Miss South Africa, 22-year-old Rolene Strauss
Miss South Africa, 22-year-old Rolene Strauss, was
crowned Miss World 2014 at the contest’s glitzy
final in London on Sunday, with an estimated billion
viewers watching on television around the globe.
Miss Hungary, Edina Kulcsar, was judged the
runner-up and Miss United States, Elizabeth Safrit,
came third in the 64th annual competition, contested
by women from 121 countries.
Medical student Strauss clasped her hands together
in surprise and was crowned by the outgoing Miss
World, Megan Young of the Philippines, to huge
cheers in the ExCeL exhibition centre.
“South Africa this is for you,” Strauss said. “I think I
will brace myself for what’s about to happen. It’s a
huge responsibility.”
She told AFP she wanted to help spread education
in her homeland and thereby help other people
realise their dreams.
“I am what I am today because of the opportunities
I have received and I would love to give others the
same opportunities; educating, the opportunity to be
educated, to make healthy choices and also to live
their dreams,” Strauss said.
And she was already getting used to the glittering
crown.
“I’ll definitely keep it on as long as I can but my
parents are staying around here so they’ll be
hugging me and I’m afraid that it might fall off,” she
said.
This year’s event has been rocked by the murder of
Miss Honduras, 19-year-old Maria Jose Alvarado,
who was shot dead along with her sister last month.
Police in Honduras accuse her sister’s boyfriend of
shooting them after seeing his partner dancing with
another man at a party.
– Shimmering costumes –
Strauss and other contestants will travel to the
crime-plagued central American nation to build a
school named in the sisters’ honour.
“We hope that it will really start to impress on the
people in Honduras that the violence, and hurting
people like those two innocent women… maybe
they can think again before they take a gun,” Miss
World chairwoman Julia Morley told AFP.
Sunday’s show started with a spectacular
choreographed dance routine, with all the beauty
queens on stage in costumes inspired by their
homelands — including Miss Bolivia in a colourful
feathered headdress.
While beauty remains central to the event, the
women taking part are chiefly judged on their
talents and involvement in good causes.
Miss Malaysia won the talent competition in a live
sing-off with Miss Scotland.
In the Beauty with a Purpose section — the heart of Miss World — contestants present a charitable project they have been working on in their homeland.
In this section, the judges gave equal first place to
Misses Brazil, Guyana, India, Indonesia and Kenya,
unable to separate them.
In rounds held since the contestants arrived in
London, Miss Finland topped the sporting
competition; Miss United States was the multimedia
winner; Miss Bosnia and Hercegovina won the top
model round and Miss Sweden triumphed in beach
fashion.
– Bollywood star honoured –
The event also featured a special 20-year award for
1994’s Miss World, Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai.
The 41-year-old Indian actress appeared on stage
with her film star husband Abhishek Bachchan, their
daughter Aaradhya and her mother.
The prize was for the “Dhoom 2″ star’s charitable
work with children with cleft palates since being
made famous by Miss World.
“I stand here overwhelmed by this honour,” she
said.
The 10 contestants who topped the final scoreboard
were, in descending order, from India, South Africa,
England, Guyana, Brazil, Hungary, Kenya, United
States, Mexico and Australia.
They were joined by Miss Thailand, who won the
people’s choice award, voted for by people around
the world through a mobile phone app.
The judges chose Miss Hungary, Miss Australia,
Miss South Africa, Miss United States and Miss
England as their top five before picking their top
three.
Miss World began in 1951, a year before its chief
rival Miss Universe.
Strauss is the third South African Miss World, the
country having held the title in 1958 and 1974.
Venezuela tops the all-time leader board with six
titles, ahead of India and the United Kingdom on five
titles each.
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