Miss World 2008 results: Russia wins, India 2nd, Trinidad & Tobago 3rd

December 13, 2008 has turned out to be a most lucky day for Miss Russia, despite the number 13, widely considered unlucky in many parts of the world. If indeed luck is where fortune meets preparation then turning the number 13 into "lucky 13" were the 15 semi-finalists:

- Second Runner Up, Miss Trinidad and Tobago Gabrielle Walcott (below with Julia Morley)

- Miss Russia Kseniya Sukhinova (left)

- Miss Mexico Ana Gabriela Espinoza Marroquin

- Miss Iceland Alexandra Helga Ivarsdottir

- Miss Barbados Natalie, Olivia Griffith

- Miss Venezuela Hannely Zulami Quintero Ledezma

- Miss Ukraine Iryna Zhuravska

- Miss Croatia Josipa Kusic

- Miss Brazil Tamara Almeida Silva

- Miss Angola Brigite Santos

- Miss Kazakhstan Alfina Nassyrova

- Miss Puerto Rico Ivonne Orsini Lopex

- Miss Spain Patricia Yurena Rodriguez Alonjo

- Miss South Africa Tansey Coetzee

- 1st Runner Up, Miss India Parvathy Omanakuttan

The winner and the top five finalists of the ongoing show will be announced in the comments below this story.

The lives of these girls and many of the other 109 young women who took part in the pageant tonight in South Africa will change forever. Careers in modeling will be boosted, careers in acting will begin and many never-heard-about-before young ladies will become icons in their home countries, thanks to the exposure the contest gives them.

However, Miss World continues to be very much about skin, celebrating outer beauty and consolidating stereotypes set by Hollywood and Bollywood. The Miss People's Choice online contest featured most of the girls in bikinis and voters were asked to rate the young women on a scale of 1 to 10.

Ironically, the organizers had to announce this morning at the last minute, "Due to technical reasons beyond our control the Miss People`s Choice will not be included in tonight's Miss World Final." Nonetheless, "Ratings will be announced on the Miss World website on Monday 15 December," fans were told.

What saves the organization from wider feminist condemnation, however, are its charity works and attempts to direct attention to worthy causes.

BEAUTY WITH A PURPOSE

The President of the Miss World Organization, Julia Morley (R), coined the phrase 'Beauty With A Purpose' more than 25 years ago and since then more than US$400 million have been raised in its name in support of children's charities across the globe, bringing help and hope to hundreds of thousands in need. Among the many recipients of this outstanding fund-generating activity has been the Nelson Mandela Trust, Canada’s Cops For Cancer, Variety Clubs International, Operation Hunger, and the SOS Children’s Villages which cares for orphaned and abandoned children in 132 countries.

Today, Beauty with a Purpose is the name of a special annual award programme that singles out and recognises the Miss World contestant who is shown, through charitable works, to have made a real difference to people in need in her homeland.

Charity work is an integral part of the Miss World ethos and part of the brief to contenders in each country is that they volunteer their time or fundraise for charity. All of the money raised goes to the nominated cause and the entrants’ records are credited with details of their personal contribution. Their hard work, dedication and above all, results, are what puts them in the running for the Beauty with a Purpose award.

First established under the title Miss World Scholarship (the name change came about in 2001) the event is staged as part of the festivities just prior to the pageant itself and since 2005 the winner has automatically been awarded a place in the Miss World semi finals.

The pageant itself, which today attracts entrants from more than 110 countries is watched by a TV audience of over 2 billion. The judges are no longer just looking for the most beautiful girl with the most fantastic figure; their brief is to interview each girl individually and to decide which one has exceptional merits and will serve as a role model for her generation.

Today, most of the pageant contestants are students taking a sabbatical between college and university and, even if they don’t eventually win, they would have traveled and made new friends from among the representatives from over 100 nations. Importantly, by the time they climb on to that stage before the world’s cameras, they will already have proved themselves through the charitable work they have under-taken.

The one who walks away with the crown, amid tumultuous applause, will go on to travel the world for a year and accumulate considerable finances, in order to further her education but while the girl who collects the Beauty with a Purpose award may not win the Miss World title, she will have had a unique experience and the satisfaction of knowing her hard work for others has been recognized.


Miss Mexico Ana Gabriela Espinoza Marroquin


Miss Iceland Alexandra Helga Ivarsdottir


Miss Barbados Natalie, Olivia Griffith


Miss Venezuela Hannely Zulami Quintero Ledezma


Miss Ukraine Iryna Zhuravska


Miss Croatia Josipa Kusic by www.javno.com


Miss Brazil Tamara Almeida Silva


Miss Angola Brigite Santos


Miss Kazakhstan Alfina Nassyrova


Miss Puerto Rico Ivonne Orsini Lopex


Miss Spain Patricia Yurena Rodriguez Alonjo


Miss South Africa Tansey Coetzee


Miss India Parvathy Omanakuttan





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CREDITS:

- Photos by the Miss World Organization and from the album "At the Miss World Pageant" by Gabrielle Walcott, the Trinidad and Tobago representative.