An American university student is the new Miss Universe, defeating
dozens of contestants from six continents to bring the crown back to the
U.S. after a drought of more than a decade.
Twenty-year-old Olivia Culpo won the title Wednesday night at the
Planet Hollywood casino on the Las Vegas Strip, replacing outgoing
champion Leila Lopes of Angola, reports The Associated Press.
The Boston University sophomore's coronation ends a long losing spell
for the U.S. in the competition co-owned by Donald Trump and NBC. An
American had not won the Miss Universe title since Brook Lee won in
1997.
Culpo, who beat out 88 competitors, wore a tight navy blue mini-dress
with a sequined bodice as she walked on stage for the event's opening
number. Later in the night, she strutted in a purple and blue bikini,
and donned a wintery red velvet gown with a plunging neckline.
No one was more surprised than Culpo's family when told them she was
entering the Miss Rhode Island contest last year, her father Peter
recalled.
"We didn't know a thing about pageants," he said.
She won that contest in a rented $20 dress with a hole in it and then
began working out, dieting, and studying current events on flashcards to
compete for the Miss USA crown.
Culpo was good enough during preliminary Miss Universe contests to be
chosen as one of 16 semifinalists who moved on to compete in the main
show. Her bid lasted through swimsuit, evening wear, and interview
competitions that saw cuts after each round.
She won over the judges even after tripping slightly during the evening
gown competition. Telecasters pointed it out but also noted her poised
recovery.
Moments before she won, Culpo was asked whether she had she had ever done something she regretted.
"I'd like to start off by saying that every experience no matter what
it is, good or bad, you'll learn from it. That's just life," she said.
"But something I've done I've regretted is probably picking on my
siblings growing up, because you appreciate them so much more as you
grow older."
One of those siblings, 17-year-old Gus, was cheering from the front row
with his sister's glittering Miss Rhode Island sash wrapped around his
shoulders
Miss Philippines, Janine Tugonon, came in second, while Miss Venezuela,
Irene Sofia Esser Quintero, placed third. All the contestants spent the
past two weeks in Sin City, where they posed in hardhats at a hotel
groundbreaking, took a painting lesson, and pranked hotel guests by
hiding in their rooms.
After the show, Culpo appeared wearing a white gold crown atop her long
brown hair and told a group of reporters she hoped to bring the country
some good news in the wake of the deadly school shooting in
Connecticut.
"It's such an honor to be representing the USA in an international
beauty contest in spite of all the tragedy that's happened in this
country lately," she said. "I really hope that this will raise
everybody's spirits a little."
The daughter of two professional musicians, Culpo grew up in Cranston
and spent her summers at band camp. She has played the cello alongside
world-renowned classical musician Yo-Yo Ma, and followed in her parents'
footsteps with performances at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Her father called her the "nerdiest" of her siblings, and her brother
recalled that she was "really chubby and sort of weird when she was
younger."
They speculated that the same single-mindedness that helped her master
the cello in second grade propelled her rapid rise through the beauty
pageant ranks.
With her promotion, Miss Maryland Nana Meriwether becomes the new Miss USA.
-culled from AP
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