Seventy-five of the world's most beautiful women compete for the coveted Miss Universe title on Wednesday evening in the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan. The bathing suite category of the competition, which is to be televised around the world, is expected to draw over 600 million viewers.
This is the second consecutive year the contest has been held in the US territory, following the victory of Puerto Rico's Denise Quinones last year. This year's event - it was established in 1952 by an American swimwear company - will be hosted by model and former MTV presenter Daisy Fuentes and former American football star Phil Simms.
As usual, competitors will be judged on their academic and professional achievements as well as their beauty and poise. According to Miss Trinidad and Tobago, 23-year-old Nasma Mohammed, the judges will be looking for “young, empowered, intelligent and beautiful women.”
At a separate costume competition, held on May 22, American entry Shauntay Hinton wore an adapted New York fire-fighter's uniform in tribute to members of the force who died in the September 11 attacks.
Security at this year's event in the Robert Clemente Coliseum is expected to be particularly tight.
Miss Universe 2002 will receive the use of a New York apartment for a year, and be involved in a busy round of public engagements, many of which are to raise funds for AIDS research.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
