Miss Universe 2017 News: South African Beauty Bags Prestigious Crown
Demi Leigh Nel-Peters of South Africa was crowned Miss Universe 2017, besting 91 other contestants who joined the annual international beauty tilt.
Miss Universe 2017, the 66th edition of the prestigious beauty tilt, was held at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday evening, November 26th, and was participated in by 92 countries all over the world. After the preliminary round of competitions held last November 25, the 92 contestants were reduced to 16 semi-finalists on the coronation night hosted once more by Steve Harvey.
Four from each region were chosen to compose the 16 semi-finalists. From the combined regions of Asia and Africa, Thailand (Maria Poonlertlarp), Sri Lanka (Christina Peiris) Ghana (Ruth Quarshie), and South Africa were called to advance in the competition. Europe, on the other hand, was represented by Spain (Sophia Del Prado), Ireland ( Cailín Áine Ní Toibín), Croatia (Shanaelle Petty), and Great Britain (Anna Burdzy) while Colombia (Laura González), USA (Kára McCullough), Brazil (Monalyza Alcantara), and Canada (Lauren Howe) were picked from the Americas.
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Four countries were also chosen as part of the Wild Card slate to complete the 16 semi-finalists, and they were Philippines (Rachel Peters), Venezuela (Keysi Sayago), Jamaica (Davina Bennett), and China (Roxette Qiu).
After parading in the swimsuit competition, the semi-finalists were further reduced to 10, and Venezuela, USA, Philippines, Canada, South Africa, Spain, Brazil, Colombia, Thailand, and Jamaica advanced to the next round of the competition: The evening gown parade that showcased the candidates' elegance.
The Top 5 candidates were chosen based on their performance in the evening gown round and battled it out in the question-and-answer portion that determined the Final 3. While Thailand and Venezuela impressed with their answers to their respective questions, the judges picked Jamaica, Colombia, and South Africa to advance in the final round of the competition, where they answer one common question: "What quality in yourself that you are most proud of, and how will you apply that quality to your time as Miss Universe?"
"As Miss Universe, you have to be confident in who you are, as an individual. A Miss Universe is a woman who has overcome many fears, and by that, she is able to help other women overcome their fears. She is a woman that nothing is too much to ask for, and I think that is exactly who I am," goes the answer of the 22-year old Nel-Peters that made her clinch the crown.
Colombia was named first runner-up while Jamaica finished the competition as second runner up.
