Colombia's Paulina Vega wins Miss Universe title

Miss Colombia Paulina Vega (L) is crowned Miss Universe 2014 by Miss Universe 2013 Gabriela Isler (R) during the 63rd Annual MISS UNIVERSE Pageant on Jan 25, 2015 in Miami, Florida. (Photo: AFP/Timothy A. Clary)

DORAL, United States: Colombia's Paulina Vega was crowned Miss Universe Sunday (Jan 25), beating out contenders from the United States, Ukraine, Jamaica and The Netherlands at the world's top beauty pageant in Florida.

The 22-year-old model and business student triumphed over 87 other women from around the world, and is only the second beauty queen from Colombia to take home the prize. The last time Colombia won the crown was in 1958 when Luz Marina Zuluaga scored the title.

Vega, wearing a long silver sequined gown, was beaming and tearful as she accepted her sash and crown from reigning Miss Universe, Venezuelan Gabriela Isler. She edged out first runner-up, Nia Sanchez from the United States, hugging her as the win was announced.

London-born Vega dedicated her title to Colombia and to all her supporters. "We are proud, this is a triumph, not only personal, but for all those 47 million Colombians who were dreaming with me and were part of this whole process," she told reporters after the win.

She said the title was "more important than the World Cup," and said beauty queens are respected around the world. For Vega, the win was a point of national pride and she hopes it will put her country on the map.

"We are persevering people, despite all the obstacles, we keep fighting for what we want to achieve. After years of difficulty, we are leading in several areas on the world stage," she said earlier during the question round.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos applauded her, praising the brown-haired beauty on Twitter. "Colombia today is an example for the world, congratulations," he wrote.

The 180cm model from Barranquilla is the granddaughter of legendary tenor Gaston Vega and 1953 Miss Atlantico, Elvira Castillo. Vega won highest possible score of 9.9 in every presentation at the Miss Universe Colombia contest, according to the pageant's website.

PAGEANT GETS POLITICAL

Vega beat out Ukraine's Diana Harkusha, Yasmin Verheijen from the Netherlands and Miss Jamaica Kaci Fennell, who were also top five finalists. Though Sunday's program remained mostly apolitical, Miss Ukraine spoke about ongoing turmoil in her nation.

"We have a very difficult situation in our country direct all of our energies to support our army and our people we have to restore schools, we have to restore kindergartens and orphanages," Harkusha said.

The 63rd edition of the Miss Universe pageant was held at Florida International University before a full house of enthusiastic fans. The contest featured the traditional parade of eye-catching swimsuits and national costumes and performances from teen idol Nick Jonas and Dominican-born American singer Prince Royce.

Ten judges were tasked to select this year's winner, including Cuban-American music mogul Emilio Estefan, Cuban soap opera star William Levy and Philippine boxing great Manny Pacquiao. The event is actually the 2014 Miss Universe pageant. The competition was scheduled to take place between the Golden Globes and the Super Bowl to try to get a bigger television audience.

The contest, owned by billionaire business mogul Donald Trump, is watched by about 600 million worldwide, pageant officials say. Trump said he has not yet decided where the next Miss Universe will be hosted, but did not rule out Colombia as a possible venue.

Controversy emerged ahead of the contest, when Miss Israel took a selfie with Miss Lebanon. That irritated Lebanon, which is technically at war with Israel. Miss Lebanon, who was careful not to be seen next to her rival, explained that while she was posing with Miss Japan and Miss Slovenia, the Israeli beauty queen shoved her way into the photo op and posted it on Instagram.

The Miss Universe contest started out in 1952 as a local "bathing beauty" competition organized by a swimwear company in Long Beach, California. Today, the competition is more than a beauty pageant and contestants "compete with hope of advancing their careers, personal and humanitarian goals and ... seek to improve the lives of others," according to the Miss Universe website.