

In addition to hosting the pageant, Mexico has also produced a winner: Lupita Jones in 1991.

About the Mexico Tourism Board
The Mexico Tourism Board (MTB) brings together the resources of federal and state governments, municipalities and private companies to promote Mexico's tourism attractions and destinations nationally and internationally. Created in 1999, the MTB is Mexico’s tourism promotion agency, and its participants include members of both the private and public sectors. The MTB has offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

[Rasputin]

While Miss Venezuela comes in as a +400 favorite at BetUS.com to win the Miss Universe 2007 contest, she's got some pretty tough competition.

Among those listed as near favorites in the 2007 Miss Universe contest: Miss Brazil, Miss Korea and Miss Greece, all with +800 odds.

Some facts you should know:

Greece is now in the pole position, with Venezuela in second place and Korea in third. Tanzania at +1150 and Spain at +1150 round out the top five. Brazil, incidentally, is at the number 13 position.

The interest in this event is quite staggering in terms of search and readership here at Gambling911.com," Ms. Payton O'Brien, Senior Editor of Gambling911.com reports. "It has been the third most popular topic in terms of readership over the last 48 hours."

The event is not without its controversies however, which could very well be playing into the overall popularity.

Missing from the competition is three time winning country representative, Miss Sweden.

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 any other job after heavy criticism from feminists.

Then there is the former Miss USA, Tara Conner, who had to enter rehab as a result of underage drinking and late night partying. She handed the crown over to who we hope will be a better representative of Miss USA - and perhaps the Miss Universe pageant, Rachel Smith (Miss Tennessee). But poor Rachel Smith nearly got booed off the stage during preliminaries in Mexico City as a result of recent immigration policy reviews in the US

Canada, whose 2005 delegate Natalie Glebova won Miss Universe that year, has placed among the "field" odds this year at BetUS.com and is listed at 66 to 1 or longer odds elsewhere.

Neither England, The Netherlands nor Iceland will be represented in this year's Miss Universe pageant.

Trinidad and Tobago will not send a delegate for the first time in sixteen years, due to a lack of financial support. Kenisha Thom, who represented Trinidad and Tobago in 2006 appealed to the government and businesses to support the pageant, to no avail

Tanzania makes an impressive debut, competing for the first time ever. Miss Tanzania ranks among the top 6 contestants by the oddsmakers at BetUS.com, giving her +1150 odds or a $100 bet pays out $1150.

Serbia and Montenegro will compete separately in Miss Universe for the first time.

[Rasputin]

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 any other job after heavy criticism from feminists.

Participants in the pageant also are breaking the mold.

Miss Jamaica, 25-year-old Zahra Redwood, is the contest's first Rastafarian and the first to appear in dreadlocks. She wants judges to see her as a "Rastafarian promoting the message of peace, love and unity throughout mankind."

Miss Tanzania, Flaviana Matata, an electrical technician whose country is participating for the first time, is also challenging stereotypes of beauty with her shaved head. "I never let anyone define me neither by hair nor clothing as I believe God made me perfect as a pure, natural African woman," she said.

Donald Trump, who now co-owns the contest with NBC, says the Miss Universe Organization has redefined beauty pageants.

"With each passing year our ratings continue to get better because of the beautiful and intelligent women who participate in our competitions," he declared.

But the Miss Universe competition is still judged solely on an interview and swimsuit and evening gown competitions, continuing a tradition that began with a spat over a swimsuit more than 50 years ago. California's Pacific Mills clothing company launched the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants after the 1951 Miss America, Yolande Betbeze, refused to pose in its swimsuit.

Miss Universe is considered a wilder rival to Miss America, which offers scholarships and values its talent contest more than its swimsuit competition. Other than Vanessa Williams, who stepped down in 1984 after Penthouse published her nude photographs, Miss America has had relatively few scandals. But risque photos and public drunkenness have increasingly landed Miss USA and Miss Universe contestants in the tabloids.

Miss Nevada USA Katie Rees was dethroned from this year's competition after her racy pictures emerged on the Web. Miss New Jersey USA Ashley Harder resigned when she got pregnant. And before Tara Conner handed her crown to the latest Miss USA, Tennessee journalism graduate Rachel Smith, the telecast opened with a string of news clips about Conner entering rehab for boozing at New York clubs.

Even the outfits in this year's contest have raised eyebrows.

Miss Mexico Rosa Maria Ojeda was forced to change her gown to a fruit-and-vegetables motif after Mexicans were outraged by the bullet-studded belt and images of hanging bodies and firing squads in her s***t's original design, which referred to the bloody Cristero war, a Roman Catholic rebellion in the 1920s. Miss Jamaica donned a Bob Marley T-shirt to honor her country's culture, while Miss Ecuador, Lugina Cabezas, appeared holding a fake, bloodstained banderilla, a colorful barbed stick stuck in the back of bulls during bullfighting, outraging animal rights groups.

Organizers say the Miss Universe contest carefully selects women who are intelligent, well-mannered and cultured, and dispute the notion that beauty queens are clueless about international issues. The pageant's Web site notes that Miss Universe 2000, Mpule Kwelagobe, helped build a 400-bed pediatric AIDS hospital and orphanage in her native Botswana, while Miss Universe 1981 Irene Saez of Venezuela went on to become mayor of a municipality and later ran as president, losing to President Hugo Chavez in 1998.

"We do change with the times," said Paula M. Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization. "It really opens doors for people. It's nice for us to pick somebody who is not known, give them a shot and change their life forever."

Sweden is a three-time Miss Universe winner, behind only the United States, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. But Papadopoulos, owner of the Panos Emporio brand swimsuits which in 2004 bought the rights to the Miss Sweden contest, said Trump's pageant doesn't fit with Miss Sweden's new, more professional image.

"The modernization of the international competition has been significantly slower than the Swedish contest, although we see signs of change on the horizon," Papadopoulos said.

Miss Universe organizers took it in stride. "We will miss you," Papadopoulos said they told him by e-mail, "and we will miss Miss Sweden."

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Miss Angola

Miss Brazil

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Miss Japan

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miss korea

Miss Mexico

Miss Nicaragua

Miss Puerto Rico

Miss Czech Rep.

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Miss USA

Miss USA Falls under miss universe show

Miss Venezuela

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Miss Japan crowned Miss Universe 2007

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 her. Mori immediately placed it back on her head.

The last time Japan won the pageant was in 1959 when Akiko Kojima became the first Miss Universe from Asia.

"She is an amazing champion, an amazing woman and I hear that they go totally insane in Japan, so that's good," said Donald Trump, who co-owns the pageant with NBC.

Miss USA Rachel Smith, who slipped and fell to the floor during the evening gown competition and was jeered by the Mexican audience during the interview phase, was the contest's fourth runner-up.

Mori, from the small town of Shizuoka at the base of Mount Fuji, won the cheers of the Mexico City audience when she opened her interview, saying 'Hola, Mexico!'

"I learned how to always be happy, be patient and to be positive, and this is what I want to teach to the next generation," she said during the interview competition.

The daughter of a dance school operator, Mori said her grandmother told her as a child that she wanted her to be Miss Japan before she turned 20.

"From the very beginning, I entered the competition with high hopes and an unswerving determination to make this dream a reality," she said in a pre-competition interview.

She wants to someday open an international dance school in Tokyo.

"Right now I am only 20 years old, so I'm really excited about what I'm going to be able to do at this age to benefit society," Mori said after winning.

Smith was booed during her interview and several audience members chanted "Mexico! Mexico!" until she spoke in Spanish, saying "Buenas noches Mexico. Muchas gracias!" which earned her applause. Mexico has a fierce rivalry with its northern neighbor.

Also finishing in the top five were second runner-up Ly Jonaitis of Venezuela and third runner-up Honey Lee of Korea.

The winner travels the world for a year on behalf of charities and pageant sponsors.

The 15 finalists from a field of 77


ontestants were announced early in Monday's show. They were picked last week during preliminary judging in the contest's swimsuit, evening gown and interview categories. Their names were not announced until Monday, allowing all 77 to be introduced to the television audience.

As soon as the final 15 had been selected, they immediately strutted across the stage in animal-print bikinis for the swimsuit competition. After the evening gown competition, five contestants were eliminated, and the judges chose the winner from the five remaining.

Missing from this year's contest was Miss Sweden, whose country is one of the few to win the crown three times. Isabel Lestapier Winqvist, 20, dropped out because many Swedes say the competition does not represent the modern woman.

Hours before the pageant began, dozens of protesters held a mock ceremony in downtown Mexico City that featured "Miss Marijuana," "Miss Sexual Health," "Miss Human Rights" and other candidates with obscenities written across their sashes. The group yelled "Neither ugly nor beautiful, should a woman be considered an object!"

Pageant organizers say the Miss Universe contest carefully selects women who are intelligent, well-mannered and cultured.

1999 Miss Teen USA Vanessa Minnillo and "Extra" weekend correspondent Mario Lopez hosted the live, two-hour telecast, broadcast on NBC and Telemundo, expected to be viewed by more than 600 million people in more than 180 countries.

The celebrity judges included actor James Kyson Lee, model Lindsay Clubine, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, rocker Dave Navarro, Olympic figure skating champion Michelle Kwan, celebrity hairstylist Ken Paves, fashion designer Marc Bouwer, "Project Runway" judge and Elle magazine fashion director Nina Garcia and former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres.

The pageant was last held in Mexico City in 1993, when Torres was crowned.

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MISS UNIVERSE® 2007 AWARDS
TOP 15

Ly Jonaitis
Venezuela





Farung Yuthithum
Thailand




Zaklina Sojic
Denmark





Xiomara Blandino
Nicaragua





Michaela Reis
Angola





Tjasa Kokalj
Slovenia





Rachel Smith
USA





Natalie Guimares
Brazil





Puja Gupta
India




Rosa Maria Ojeda Cuen

Mexico





Riyo Mori
Japan




Lyudmila Bikmullina
Ukraine




Flaviana Matata
Tanzania




Honey Lee
Korea




Lucie Hadasova
Czech Republic

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These went to top 10

Natalie Guimares
Brazil

Puja Gupta
India

Riyo Mori
Japan

Michaela Reis
Angola

Ly Jonaitis
Venezuela

Rachel Smith
USA

Honey Lee
Korea

Flaviana Matata
Tanzania

Xiomara Blandino
Nicaragua

Rosa Maria Ojeda Cuen
Mexico

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MISS UNIVERSE® 2007 AWARDS
Top 5



Ly Jonaitis
Venezuela




Honey Lee
Korea




Natalie Guimares
Brazil


Rachel Smith
US




Riyo Mori
Japan

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Miss Congeniality
Ningning Zhang
China