M A I N   N E W S

Puerto Rican is Miss Universe
Miss India Celina Jaitley is fourth runner-up

San Juan (Puerto Rico), May 12
Miss Puerto Rico, Denise Quinones, was crowned Miss Universe 2001, at a glitzy pageant last night, sweeping away the contestants from 76 other countries with her dazzling smile and delighting a wildly cheering home crowd. Miss India, Celina Jaitley, finished as the fourth runner-up.

Miss Universe finalists from left to right Miss India Celina Jaitley, Miss Venezuela Eva Ekval, Miss Puerto Rico Denise Quinones, Miss Greece Evelina Papantoniou and Miss U.S.A. Kandace Krueger wait for the announcement of the winner on Friday in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. — AP/PTI photo

In the second place was Miss Greece, Evelina Papantoniou, after a two-hour extravaganza near the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan that was televised in some 130 countries around the globe. Miss USA, Kandace Krueger, was third.

The flag-waving San Juan crowd, which had cheered Ms Quinones every time she appeared on stage, went wild as the 5’-10” 20-year-old with a mane of brown hair who has studied singing and dancing, was proclaimed the 50th Miss Universe and crowned by last year’s winner, Lara Dutta of India.

Ms Quinones, who says she would like to be a singer and create her own television show, was the darling of the crowd from the start with her gliding walk and big smile.Nearly two hours after the ceremony, horns were still sounding on the streets. Puerto Rico, a US Caribbean territory of 3.8 million persons, has a strong national identity and was delighted to salute to its latest home-grown celebrity.

When the sparkling crown was placed on her head last night, Ms Quinones, one of the few women in the history of the contest to win the title at home, beamed and blew kisses to a crowd of thousands that applauded her victory.

“I can’t believe it,” said Ms Quinones, wearing a white evening gown with a plunging neckline. “I just felt really confident and that projected.”

Since the contest began 50 years ago, few contestants have won on home soil. The only other case in recent memory came in 1997, with Miss USA Brook Lee winning in Miami.

Fourteen Latin American women have won the crown. Ms Quinones becomes the 15th, and the fourth Puerto Rican.

Singer Marc Anthony, a judge with Puerto Rican roots, said it was hard to pick a winner. Other judges in this year’s pageant included 1993 Miss Universe Dayanara Torres Muniz, also of Puerto Rico, and Kel Gleason, a contestant on the TV show “Survivor: The Australian Outback”.

“(Quinones) had all the qualities that they told us to look out for,” Mr Anthony said. “It was really tough though.”

Ms Quinones made headlines when she dressed up as a fighting cock for informal costume contest last week. The bloody sport is widely popular in Latin American countries.

Although all 77 contestants were on show at the start of yesterday’s extravaganza, 67 of them were eliminated earlier in the week after a swimsuit and evening attire parade on Sunday and personality interviews during the week.

The lucky 10 remaining contestants were announced as the evening got started — the beauties from Spain, Venezuela, Nigeria, Israel, Greece, India, Russia, the USA, France and Puerto Rico.

After the swimsuit and evening gown parades, those final 10 contestants were pared down again to five women: Miss India, Miss Venezuela, Eva Ekvall, and Quinones, Papantoniou and Krueger. Reuters, AP