Minsk, Belarus to host Miss Supranational 2013 finals on September 6th

It is confirmed: The 5th edition of the Miss Supranational beauty pageant will travel this September to Minsk, capital of Belarus.  The final will take place at the Sports Hall in Minsk on Friday, September 6th.  The contestants will arrive in the city on August 17th, and will travel to various spots around the country as well as attending some special activities.  After four successful years in Poland, the Grand Slam competition now begins to take place internationally.

Miss Supranational 2013 Minsk is a joint collaboration between World Beauty Association, Nowa Scena and ONT TV (Obshchenatsional’noe Televidenie, local organizers)  The announcement took place in Minsk on January 16th with the presence of local and international press, and the four Miss Supranational titleholders: Oksana Morya (2009, Ukraine), Karina Pinilla (2010, Panama), Monika Lewczuk (2011, Poland) and Ekaterina Buraya (2012, Belarus). (GLOBAL BEAUTIES)

New York wins Miss America 2013

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A 23-year-old contestant from Brooklyn, N.Y., has won the title of Miss America 2013.

Mallory Hagan won the Las Vegas beauty pageant Saturday night after tap dancing to James Brown’s “Get Up Off of That Thing” and answering a question about whether armed guards belong in grade schools by saying we should not fight violence with violence.

Hagan defeated Miss South Carolina Ali Rogers, who took second, and Miss Oklahoma Alicia Clifton, who finished third.

Hagan wins a $50,000 college scholarship and gets the crown for one year. Her platform was stopping child sexual abuse.

She is expected to spend her title reign on a nationwide speaking tour and raising money for the Children’s Miracle Network, the organization’s official charity.

“Reina Internacional del Café” 2013

Ivanna Vale (20) from Tachira, Venezuela, was crowned Reina Internacional del Cafe (International Queen of Coffee) during the annual event held in Manizales, Caldas, on January 12th.

The 1st runner-up was Miss Colombia, Claudy Blandon, while the 2nd runner-up was Miss Dominican Republic, Melody Mir. The 3rd runner-up was Miss Aruba Larissa Maria and the 4th runner-up was Miss Honduras Jennifer Valle.

The last time Venezuela won this title was in 1999, with Daira Lambis. 23 contestants competed in the pageant.

Miss USA Crowned

Donald Trump and Olivia Culpo officially crowned the new Miss USA Wednesday in New York City. (Nana was first runner-up in the pageant, but took over that title after 2012 Miss USA Olivia Culpo won the Miss Universe Crown last December.)

“They’re brilliant, they’re really into charity and the world of charity, and they’re phenomenal people,” he said. “They’re very solid. In many cases, they went to the best colleges. In the case of Nana, she was a great athlete—a volleyball player [at UCLA]” said Trump about his new titleholder.  Miss Teen USA Logan West was also present at the ceremony.

27-year old Nana became the 2nd Miss USA titleholder from Maryland (the other being Leona Gage in 1957, who was later dethroned).  Nana will take over Culpo’s old job and will serve as spokesperson for  Breast and Ovarian Cancer Research and Awareness.

Trump also announced that Miss USA 2013 will be chosen in June. (GLOBAL BEAUTIES)

“I am She” – Miss Universe India pageant says Goodbye

Former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen, director of  ”I am She” (Miss Universe India) announced officially that her competition will say goodbye after three years.

The announcement was published on the cover of I am She’s Official Website.

Sen was awarded the Miss Universe franchise in 2010, which was previously owned by the Times of India Group, organizers of “Femina Miss India”, the biggest beauty competition in the country.

“I am She” crowned three winners: Ushoshi Sengupta (2010), Vasuki Sunkavalli (2011) and Urvashi Rautela (2012). Rautela was later dethroned for not fulfilling the age requirements to compete in Miss Universe and was replaced by Shilpa Singh, who went on to place among the Top 16 semi-finalists during the last edition of Miss Universe held in Las Vegas.

Singh’s placement was the first for a Miss India since 2007, when Pooja Gupta placed in the Top 10.

There is no information at the moment as to which organization will buy the Miss Universe rights for India.

Under Femina’s direction, India became a powerhouse in the world of beauty pageants, crowning two Miss Universe winners (Sen in 1994 and Lara Dutta in 2000) and four Miss World winners (Aishwarya Rai, 1994; Diana Hayden, 1997; Yukta Mookhey, 1999; and Priyanka Chopra, 2000) as well as countless finalists and semi-finalists in several beauty competitions.

The enormous success of India started to diminish in the early 2000′s, when international competitions changed their format and Indian beauties were no longer the competitors who ruled the stage during the 1990′s.

Miss Panama World 2013

21-year old Virginia Hernandez, a model, student and professional ballet dancer, was elected Queen of the Panama City Carnival “Descubrimiento” 2013 as well as Miss Panama World 2013 during a ceremony held at the Anayansi Theater on January 8th.  As the new Queen of Carnival, Virginia -who stands 172 cm in height- will rule the festivities in February, as well as representing the country as tourism ambassador and in the Miss World 2013 competition to be held in Indonesia in September.

She will be officially crowned the Queen of Carnival on February 8th.

The 1st runner-up was Andrea Quintero from Los Santos, and the 2nd runner-up was Nabil Gonzalez from Cocle.  Completing the top 5 finalists were Rocio Lezcano (4th place) and Caroline Garzon (5th place). 10 beauties competed in the event.

The election of Queen of Carnival as Miss World Panama was a joint initiative between the Panama Tourism Authority (ATP) and the Miss Panama Organization (OMP) due to the request of Miss World Limited to separate the national competitions and not choose joint winners as accustomed.  The Miss Panama Universe competition will take place on April 30th.

Photos courtesy of Dealante.com

Virginia Hernandez will join 124 beauties who will compete for the Miss World 2013 title in Indonesia, in September

Virginia was crowned by Maricely Gonzalez (Miss Panama World 2012) and Estefania Mora (Queen of the Panama City Carnival 2012)

Miss Belgium 2013

19-year old Noémie Happart was crowned Miss Belgium 2013 during the annual event held at the Casino in Knokke-Heist (West Flanders).  The runner-ups were Sherine Dandoy (1st) and Melissa Vingerhoed (2nd).

Noemie stands 178 cm in height and comes from Grâce-Hollogne (Liege). She will represent Belgium in the Miss World 2013 competition in Indonesia in September, and is also expected to compete in the Miss Universe 2013 pageant in a date to be announced soon. (Global Beauties)