Stefania Fernandez of Venezuela was named Miss Universe in the finals held earlier today, August 24 (August 23, U.S. time), in the Bahamas.
Miss Venezuela bested 82 other contestants from around the world. Stefania's win made it a back-to-back victory for Venezuela, since it was her predecessor Dayana Mendoza who took home the crown last year. This is the sixth time that Venezuela has won the Miss Universe crown—1979, 1981, 1986, 1996, 2008, and 2009.
Once again, the Latina beauties dominated the competition. Aside from Miss Venezuela, two other Latina contestants made it in the Top 5: Ada Aimee De La Cruz from the Dominican Republic (1st runner-up) and Maya Matos of Puerto Rico (4th runner-up).
The two other finalists are Gona Dragusha of Kosovo (2nd runner-up) and Rachael Finch of Australia (3rd runner-up).
During the Question and Answer portion, only Miss Australia did not need an interpreter.
The other contestants who made in the Top 10 are South Africa, Czech Republic, Switzerland, France, USA, Iceland, Albania, Belgium, Sweden, and Croatia.
The Philippines' representative, Pamela Bianca Manalo, failed to make it to the semifinals. No Asian made it to the semifinals this year.
Aside from the title of Miss Universe, two other special awards were handed out: Miss Congeniality (Miss China) and Miss Photogenic (Miss Thailand).