Miss Universe Crowned As Crowd Boos: Vega Snatches Victory From Miss Jamaica As Miss USA Stumbles [Video]
Paulina Vega, better known as Miss Colombia, has been officially crowned Miss Universe, much to the dismay of first runner-up Miss USA title holder, Nia Sanchez. Vega beat contestants from more than 80 countries this Sunday at the Miss Universe pageant in Miami, Florida.
Paulina Vega, who became her country’s Miss Colombia, is a 22-year-old college student studying business out of Barranquilla, Colombia. Vega said the beauty contests prior to the Miss Universe were her first pageants of any kind that she had participated in. Miss Universe was quick to note that her career as a beauty queen was over as Vega plans to continue her education in business.
“It will be a dream come true to represent the woman of today. A woman that not only cares about being beautiful and being glamorous, but also cares about being a professional, intelligent, hard-working person,”
In contrast, as reported by USA Today, Sanchez was asked a hard hitting question by Miss Universe judge Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao during the pageant. He asked the 24-year-old Miss USA from Las Vegas a question on terrorism for which she appeared to be unprepared.
“If you were given 30 seconds to deliver a message to global terrorists, what would you say?”
Her answer to Pacman was, according to US Weekly, right out of the Miss Congeniality playbook.
“If I was given 30 seconds to give a message to the global terrorists, I would just say that, you know, as Miss USA I could always spread a message of hope, and love, and peace, and so I would do my very best to spread that message to them and everyone else in the world.”
Her response failed to earn her the Miss Universe crown and became the subject of much ridicule on twitter.
#MissUniverse #MissUSA just bombed her question about terrorism. lol.
— #teamCDOT (@CdotJudge) January 26, 2015
Yep. I'm sure ISIS would be soooo interested to hear what Miss USA has to say about their campaign of global terrorism. #MissUniverse
— Dre (@dre_lou) January 26, 2015
https://twitter.com/IAmPerseverant/status/559632993216507904
Sanchez had spoken earlier in the week saying that he dreaded the question portion but that she had been practicing all week for that portion of the contest with her roommate, Miss Australia Tegan Martin, who also made it into the top ten. Of course, as the Inquisitr reported earlier, there has been no shortage of controversy surrounding this year’s Miss Universe Pageant.
Perhaps the biggest upset was the fact that Miss Jamaica was widely considered to have been cheated out of the title. This was illustrated during the awkward moment when Vega’s victory was booed as Miss Jamaica, otherwise known as Kaci Fennell, was declared fourth-runner up. The social media circles all declared that she was robbed of the title for reasons ranging from her race to her short hair.
It looks like #MissUniverse's world isn't ready to a black, elegant, short hair and INTELLIGENT woman as #MissJamaica pic.twitter.com/ymuiLaaO4v
— Samy Nemir Olivares (@Samynemir) January 26, 2015
yow #MissJamaica shoulda been #MissUniverse2015 STILL ! They never wanna big up Carribean girls smh
— Jesska. (@CoolestKidOuttt) January 26, 2015
At the end of the day, Miss Columbia took the crown and the 2014 Miss Universe winner was quite supportive of the panels decision. Donald Trump, who owns the beauty pageant, had good things to say about the final decision as well. He issued his own statement of support voicing his admiration of Vega, according to the Daily News.
“She has an amazing life in front of her. She’s going to be a star. From the minute she walked into the building, people said she was a star.”
