All the tears and jaw-achingly large smiles from the 2017 Miss Universe pageant
THE PAGEANT HOST is no stranger to criticism, after failing spectacularly in the 2015 announcement. He was met with a chorus of boos again today.
IT’S THAT wonderful time of the year when we witness women with impeccably blow-dried hair give sincere answers about world peace and strut around in heels and bikinis.
Nearly 100 women from across the globe competed for the 2017 Miss Universe crown in Las Vegas today.
As the final three contestants stood on the stage, it became clear the crowd wanted 21-year-old Davina Bennett from Jamaica to win.
When it was announced she was a runner up, the audience loudly booed.
Excuse me? But second runner up? Are you for real #MissUniverse? #Jamaica deserved that win, and the boos you heard proved it.
— ㅤ (@cabellos_) November 27, 2017
Remember when Jamaica's Kaci Fennell was named as Miss Universe 2014 fourth runner-up? The boos inside the arena were intense. Fast forward to Miss Universe 2017, Jamaica's Davina Bennett was named second runner-up, and there were boos too. Talk about déjà vu.
— Vincent (@TimoSoriano_) November 27, 2017
The 2017 crown went to Miss South Africa, the very hyphenated Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters.
Australia was represented by 25-year-old Adelaide speech pathologist Olivia Rogers.
She failed to make it through to the final 16.
Unfortunately this meant we didn’t get to see the full glory of Rogers in her National Dress, which was inspired by the Sydney Opera House.
It featured a nude body-suit covered in pearls and Swarovski crystals, topped off by a light-up skirt with sails and sparkling replica fireworks inspired by the annual Vivid Light Festival.
The skirt took more than 100 hours to make.
At the time of its unveiling, Rogers said she was thrilled with the outfit.
“I absolutely love it, I think it’s perfect and it’s really comfortable as well,” the speech therapist said.
There are two LED projectors built into the dress and more than 500 individual lights.
Steve Harvey returned as the show’s host in 2017 despite botching the 2015 Miss Universe crowning.
This year’s judges included YouTube star Lele Pons and former judge on “America’s Next Top Model” Jay Manuel.
Plus-size model Ashley Graham returned as backstage host.
When Fox News asked her whether watching a pageant may discourage girls because they don’t look as seemingly perfect as the contestants, she had this to say: “I think we have to look beyond the exterior. I know that is one portion of the whole competition. But if you really start to pick apart and manipulate a woman because of how they look, then you’re not really getting to the soul and the heart of who they are and how they can really be a voice and a face for the universe.”
A clear crowd favourite early in the pageant seemed to be 26-year-old Miss Philippines, Rachel Peters.
#Miss Philippines was trending on Twitter during the telecast, and each time the Filipino-British model graced the stage, the crowd went wild.
(Special shout-out goes to the guy behind her who showed incredible enthusiasm while she was being interviewed by Ashley Graham).
#Philippines bet Rachel Peters on making it to the top 16 of #MissUniverse: "Everything happens for a reason." pic.twitter.com/cHu44gI4WK
— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) November 27, 2017
Unfortunately Peters failed to advance through to the final round. And the Twitterverse was devastated.
I really thought she had it there. Good fight, @rachaelpetersx. Head up. #MissUniverse #Philippines
— Gretchen Ho (@gretchenho) November 27, 2017
#MissUniverse #Philippines still made us proud even if she didnt make it to the Top 5. You united every Filipino in the social mediaverse to show their support! You still slayed it Queen Rachel Peters 👸ðŸ»
— Doo 😽 (@waniedoo) November 27, 2017
The way the winner was decided was a little different this year - the 92 contestants were divided into three regions: Americas, Europe, and Africa and Asian Pacific. Four contestants from each region were guaranteed to advance to the finals. Four other women regardless of region also moved forward in the competition in a wild card style move.
The women representing Thailand, Sri Lanka, Ghana and South Africa were chosen to move forward in the competition for the Africa and Asian Pacific region. Representatives from Spain, Ireland, Croatia and Great Britain advanced from the Europe group.
Meanwhile, Colombia, Canada, Brazil and the U.S. were picked from the Americas region.
The wild cards went to Venezuela, Jamaica, China and Philippines.
This year’s pageant had more contestants than ever before.
Host Steve Harvey said Cambodia, Laos and Nepal were being represented for the first time.
The winner goes home with a year-long salary, a luxury apartment in New York City for the duration of her reign and more prizes.