Venezuela Still Good for Something

The country may be a socialist basket case being run into the ground by Communist thug Hugo Chavez, but the women are still holding up very well.

Miss Venezuela was the fairest of them all once again, winning the 2009 Miss Universe crown for the second year straight and the sixth time since the pageant's creation.

Dressed in a flowing red gown, 18-year-old Stefania Fernandez hugged the runner-up from the Dominican Republic and danced in joy as her victory was announced Sunday.

The crown briefly fell to the floor as it passed from one Venezuelan beauty to the next.

But Fernandez said there was time for outgoing Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza to whisper in her ear that she must have worked hard for Venezuela to win consecutive crowns.

"What do we Venezuelans have?" Fernandez, an international relations student, told reporters after the pageant. "That we are ourselves."

The other top-five finalists were runner-up Ada Aimee de la Cruz, followed by Miss Kosovo, Droga Ganusha; Miss Australia, Rachael Finch; and Miss Puerto Rico, Mayra Matos Perez.

During a question-and-answer segment with the five top finalists, Fernandez said she believed women have overcome obstacles such as hitting the proverbial glass ceiling.

"I feel we have reached the level that men are at," she said.

When asked later how she thought beauty contests promoted equality between men and women, Fernandez said they provided exposure.

"We have quite a following worldwide," she said. "We are models to follow."

The new Miss Universe is from the city of Merida in the west of a beauty-obsessed South American country where hard-fought pageants are something of a national sport, with contestants widely dissected by the public and the media.

Fernandez said she did not know whether Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez would receive her. He did not meet with Mendoza when she won and made no public statements at the time.

But Fernandez said he might change his mind.

"We'll see, because we are making history," she said.

The top 15 Miss Universe finalists appeared in bathing suits before the final 10 were chosen for the evening gown segment.

Pageant co-owner Donald Trump told reporters, "I think this is the most beautiful group of women I've ever seen."

Here's another shot of the lovely Miss Fernandez.

Meanwhile, some guy named Flo Rida does his best Barack Obama impersonation by checking out the goods. Can you blame him?

Down the Mammary Hole: Miss Universe Club Gitmo Post Disappears

I didn't think it was something controversial enough to make a screen cap of it, but the folks at the Miss Universe site went and replaced the item where Dayana Mendoza gushed over her visit to the lovely confines of Club Gitmo.

Miss Universe's blog posting about having fun at Guantanamo Bay has vanished from the pageant's Web site as embarrassed officials try to quash what they call a misunderstanding.

A flurry of critical commentary and news stories over the Venezuelan beauty queen's lighthearted post underscores that the military prison at Guantanamo remains a damaging symbol for the United States.

Dayana Mendoza's now-deleted late-March posting sounded like a note home from a spring breaker.

"We hung out with the guys from the East Coast and they showed us the boat inside and out, how they work and what they do, we took a ride around the land and it was a loooot of fun!" Mendoza wrote.

"The water in Guantanamo Bay is soooo beautiful!" she wrote at another point.

Those descriptions did not refer to the detention center for alleged terrorists, which occupies a sliver of the 45-square-mile (116-square-kilometer) base.

In a brief mention of the detainee camp, Mendoza said her group "saw the jails, where they shower, how they recreate themselves with movies, classes of art, books." She described the prison only as "very interesting."

In place of her posting Wednesday was a statement from Paula M. Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization, who said Mendoza and Miss USA Crystle Stewart had gone to Guantanamo on a USO tour to boost the morale of U.S. troops.

The link now takes you here.

Statement by Paula M. Shugart, President of the Miss Universe Organization regarding Guantánamo Bay blog entry by Miss Universe, Dayana Mendoza:

The Miss Universe Organization has had a longstanding relationship with the USO (United Service Organizations). All three titleholders (Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA) have participated in many USO goodwill tours to visit the men and women in uniform who serve our country around the world.

As part of the USO’s entertainment program, which boosts the morale of U.S. troops, they have traveled to many locations and many bases around the globe including Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan, Korea and most recently, Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, where the U.S. has maintained a naval base since 1898.

Dayana Mendoza’s comments on her blog were in reference to the hospitality she received while meeting the members of the U.S. military and their families who are stationed in Guantánamo.

The Miss Universe Organization echoes the mission of the USO, which is to lift the spirits of U.S.troops and their families wherever they serve. We will continue to show our appreciation and express our gratitude to the military personnel who serve our nation.

Lame.

Oh, The Torture: Miss Universe Visits Club Gitmo

Rumor has it some prisoners volunteered for torture after seeing this babe arrive.

This week, Guantanamo!!! It was an incredible experience. We arrived in Gitmo on Friday and stared going around the town, everybody knew Crystle and I were coming so the first thing we did was attend a big lunch and then we visited one of the bars they have in the base. We talked about Gitmo and what is was like living there. The next days we had a wonderful time, this truly was a memorable trip! We hung out with the guys from the East Coast and they showed us the boat inside and out, how they work and what they do, we took a ride around the land and it was a loooot of fun!

We also met the Military dogs, and they did a very nice demonstration of their skills. All the guys from the Army were amazing with us. [I bet they were--ed.]

We visited the Detainees camps and we saw the jails, where they shower, how the recreate themselves with movies, classes of art, books. It was very interesting. We took a ride with the Marines around the land to see the division of Gitmo and Cuba while they were informed us with a little bit of history.

The water in Guantanamo Bay is soooo beautiful! It was unbelievable, we were able to enjoy it for at least an hour. We went to the glass beach, and realized the name of it comes from the little pieces of broken glass from hundred of years ago. It is pretty to see all the colors shining with the sun. That day we met a beautiful lady named Rebeca who does wonders with the glasses from the beach. She creates jewelry with it and of course I bought a necklace from her that will remind me off Guantanamo Bay :) I didn't want to leave, it was such a relaxing place, so calm and beautiful.

Via The Lede.

Update: Jules Crittenden has many more tasty photos of the lovely Dayana.

Heartbreak: Miss Universe in Nude Photo 'Scandal'

Not much of a scandal, granted, and she won't be losing her crown. I guess scandal these days involves lots of cocaine and screwing around a lot.

This is pretty mild if you ask me.

MISS Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza has escaped harsh penalties after nude photos of the beauty pageant winner were spread across the internet.

Mendoza's picture features the model babe sitting down topless, only wearing underwear.

According to media reports, Mendoza has not been penalised for the topless shoot, which was completed before she took out the Miss Universe title this year.

You can find the photos via the link. Not sure exactly where the one above came from, but she sure looks good in it. Airbrushing really helps.

Whoops! Miss USA Tumbles, Miss Venezuela Wins

For the second year in a row, Miss USA slipped and fell during evening gown competition at the Miss Universe pageant and is sure to become a YouTube hit.

Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela has been crowned Miss Universe 2008.

Mendoza and three other Latin Americans women made the final five at Sunday's contest. The four other finalists were runner-up Miss Colombia Tailana Vargas, Miss Dominican Republic Marianne Cruz Gonzalez, Miss Mexico Elisa Najera, and Miss Russia Vera Krasova.

An elated Dayana Mendoza received the crown from her predecessor, Riyo Mori of Japan, and then prepared to meet a gaggle of reporters. Miss Venezuela, 22, was once kidnapped in her homeland and says the experience taught her to remain poised under pressure.

Tension got under the skin of Crystle Steward of Texas, the second Miss USA in a row to fall down during the the evening gown competition at the Miss Universe pageant. She was in the top 10 but tripped on the train of her bejeweled evening gown as she made her entrance.

During the 2007 Miss Universe contest in Mexico City, Miss USA Rachel Smith also tumbled during the evening gown competition and became an unintended star on You Tube, where the video was shown over and over again.

And you can bet this one will also be getting plenty of attention.

Speaking of attention, feast your eyes upon the lovely Ms. Mendoza.