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Miss Canada crowned Miss Universe
31st May 2005 11.30 IST
By ApunKaChoice Bureau

The Miss Universe title drought for India continued as Natalie Glebova of Canada was crowned Miss Universe 2005 on Tuesday at a Bangkok gala finale broadcast around the world and watched by an estimated one billion people.

Glebova, 23, who was born in Russia but immigrated to Toronto as a young girl, won the beauty pageant ahead of Puerto Rico's Cynthia Olavarria, who was first runner-up.

The 5'11" tall brunette from Toronto was chosen from five contestants -- the four others from Latin America -- who answered random questions onstage in the final round of the competition.

The 12-judge panel chose beauties from Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Canada for the final round.

Glebova, the blue-eyed beauty, succeeded last year's winner, Australian Jennifer Hawkins, after the usual evening gown and swimsuit parades that pull in TV viewers worldwide but outrage feminists and traditionalists.

Even though hotly tipped for the title, the final announcement appeared to stun Glebova, who moved to Canada from her native Russia only 11 years ago.

"This is all happening too fast and it's unreal. It's slowly starting to sink in," Glebova told reporters moments after being crowned with the glittering, diamond-encrusted Miss Universe tiara.

Dressed in a long white evening dress, she hugged her parents on stage and then praised her new homeland for giving her and her family the chance to start a new life.

"When we came 11 years ago, we came with nothing, and now we've got so much," said Glebova, whose most unusual talent is being able to read upside-down just as well as read right-side up!

Miss Puerto Rico Cynthia Olavarria, a 12-1 favorite according to on-line betting service Sportsbook.com, came in second.

In all, 81 beauties from Albania to Zambia made it to Thailand, riding elephants, touring temples and frollicking on tsunami-hit beaches in the run-up to Tuesday's finale, which was broadcast live on Monday evening in North America.

In the middle of the show, the conference hall fell silent for a minute in memory of the more than 228,000 dead or missing from the Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tsunami. Nearly 5,400 of the victims were in Thailand.

Three special awards were also given:

Best National Dress: Miss Thailand, Chananporn Rosjan

Miss Photogenic: Miss Philippines, Gionna Cabrera

Miss Congeniality: Miss US Virgin Islands, Tricia Homer.


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