Finally, a new Miss Universe has been crowned.
Miss Mexico Andrea Meza was crowned Miss Universe during the pageant held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida on Sunday, May 16. The event was hosted by Mario Lopez and Olivia Culpo who was the Miss Universe in 2012.
Meza wowed the audience and the selection committee with her beauty and brains. For her final statement, she was tasked to talk on the topic of changing beauty standards. She answered with the assistance of a translator, “We live in a society that more and more is more advanced and as we have advanced as a society, we have advanced with stereotypes. Nowadays, beauty is not only the way we look. For me, beauty radiates not only in our spirits, but in our hearts and the way we conduct ourselves. Never permit someone to tell you that you are not valuable.”
She was also asked to answer the question on how she would handle the pandemic. She answered, “I believe there is not a perfect way to handle this hard situation such as COVID-19. However, I believe that what I would have done was create the lockdown even before everything was that big because we lost so many lives and we cannot afford that. We have to take care of our people. That’s why I would have taken care of them since the beginning.”
Paula M. Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization, talked about their preparation prior to the pageant. She explained, “We have spent months planning and preparing safety precautions to develop this edition of Miss Universe—one that will be memorable, special and totally innovative.”
There was a total of 74 contestants from different countries and territories who competed for the crown. Before moving on to the next round, only 21 contestants were chosen to proceed in the swimsuit competition. After which, 10 were chosen to move to the evening gown round. From there, five were chosen to join in the question and answer portion.
Meanwhile, Miss Brazil Julia Gama won first runner-up while Miss Peru Janick Maceta del Castillo got the second runner-up. India’s Adline Castelino was declared third runner-up and Miss Dominican Republic Kimberly Jimenez got the fourth runner-up.
