Miss Universe 2011 Goes To Miss Angola
She made history by becoming only the second African of African descent to win the crown, but also is the first from her country.
The 25-year-old told the press that she plans to focus on helping her country move past a history of war and impoverishment and to continue her work in fighting against HIV. “I have to do everything that my country needs,” she said. “I think now as Miss Universe I will be able to do much more.”
The New York Film Academy has also announced on their website that they will be “looking forward to welcoming Miss Universe 2011” to their school as part of the prize package she won.
The business management student from Benguela, Angola impressed the judges with both her beauty and her brains. For her interview question when she reached Top 5, she was asked whether she would change anything about her self.
“Thank God I am satisfied with the way God created me and I wouldn’t change a thing,” Lopes replied. "I consider myself a woman endowed with inner beauty. I have acquired many wonderful principles from my family and I intend to follow these for the rest of my life."
Lopes was also a crowd favorite. According to pageant watchers inside the arena, Lopes charmed the locals by speaking Portuguese, a language Angola and Brazil share as former colonies.
First runner-up was Miss Ukraine Olesia Stefanko, followed by Miss Brazil as second runner up and Miss Philippines as third runner-up. Miss USA did not make it past the Top 15.
It was the 60th Anniversary for the most publicized beauty pageant in the world, which is why the president of the Miss Universe Organization Paula Shugart predicted that “close to a billion viewers” would be watching the pageant proceedings.
Reach writer Alisa Kim here
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