Beijing, December 10
Miss Iceland, Unnur Birna Vilhjalmsdottir, who plans to be a lawyer as well as an anthropologist, was today crowned as Miss World 2005 in the tropical resort of Sanya in southern China.
Unnur, (21), who describes herself as an “organised, ambitious and good-humoured” person, won the hearts and minds of the judges at the glittering finals of the 55th Miss World contest, held for a record third time in Sanya.
She said her motto is, “You are what you do.”
Miss Mexico, Dafne Molina Lona, (23), came runner-up while Miss Puerto Ricco, Inngrid Marie Rivera Santos, (22), was adjudged second runner-up in the two-hour-long gala, seen live by over two billion persons worldwide.
Miss India, Sindhura Gadde, who entered the semi-finals, lost to her South Korean rival, Eun-Yong Oh in the contest for selection from the Asia-Pacific region.
This year, the Miss World said they had introduced an “innovative” new voting system, each contestant will be allocated a number for worldwide short messaging service (SMS) voting or via the voting hotline in their particular country.
Six ‘Vote For Me’ TV specials will present contestants from each continental zone and invite the global television audience to cast votes to determine the top two from each zone to go through to the Miss World final where the six continental winners will be chosen, Miss World Northern Europe, Miss World Southern Europe, Miss World Asia Pacific, Miss World Africa, Miss World Americas and Miss World Caribbean.
A panel of nine former Miss Worlds chaired by Miss World Chairman Julia Morley chose the winner.
Miss Mexico is a 23-year-old model from Mexico City who wants to be an interior designer. She enjoys riding horses, listening to jazz and reading. She told the audience, “My friends tell me, through my eyes, they see a good heart.” She said her favorite saying is, “With strength and enthusiasm I will make things happen.”
Miss Puerto Rico is a part-time model who studies marketing and finance at the University of Puerto Rico. The 22-year-old woman said she hoped to have her own business and become an actress.
— PTI
