8th place-Miss Universe 2003-Amelia Vega
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| Amelia Vega November 7, 1984 6ft 1in 18 when crowned |
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| Barbara Palacios the first Miss Universe crowned on Panama City, Panama in 1986 |
The 71 contestant's arrived in Panama in mid-May. Two major favorites for the crown were Brazil's Gislaine Ferreira, and Amelia Vega from The Dominican Republic. It was going to be between those two delegates. Other favorites were South Africa, Cindy Nell (my favorite), Serbia and Montenegro Sanja Papic, Claudia Ortiz of Peru, Marietta Chrousala of Greece, Spains, Eva Gonzales, and Silvia Ceccon from Italy. It was a very strong group of delegates, with many possibilities.
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| Venezuela |
After the presentation show Amelia Vega and Gislaine Ferreira lost some points with the specialized press due to their outdated looks and for not being in their best shape. Other's such as Czech Republic, Japan, Namibia, and Trinidad & Tobago, started getting ground, Peru, Panama, Italy and SErbia & Montenegro, looked truly amazing. Many thought Venezuela and USA would not make the cut. In reality, at that point, there was no clear stand out or winner. It was an open game.
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| USA |
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| Spain |
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| Italy |
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| Japan in her very revealing evening gown |
After the girls paraded in evening gown the 15 were cut down to 10. The ten were: Czech Republic, Brazil, Canada, Serbia & Montenegro, Namibia, South Africa, Venezuela, Trinidad & Tobago, Dominica Republic, and Japan. They then paraded in swimsuit. he 5 that went on to the final stage were: Venezuela, Japan, South Africa, Dominican Republic, and Serbia & Montenegro. The Panamanian crowd was shocked to see Miss Brazil eliminated. The final 5 girls answered the final question and then it came time to crown the new Miss Universe. Unfortunately and with no reasonable explanation, Miss Japan was 4th runner up, Miss Serbia and Montenegro was 3rd runner up, at this point everyone thought Venezuela was 2nd runner up but it was actually South Africa. The two final girls left holding hands were Venezuela and the very controversial Amelia Vega of The Dominican Republic. "...and if for any reason the new Miss Universe can not fulfill her obligations the 1st runner up will take over," and just like that Venezuela was 1st runner and Amelia Vega was the new Miss Universe of 2003. Amelia was always a very controversial girl. From her arrival
to Panama she was followed with rumors of being hard to work with and being rude to the other delegates. It was nosecret that she was there to win and not to make friends.
Whenever Amelia spoke to journalists based in the United
States, she would wrap up her interviews by saying "See you in New York!" To make rumors even more intense, Amelia won an unexpected Best National costume award. Rumor also has it that she called Miss Spain fat right before she went on to compete in swimsuit during preliminaries. In her favor the next year when she came back to crown her successor she seemed more humble as if the experience had help her mature and grow as a woman.
So Amelia is my 8th place winner. She was truly one of the most beautiful girls in the top 15. She looked like a true super model. Beautiful lean body and great presentation skills. She walked with lots of confidence and that great smile never left her face once.
States, she would wrap up her interviews by saying "See you in New York!" To make rumors even more intense, Amelia won an unexpected Best National costume award. Rumor also has it that she called Miss Spain fat right before she went on to compete in swimsuit during preliminaries. In her favor the next year when she came back to crown her successor she seemed more humble as if the experience had help her mature and grow as a woman.
So Amelia is my 8th place winner. She was truly one of the most beautiful girls in the top 15. She looked like a true super model. Beautiful lean body and great presentation skills. She walked with lots of confidence and that great smile never left her face once.
