The most beautiful contest was held in New Orleans Morial Convention Center, Louisiana USA on January 15th. A total of 84 women from around the world were competing for The Mouawad Crown, which was made with 18-karat gold and hand-set with 1,725 white diamonds and 3 golden canary diamonds, at the 71st ceremony of the “Miss Universe.” The American participant R’Bonney Gabriel became a new winner of the contest. She is a fashion designer, model and sewing instructor from Texas who competition officials said is the first Filipino American to win Miss USA. 

Miss Universe started in 1952 as a marketing stunt by a California clothing company, Pacific Knitting Mills, after the winner of a rival pageant Miss America, Yolande Betbeze,  refused to wear one of its swimsuits. Pacific Knitting Mills organized the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, co-sponsoring them for decades to come. Since that moment Miss Universe has been an annual event that has more than 500 million viewers from all over the world. 

Costumes play a very important role in this contest. R’Bonney Gabriel wore a huge star-spangled costume that had a gigantic moon-shaped hat. The silver headpiece features colorful neon-illuminated lighting and plenty of bedazzle. It was super difficult for her, as it weighed a total of 14 kilograms (30 pounds), and the diameter was 36 inches, which made it hard to present. Patrick Isorena, the costume designer, said that the main goal of it was to “inspire women in all spaces across the universe to dream big, shoot for the moon and achieve something out of this world.”

Only 16 countries had the opportunity to take part in the final. Here are the top 5 for the results of the voting: 

1 – United States, R’Bonney Gabriel; 

2 – Venezuela, Amanda Dudamel; 

3- Puerto Rico, Ashley Cariño; 

4 – Curacao, Gabriëla Dos Santos;

4 – Dominican Republic, Andreína Martínez. 

The next “Miss Universe” will be held in El Salvador in 2024, and lots of fans from around the world are waiting for it! Congratulations to R’Bonney Gabriel for the epic win!