Beauty

Miss Dominican Republic Amelia Vega, a six-foot (1.83-metre) tall 18-year-old high school student, won the Miss Universe 2003 title at a sparkling ceremony in Panama City on Tuesday night, beating a field of 70 other pageant queens with her charm and charisma.

It was the first time a contestant from the Dominican Republic, a Spanish-speaking country that shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with impoverished Haiti, was crowned Miss Universe.

Vega, with typical dark brown Latin hair, was cheered on by an electric crowd as she walked the catwalk in her diamond and pearl-encrusted crown and long white dress.

Miss Venezuela Mariangel Ruiz, an olive skinned 23-year-old economics student, came second. She was followed by Miss South Africa Cindy Nell, a 21-year-old management student from Johannesburg.

After reaching the final five with her sheer poise and good looks, Vega clinched the pageant with her reply to a final question put to her + "What is the most precious gift you've ever given someone?"

"According to my grandmother, it was a letter I wrote to her when she was once very ill," said Vega, to the applause of some 7,500 festive pageant-goers in the packed auditorium.

As Miss Universe 2003, Vega will take home an estimated $70,000 in prizes and hold public engagements around the world that will include fund-raising and campaigning for AIDS research and awareness.

SOAP OPERA APPEARANCE

Vega will also win an appearance on a Spanish-language soap opera and her wardrobe will not go short of clothes.

"I am so happy," she told reporters at the end of the ceremony at a news conference.

"I'm so proud to be able to work with these people (AIDS patients), to support them, maybe not as much as some people would like, but everything I can give, I will give."

The winners were announced at the end of a gala night of parades in figure-hugging swimsuits and shimmering evening gowns in the $10-million Figali Convention Center on the banks of the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.

Organizers estimated some 600 million people in more than 150 countries tuned in to watch the pageant, a show business perennial jointly owned by property tycoon Donald Trump and NBC Television.

But not everyone was charmed by the beauty queens.

Thousands of Panamanians protested before the start of the contest, saying the $9 million the government paid to host Miss Universe could have been better spent on the country's poor, who make up 40 percent of Panama's 2.8 million population.

The government says the Miss Universe contest has raised Panama's international profile and will boost tourism.

Miss Venezuela almost didn't make it to the pageant. At the 11th hour, Miss Venezuela's sponsor, private television channel Venevision, came up with the funds to send Ruiz to the contest in Panama, overcoming currency controls imposed by Caracas to stem capital flight.