Miss Universe 2012

The Top 5 finalists at the Miss Universe 2012 pageant were:
Miss Universe 2012, United States, Olivia Culpo
First Runner-up: Philippines, Janine Tugonon
Second Runner-up: Venezuela, IIrene Esser
Third Runner-up: Australia, Renae Ayris
Fourth Runner-up: Brazi, Gabriela Markus

The Top 10 finalists at the Miss Universe 2012 pageant were:
France, Marie Payet
Hungary,Agnes Konkoly
Mexico, Karina González
Russia, Elizaveta Golovanova
South Africa, Melinda Bam

The Top 16 finalists at the Miss Universe 2012 pageant were:
Croatia, Elizabeta Burg
India, hilpa Singh
Kosovo, Diana Avdiu
Peru, Nicole Faveron
Poland, Marcelina Zawadzka
Turkey, Çagil Özge Özkul

Pageant Hosts:

• Andy Cohen


• Giuliana Rancic


• Jeannie Mai

Preliminary Competition Judges:

• Beverly Frank


• Duane Gazi


• Michael Greenwald


• Jimmy Nguyen


• Corinne Nicolas


• Amy Sadowsky


• Carlos Anaya


• Crystle Stewart - Miss USA 2008

Final Telecast Judges:

• Nigel Barker - Fashion photographer and the host of The Face


• Diego Boneta - Singer, actor and songwriter from Mexico


• Scott Disick - Businessman, entrepreneur and reality star of Keeping Up With the Kardashians


• Brad Goreski - Fashion stylist and reality star of It's a Brad, Brad World


• Claudia Jordan - Miss Rhode Island Teen USA 1990 & Miss Rhode Island USA 1997


• Masaharu Morimoto - Chef and star of Iron Chef and Iron Chef America from Japan


• Ximena Navarrete - Miss Universe 2010 from Mexico


• Pablo Sandoval - Professional baseball player from Venezuela


• Lisa Vanderpump - Reality star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills


• Kerri Walsh Jennings - Professional beach volleyball player and triple gold medalist in Summer Olympics

Contestants were judged in three separate categories; evening gown swimsuit, and a personality interview. There is no talent competition. (courtesy of www.missuniverse.com)

As the face of the Miss Universe Organization and at the scrutiny of the public, Olivia Culpo, Miss Universe 2012 took on a big role when she was crowned back in December at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.

With all that has happened for the organization this past year, with slips of Culpo’s underage college drinking and the infamous lawsuit between MUO and former Miss Pennsylvania, Sheena Monnin, it is crucial that Culpo behaves in a way that keeps her on Trump’s good side.

In an interview with Wall Street Journal’s Lee Hawkins, Culpo expressed how confident she is that she will do what she needs to do as Miss Universe.

“I think that I’m not too worried about it because I will do everything that I have to do for the job,” she said “I’m going to work really hard. I hope that hard work and dedication is all it takes to do well in this job.”

Culpo went onto add that she would not go onto her college campus and run around with her friends like she has in the past. Culpo expresses that she plans to behave because it is her job and it would be dumb to act differently.

Top 10 Favorite Miss Universe Dresses

1. Argentina- Camila Solorzano’s dress looked like a piece of art! A fitted, strapless metallic mermaid gown stole the stage and spotlighted every angle of her body.


2. Brazil- A straight line dress with a high slit in the leg made Gabriela Markus shine! The burst effect was stunning and really highlighted her curves.


3. Chile- Ana Luisa Konig took a step in the bold direction with a peach Greek style gown. The color of the fabric and gold accents gave her an overall glowing appearance.


4. Czech Republic- I adored Tereza Chelbovska’s light pink gown for so many reasons. The color went perfectly with her skin tone and the position of the crystals led the eye directly to her face, which is exactly where you want the judges’ eyes.


5. Kosovo- Another Greek inspired gown stole the stage on Diana Avdiu. The heavenly white gown with gold detailing looked stunning with its sheer white cape. Normally I am not a cape person but this time it worked beautifully.


6. New Zealand- Red is such a hard color to pull off on stage and Talia Bennett certainly did it! The part of the dress I liked the most was that the silver detailing was focused on the top of the dress. When wearing a heavily ornate dress it is easy to get lost or look too busy. The simplicity in the gown was stunning.


7. Paraguay- The light blue color on the bottom of this gown made Egni Eckert’s hair look absolutely stunning. The jewel incrusted top had just enough oomph to keep the dress from looking drab.


8. Philippines- Although I am typically not a fan of the heavy fabric on the top of the dress, Janine Tugonon did something right. The reaction she got when she stepped on stage made me give this gown a closer look. I love the iridescence of the fabric and the little bit of detailing up top. It was a different kind of classy and elegant.


9. Tanzania- This gown was absolutely stunning. The golden hues complimented Winfrida Dominic’s skin perfectly. The bold hair cut was also a huge stand out that I couldn’t look away from!


10. USA- Olivia Culpo certainly likes show stopping gowns. While her dress in Miss USA put emphasis in the color, at Miss Universe it was all about the cut. The long, body hugging, very conservative gown had a large amount of class to it. In a sea of girls in gorgeous sheer dresses this was a very bold move that will certainly leave a mark on the judges.

Miss Universe 2012 Recap

Last night marked the 61st Miss Universe Pageant at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Watching it gave insight to a lot of things about what it truly takes to be a winner, Miss Universe 2012, formerly Miss USA, Olivia Culpo, was not a front runner for the crown but stole it with her poise and on-stage question answer. Beyond the crowning we had an hour and fifty-five minutes of other things happening, what were they?

What You Missed At Miss Universe 2012

The event opened with a walk through of all eighty-nine contestant’s in gorgeous Sherri Hill gowns. As the girls bounced across the stage a pre-recording of their name, age, and country, played much like the preliminaries. After a warm welcome from hosts Andy Cohen and Giuliana Rancic the show broke to commercial promising to release the top sixteen when the show resumed.

When we got back the top 16 were given their good news, among the girls were USA, Philippines, Australia, Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, Mexico, Poland, Hungary, South Africa, Croatia, Kosovo, India, Russia, France and Turkey. These sixteen were rushed back stage and got on their gorgeous swimwear provided by Kooey Australia. Here is where we saw the top beauties stand out from the crowd.

While Peru looked timid on camera and Hungary scowled when she thought no one was looking, France, Australia, South Africa excelled.

The Top 10 at Miss Universe

Following Miss Kosovo accepting the Miss Universe Photogenic Award the girls were narrowed down to the top ten. In that much anticipated group were USA, Australia, Brazil, Philippines, Venezuela, Russia, France, Hungary, South Africa and Mexico. Yet again the girls were rushed off stage to change into their evening wear. Before the girls made their way back into the spotlight Train preformed “Drive By” and their hit “Shake up Christmas,” while I’m not sure Train was the best fit for Miss Universe (ok it completely missed the mark for me), they sounded good. After we got a break from the music we, finally, got a glimpse at the coveted evening gowns.

Our favorite at Pageant Planet was Venezuela in a stunning green gown that wrapped her body. Next favorite, Brazil who looked absolutely amazing in her glittering gown. Russia’s gown spelled disaster if she took a wrong step and while a gorgeous girl, I was not a fan of the sparkling one-piece with a skirt wrapped almost all the way around. Mexico was pretty in red but the dress cut was a little much. France looked beautiful, as always, and Australia needed to ditch the cape, her dress was beautiful but the cape was overkill. Philippines, Hungary, and South Africa looked striking in their gowns. What really stood out was USA’s almost trip and how she immediately composed herself and kept going as if nothing happened. Take note of that ladies, she did not dwell on it but continued to try her best.

The Top 5 at Miss Universe

As we all sat biting at our manicured nails, the top five moved into place. Venezuela, Philippines, Australia, Brazil, and USA stepped forward to answer some of the hardest questions of their lives. Timomatic performed a much more Miss Universe-esqe song and then, the competition was on. The two defining moments in on-stage question were Miss Venezuela and Miss USA’s answers.

As someone who was rooting for Venezuela you could imagine my shock at her answer, very comparable to Miss Teen South Carolina’s answer in 2007. While taking a bold move, Venezuela lost her chance at the crown by not using the interpreter that she was provided with. She rambled and when she was done answering I had to rewind the TV and listen again.

The other defining moment was Miss USA taking a moment before she answered to gather her thoughts. How many times have you read that and thought it doesn’t really matter? Here is your proof! She gave a sentimental answer that, although not the best I’ve ever heard was memorable and honest even though she made the mistake of putting her head down.

Miss Universe 2012 Results

Now the competition is over and we eagerly await the crowning of Miss Universe 2012. Before we get the news the system took a minute to award Miss China the Best National Costume and we all took a moment of silence for the victims of Newton, Connecticut. After Miss Universe 2011’s Leila Lopes final walk, our top five fell into their places. Fourth runner up was Miss Brazil, third runner up went to Miss Australia, Miss Venezuela took second runner up and first runner up was awarded to Miss Philippines, making your new Miss Universe the beautiful Olivia Culpo. Marking her third consecutive win in her third ever pageant, Miss Culpo is one for our pageant history books.