Mexico City, 29 May: During one of the year’s most exciting live international television events, a star-studded panel of judges chose Miss Japan, Riyo Mori, as Miss Universe 2007.
Riyo Mori of Japan, the newly crowned Miss Universe 2007
A lifelong ballet dancer from a village near Mount Fuji, Mori wore a striking black gown with colored lapels for the final. Winning surpassed the ambition of her grandmother, who told her as a child she wanted her to be Miss Japan one day.
Mori, 20, clasped her hands and trembled with joy as she received the crown from last year's winner, Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico.
"My mind went blank," she said of the winning moment.
"I'm really happy, I cannot believe it yet," said Mori, whose ambition is to open an international dance school. Mori has been dancing since she was 4 years old.
Mori, the 56th winner of the title, was given her $250,000 diamond-and-pearl crown by last year's winner, Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico, Miss Universe 2006, crowned her successor at the conclusion of the two-hour primetime telecast, before an estimated worldwide viewing audience of more than 1 billion in over 170 countries.
Wearing the Mikimoto crown, Riyo Mori, Miss Japan 2007, poses after being named Miss Universe 2007 in Mexico City, 28 May 2007.
Second place went to Natalia Guimaraes, 22, from Brazil. The second runner-up was Ly Jonaitis, 21, from Venezuela.
Ningning Zhang from China, 20, won the Miss Congeniality award, while Anna Theresa Licaros, 22, from the Philippines, was chosen Miss Photogenic.
Miss USA, Rachel Smith, slipped on the runway and landed on her bottom, although the slip didn't stop her earning fifth place.
Last year's winner, Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico, Miss Universe 2006, crowned her successor Riyo Mori (Miss Japan) as Miss Universe 2007
Throughout the two-hour event, contestants from 77 countries around the world competed in three categories: swimsuit; evening gown; and personality interview.
Miss Sweden, Isabel Lestapier Winqvist, unexpectedly pulled out of the event because of complaints in her country that it degrades women. Sweden has won the Miss Universe crown three times in the past.
In another hitch, Miss Mexico was made to change her outfit for the regional dress contest after her original dress, decorated with brutal images of rebels in a 1920s religious uprising being hanged or shot, drew accusations of poor taste
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