Dulcita Lieggi with Magali Febles (Tu Medio)
Dulcita Lieggi was officially crowned the new Miss Dominican Republic Universe during a press conference held on April 25th, after the scandal which made current titleholdler Carlina Duran lose her crown due to her civil status.
In front of dozens of cameras and the presence of the most important media outlets in the country, Lieggi was crowned by the pageant organizar Magali Febles.
22-year old Dulcita Lynn Lieggi Francisco hails from Santo Domingo and finished 1st runner-up in the national competition held on April 17th. The 1.80 m model and actress also participated in the Miss Italia nel Mondo pageant last year.
Carlina Duran speaks out
Meanwhile, dethroned Carlina Duran assured to Listin Diario that her life as a married woman had never been consumated.
Duran mentioned details about her marriage in a press release read by her attorney, Radhames Cornielle. She had been married in June of 2009 to Emad Adl, and the relationship was abruptly ended, and then proceeded to annule the marriage, she added. After her short marriage she continued with her life as if it never happened.
Duran, who competed in Miss World Dominican Republic in 2011, went on to represent her country at the Miss Tourism Queen International pageant in China last december. She said that hiding that aspect of her life to the Miss DR Universe organizers was a result of her inexperience.
Organizer Magali Febles said that the situation was out of their control and that she is following the rules and regulations set by the Miss Universe Organization. Febles added that if the Miss Universe rules were changed during the following months, Duran would retake the title.
“The rule about contestants being single is established. If it was up to me, I would change it, but I cannot” said the organizer, who supports the participation of transgenders in the pageant.
Dulcita Lieggi, the new queen, said that nobody was aware Duran had been married. She was asked about the possibility of married or divorced women competin in a future, and she said that “everybody has the same opportunity to reach their goals, despite the limitations they might have”.
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- Dulcita Lieggi with Magali Febles (Tu Medio)
Video courtesy dominicanos-ausentes.com
I have a lot of respect for transgender people as it takes true bravery to undergo a complete transformation. However, they should not be allowed to be part of the MISS Universe pageant, but have their own contest.
As for the disqualification of Miss Duran due to her concealment of having been married before, those are the rules stipulated and should be honored. Annulled or not she should have informed the officials.
i hate that the best woman ever from Dominican Republic can’t be in the competition just because Donald Trump!! So now don’t know if magali febles have anything todo with this mess!! also i think PERAVIA was an better choice than DULCITA que de dulce ni el cocote!!! I LOVE CARLINA CARLINA!!!! this year As proud DOMINICAN REPUBLIC fan i’ll not look at the miss UNIVERSE at all!!! hate the choice !!!! CARLINA PLEASE TELL MR DONALD TRUMP TO FIGHT FOR YOUUUUUUU!!!!! PLEASE GO TO HIM I’LL BUY THE TICKET YOUR THE REAL DEAL AT THIS YEAR MISS UNIVERSE 2012 CARLINA MAY GOD BLESSED YOU!
Is there another GLORIA ALLRED in the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC??!!! Let the ex-married woman compete! She’s gorgeous!
Dulsita look older then her age .
Sorry babe you are not the best… I don´t like her she looks to old… and she is not beauty than the real winner!
Whether Carlina or Dulcita both were hot. Too bad Carlina was dethroned. Anyway Dulcita is also pretty & will also place well at MU. Russia is ugly & Ecuador is a fake beauty. Venezuela, Poland, Guatemala, South Africa, Dom. Rep., Israel, Malaysia & mexico are the hottest girls so far at MU. Good luck to them.
wow, i thought the fight for this year’s miss universe was going to be between dominican republic, russia and ecuador. well, guess will be russia or ecuador.
For sure, she will make it as a semifinalist in Miss Universe 2012 usually the replacement candidate make it as a semifinalist like the case of Guatemala in 2010. Jessica Scheel was just a replacement for Alejandra Barillas who was injured and she made it as a semifinalist in that year. Alejandra Barillas finally went on to compete the next year but went unplaced.
the saga continues. “chevere nights” last night, followed by the 11pm news on tv dominicana, then “levantate” this morning on telemundo, and “el gordo y la flaca” on univision this afternoon… all are reporting that dulcita has been accused of being 29 years old. she appeared via satelite on 2 of these shows and on the phone on another show. she stated that it was a rumour started as soon as the news was made public that carlina would be dethroned. “chevere nights” actually had a copy of her birth certificate to show the viewing audience what was what, but the news and tabloid shows will hold on to this tidbit for a little bit longer.
last night magali appeared on another show (i’m already lost as to which one it was… my head’s spinning since tuesday when this mess hit the airwaves) stating that according to the marriage certificate presented to the pageant lawyers, carlina was married in 2009 (not 2005), and no divorce document has been presented so far.
it had been reported tuesday night on “chevere nights” that divorce papers existed but not an annulment (carlina has indicated her marriage was never consumated). today “noticias SIN” reported that there WAS an annulment, yet no documentation has been presented for either decision. bottom line, carlina was married at some point, and unless the D.R. pageant organization plans on suing her, any documentation seems irrelevant at this point.
like it or not, until the MUO changes the clause concerning divorced and/or widowed contestants, formerly married women can’t compete at universe, period. it’s known, it’s part of the contract every contestant signs, deal with it.
although, national pageants can technically accept whom they want… formerly married, current mothers, widows, whatever… even being under or over the age-limit. spain is the best example i can think of. if a contestant falls into any of these “categories” and she wins (or places), she can be queen (or retain her placement), but she can NOT go to universe or any other pageant that doesn’t allow them to enter based on these “categories”. it’s known, it’s not a secret, it’s part of the contract every contestant signs before competing.
there should be no problem once that contestant contract is signed and notorized (that’s how we were instructed to handle contestants when i ran a state preliminary). that contract is a legal document. lie and get caught? NOW we have a problem.
winners get dethroned every so often; national queens get replaced and/or switched with a runner-up every so often. nothing new. a number of universe 1st, 2nd and 3rd runners-up whom were not their countries actual winners, but were replaced by a runner-up include: venezuela 76, spain 85 and 99, philippines 99… among others.
most recent “big deal” switch was when ksenia won russia in december 2007 and didn’t go to universe in july 2008 because of “school responsibilities”. instead, her 2nd runner-up vera went to universe 2008 (placing 3rd runner-up to dayana), while we all know ksenia won world in december 2008. nice switch for russia.
let’s not kid ourselves. things happen, and directors have a very weak leg to stand on for protection, other than those contracts. they’re not equipped to research the personal history of every single contestant. once those contracts are signed (and hopefully notorized), the expectation is that the contestants have not lied.
lest we forget the married miss brazil, joseanne oliveira. her directors found out about the marriage a little too late. she wasn’t dethroned until AFTER she competed at miss universe 2002. not cool.
we’ve heard stories about alleged contestants who’ve competed at universe while being pregnant. true or not, i’m not indulging. i tend to go by news reports, not pageant rumours.
and with transsexuals, the only way to verify if a contestant is a natural-born female is to do a DNA test. sex change or not, your DNA will always be your DNA no matter what you’ve done to your body. so for canada and the USA, that’s irrelevant now. for other countries, unless they’re willing to test everyone that’s rumoured to have been born male and is now female, they’re in for a few surprises in the future now that trump has opened this door. and that’s only if the new gender change is legally accepted and documented in their respective countries, as it is in canada and the USA.
so with dulcita… i look forward to this mess in D.R. dying down soon, and letting her get on with her training, charitable work, and positive public appearances. and i certainly hope there are no more secrets yet to imerge that would hinder the future of the current D.R. pageant organization… or magali will possibly (finally) hear trump say, “you’re fired”.
I totally agree with you, I couldn’t have said it better had I tried, rules are rules and you have to abide by them, once you sign a contract and notarize it you cannot claim ignorance of what’s in the contract.
It´s so funny!! Transgenders can participate in MU but women that were married and that have the age to compete (18-27) cannot. I believe that being married doest not necesserily implies that the MU will not fullfill her duties, if that happened she would be dethroned. Miss Universe Organization should be more organized and have a criteria to follow. This year is a enormous confusion, delegates being dethroned, we are basically in MAY and there are no news of date or venue. Let´s start doing something Ms. Paula
I like Dulcita better!
Lastima que la destronaran, me parece tan injusto con nosotras las mujeres, que prefieran aceptar a un hombre trasformado en mujer, que una propia mujer, casada o con hijos, es mujer, igual la actual se la ve bonita, esta bien, creo que va ser buena candidata para miss universo.
Are you serious… if the MU organization change this rule then the crown goes back to Carlina… what a faux pas… this will be very very very unfair to Dulcita… at what point we say enough to all this non sense.
I think it’s great that these once hush hush regulations are being challenged finally. It shows progress in the women’s role on this planet. We are strong and have opinions and rights. It’s great to hear them expressed and fought for! We can be frustrated that these limitations in pageants exist or we can keep pushing for change and evolution!! Go girls!!
So “transgenders” are allowed to compete for MU but someone who was briefly married (then marriage annulled) cannot? Ridiculous.
Not so ridiculous as transgenders cannot have been married either.
@NataliaN: EXACTLY!!!
lamentable el hecho de la descalificaci{on de carlina, por su estado civil…. pero igualmente este sucesora Dulcita. se ve muy bien. y puede dar la pelea en el miss universo.