MANILA, Philippines - Miss Colombia Paulina Vega was hailed as the new Miss Universe on Sunday (Monday morning, Manila time) during its coronation night held in Miami, Florida.
Paulina Vega is only the second beauty queen from Colombia to take home the crown. The other beauty queens who made it to the top five were Miss USA, Miss Netherlands, Miss Ukraine and Miss Jamaica.
Aside from the dazzling couture gowns and scorching hot bikinis, the question and answer portion is also one of the most anticipated segments of the pageant. In the competition, nailing this segment is as important as killing the catwalk.
For this year, here are the questions asked by the judges together with the corresponding answers from the top 5 candidates.
Miss USA
Question from Manny Pacquiao: If you were given 30 seconds to deliver a message to a global terrorist, what will you say?
Answer: If I were given 30 seconds to give a message to global terrorists is it? Okay. I would just [like] to say that, you know I was gonna say the same and spread the message of hope and love and peace and so I would do my very best to spread that message to them and everyone else in the world.
Miss Netherlands
Question from Giancarlo Stanton: What's the biggest change you’d like to see for young women in the next generation?
Answer: I’m an ambassador for child prostitution and I want prostitution to stop, so that’s what I want for the next generation.
Miss Ukraine
Question from Lisa Vanderpump: If you could remove the swimsuit competition from the Miss Universe pageant, would you? and why or why not?
Answer: It depends on the situation. If it's gonna be nice, why not? I feel comfortable in any things, thank you.
Miss Jamaica
Question from Emilio Stefan: One of three women will experience violence in her lifetime. What can be done to get that number down?
Answer: Crime is a global phenomenon, it does not affect just one nation and we as people of the world should work together to prevent it now.
Miss Colombia
Question from Rob Dyrdek: Probably all the time, people have asked you, what can men learn from women, but I'd like to know what could women learn from men?
Answer: I believe that women... (her answer was unclear) I do believe in equality – and I believe that is what women should learn from men. We continue fighting for what we want to accomplish.
Aside from the individual questions, the contestants were also asked a question drawn from Facebook user Maria Navarro Fernandez:
"What is the greatest contribution of your country to the entire world?"
Miss USA said her country always 'gives back' to other nations.
Miss Netherlands cited her country's art and history as the contributions of The Netherlands to the world.
Miss Ukraine narrated the current situation in her home nation recovering from war.
Miss Jamaica cited legends Usain Bolt and Bob Marley as their country's contribution.
Miss Colombia Paulina Vega said that the perseverance of the Colombian people amid problems is the offering of her country to the world.