5/31 - Global Beauties' Miss Universe coverage breaks all records - last week GB received over 5 million visitors and had to be migrated to a more powerful server. Yesterday the website ranked as # 4,657 at Alexa.com, an exceptional mark in a universe of over 100,000,000 websites. GB thanks you for your preference and congratulate all our crew and contributors for a job well-done. Thank you and remember that Miss Tourism Queen International coverage starts on July 7!

Compare to other top pageant-related websites:

Global Beauties (blue); Belleza Venezolana (green); Pageant Almanac (black); Missosology (brown); Critical Beauty (light green).

Source: www.alexa.com

---

5/28 - Japan wins Riyo Mori, a professional ballet dancer, won the Miss Universe crown at the annual event held at the National Auditorium in Mexico City.

The 1st runner-up was Brazil's Natalia Guimaraes, 2nd runner-up was Venezuela's Ly Jonaitis, 3rd runner-up was Korea's Honey Lee and the 4th Runner-up was USA's Rachel Smith. See the Official Results.

The glamour of the event came to a halt when the audience at the auditorium started booing Miss USA (Rachel Smith), a complete embarrassment for the host country.

It was a repeat of what happened in Miss Universe 1993. This time, hostess Vanessa Minnillo even had to intervene so the audience would stop booing the American beauty.

In addition, Miss USA fell during the evening gown competition. With all that, Miss USA remained calm and reached the top 5 (deservingly so!).

Completing the Top 10, were the delegates from Tanzania, Angola, Nicaragua, Mexico and India.

The top 15 finalists were the delegates from Denmark, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Thailand.

Philippines took the Miss Photogenic Award for the 3rd consecutive year, while Miss China took the Miss Congeniality prize.

The semifinalists' group was diverse, and there were some surprises like Czech Republic and Ukraine (although experts mentioned that they would be some of Donald Trump's picks).

Nicaragua placed in the top 10 for the first time in history, after having a Top 15 placement in 1977. Korea's placement was the first since 1988.

Tanzania and Slovenia got their first placements in Miss Universe history.

In what was a historical judging outcome, only four latinas (including Brazil) placed in the Top 15, unlike other years where they dominated the groups of finalists. Judges finally realized that there IS beauty outside the Americas.

The Best National Costume Award was not announced. Apparently 2007 is the last time delegates are required to bring a national costume.

Japan won its second Miss Universe title, 48 years after it's first victory.

Congratulations to the beautiful (and very fashionable!) new Miss Universe!

Miss Universe 2007 Official Results

View images of the contest in our Live Updates special page

---

Finals Judge Christiane Magnani Aleman, Miss Universe 1953 from France, will join tonight's panel of judges and will help to select the new Miss Universe. Christiane currently lives in Mexico.

Miss Universe 2007 will be crowned tonight. Who will she be? The answer for this question we will have in a few hours, but here are who some websites and betting agencies believe she will be:

Global Beauties - 1) Korea, 2) Venezuela, 3) Japan;T
Critical Beauty - 1) USA, 2) Japan, 3) Korea;
Pageant Almanac - 1) Tanzania, 2) USA, 3) Korea;
Misossology - 1) Italy, 2) Brazil, 3) Venezuela;
GlobMiss - 1) Angola, 2) Korea, 3) Mexico;
Chilean Charm - 1) Japan, 2) Korea;
Oddschecker.com - 1) Venezuela; Korea; Italy

What is your opinion? Global Beauties wishes all 77 delegates the best of luck, and may the one who shines the most in tonight's competition succeed! Enjoy the show.

---

5/27 - Between Heaven and Hell - Zuleyka Rivera, Miss Universe 2006, will be the focus of a Telemundo special entitled "El Diario de una Reina" (A Beauty Queen's Diary). She will talk about the pressure of being Miss Universe, the things she had to give up, and she will even confess that there was a point when she wanted to leave the crown and sash in New York and return to her college in Puerto Rico as "a regular person". She will also talk about the glamour which comes with the title and her charity work as Miss Universe, "the brighter side of the pageant". It will air on Telemundo tonight (check your local tv schedule for more details).

---

5/26 - GB Miss U'07 - Honey Lee of Korea has swapped most GB special awards in this year's Miss Universe pageant and appears as the #1 favorite for the crown. Some pageant historians go as far as saying that she is one of the most perfect beauties to have ever stepped on a Miss Universe stage. Second place went to Miss Venezuela, another huge favorites who is close to perfection.

See the complete results HERE.

- New Favorites - The Presentation Show, which took place last Wednesday night in Mexico City, added some spice to the competition, since new favorites emerged and former favorites did not show as much as expected.

Among these emerging favorites are two now very strong contenders for the crown: Italy and Thailand. Both nailed every single presentation and rose to the skies as hot favorites.

Misses Nicaragua and Guatemala now represent a real hope for Central America to do something in this year's pageant, while Miss New Zealand showed the strength of the lands Down Under. Indonesia proved that she could pull a surprise as well, and so did Albania. Slovenia was regal, and could perfectly become a new Angela Visser (Miss Universe from Holland crowned in Mexico 18 years ago). Exotic Jamaica is also competing strongly. Watch out for Denmark and Dominican Republic, they seem to know what they are doing.

Korea, Venezuela, Japan, USA, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Angola, South Africa, Tanzania, Paraguay, Bolivia, Serbia and Estonia are still strong.

Greece did not deliver what her legion of fans and followers expected, but her beauty and charms transcend and she could still go all the way and take the big prize home. India failed to impress the press.

---

5/25 - Mauricio Islas to judge finals: Mexican actor Mauricio Islas will serve as a judge during the live telecast of the Miss Universe 2007 competition on Monday. Islas was called to replace hairstylist Ken Paves who is no longer in the judging panel.

Meanwhile, former Miss Universe Cecilia Bolocco, who was supposed to be a special guest at this year's telecast -and would get a special mention in the 20th anniversary of her crownong- declined the invitation and will not attend, according to her publicist. Bolocco has been dominating the news after photographs published in tabloids unleashed a scandal about an alleged unfaithful relationship with Carlos Menem.

---

5/23 No longer a judge - TV presenter Rebecca de Alba declined the invitation to judge this year's Miss Universe pageant, when she realized she would only be part of the preliminary panel and that she would not have the opportunity to judge the finalists during the live telecast on May 28th.

De Alba said that she doesn't consider appropiate that two panels of judges choose the winner, since she has judged other events where a single panel gets to know the contestants during both the preliminary and final stages.

She contacted the organizing committee and declined the invitation to judge the preliminaries, meaning that no Mexican judges will take part in this year's contest. Photo courtesy of Esmas.com

---

5/22 - Crowned by Politics? - In our latest poll, resumed earlier today, 49% of over 20 thousand voters believed that politics do infuence Miss Universe's results. Other 33% think that economic interests detrmine the winner, while only 18% believe that the election of Miss Universe is 100% left to the judges, "fair and square".

- Swimsuit Preview - In addition to preliminary interviews, the contestants paraded in swimsuits for the judges at closed doors. They took notes which will be useful tomorrow night, when they will score all 77 delegates not only in swimsuits, but also in evening gowns.

- Second round of interviews today - Half of this year's Miss Universe delegates were interviewed yesterday, while the remaining half will be tested by the preliminary judges today. Based on the clip interviews available at the Miss Universe official site, candidates from India, South Africa, USA, Japan, Korea, Venezuela, Serbia, Jamaica, Spain, Mexico, Philippines, Greece, Tanzania, Angola, Indonesia and Guatemala are among those who are most likely to impress the judges. Others who could conquer the panel with their sparkling personalities and pull a surprise are Lebanon, New Zealand, China, Indonesia and Denmark.

The preliminary interviews are very important for the contestants to cause a positive first impression on the judges. Contestants who score high in this competition have a good chance to do well in the swimsuit and gown competitions and advance to the semi-finals. We must keep in mind that Miss Universe is looking for a young woman who will be working with the organization during an entire year, therefore, the interview is possibly the most important of the three competitions.

---

5/20 - National Costumes: Thousands of people gathered at the Angel de la Independencia to witness the National Costume competition, which was held outdoors and was open to the general public.

The event happend at the same time when a bike rally was under course at the same place (to promote the use of bikes instead of automobiles). The 77 contestants paraded in alphabetical order for around 45 minutes. The parade ended earlier due to the rain.

Some contestants wore enormous costumes, while others wore the traditional attire of their countries. The most applauded contestant was Mexico (Rosa Maria Ojeda), followed by Spain (Natalia Zabala).

Miss USA (Rachel Smith) who wore a very creative female Elvis Presley costume, was booed by the audience, due to the unstable political relations between Mexico and the United States.

Such situation reminded the incident which happened during the Miss Universe 1993 contest when Miss USA (Kenya Moore) was booed during the whole telecast until she was voted off by the judges.

Among the audience there was a man dressed as Spiderman, and some women showed up with sashes proclaiming themselves Miss Juarez, Miss Atenco and Miss Michoacan, in reference to places in Mexico where women have been raped or killed.

The winner of today's competition will be announced during the final telecast on May 28th.

---

5/19 - Preliminary Show Hosts - Telehit's Eduardo Videgaray will join reigning Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera, to host the Miss Universe 2007 Presentation Show next Wednesday. The 77 contestants will compete in the swimsuit and evening gown categories before a panel of preliminary judges.

Serbia's moment? - After winning the popular Eurovision contest last week, Serbia has as its next goal to take home the Miss Universe crown. Teodora Marcic, Miss Serbia Universe, is among the favorites in this year's pageant. See what this stunner has to say in a GB's exclusive interview. Click HERE.

Mexicana's Dinner - Yesterday night the 77 Miss U delegates enjoyed a dinner party offered by Mexicana Airlines, one of this year's official sponsors for the Miss Universe pageant. Did they have fun? See it for yourself in our Mexicana's Dinner photo gallery.

Polish Stunner - Barely noticed up to this point, Dorota Gawron, Miss Poland, was the most photographed beauty in yesterday's event. Blonde, tall and very sexy, it looks like this European beauty will soon enter the row of favorites. The last time a Polish beauty placed among Miss U's semi-finalist was in 1989.

---

5/18 - Meet the judges - In these people's hands lies the responsibility of selecting the next Miss Universe:

-NBC's "Heroes" James Kyson Lee
-NBC's "Deal or No Deal" briefcase model Lindsay Clubine
-Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (photo)
-Rocker Dave Navarro
-World and Olympic figure skating champion Michelle Kwan
-Celebrity hairstylist Ken Paves
-Fashion designer Marc Bouwer
-"Project Runway" judge and Elle magazine fashion director Nina Garcia
-Former Miss Universe (1993) Dayanara Torres.

Preliminary Judes: Rebecca de Alba, Fred Howard, Adel Chabbi, Dimitris Margetas, Justine Pasek, Leigh Rossini, Thuy Tran.

More about it HERE.

Information courtesy of Miss Universe Organization

---

 

5/17 - National Gift Auction - The 77 Miss Universe 2007 contestants raised some US$ 20.000 for charity in the National Gift Auction, which took place yesterday night at Arroyo Restaurant in Mexico City. Each candidate brought from her own country a special gift to be auctioned in yesterday's event. The money was donated to the Mexican Red Cross.

- Lupita's Favorites - in a recent press conference former Miss Universe Lupita Jones affirmed that the hometown girl has everything to fight for the crown and become Mexico's second Miss Universe. She believes that the strongest delegates, in addition to Mexico, are Brazil, Russia, South Africa, Angola, Venezuela, Peru, and "some other Latin".

P.S.: Fans of other nationalities shouldn't get much worried: back in 1993, when the pageant was also held in Mexico, among Lupita's favorites were Luxembourg, Panama and Germany. They were not even semi-finalists...

- Between one hamburger and another, rehearsals! - From rehearsals to Hard Rock Cafe and vice-versa! That's been the routine of the Miss Universe delegates lately. After some "fun under the sun" in Cancun, the 77 beauty ambassadors returned to Mexico City and are now working their steps out for the big event. Don't forget to wear comfortable shoes, ladies!

---

5/14 - Changed Locations - Sunday's National Costume competition was supposed to take place at the Zocalo, but organizers suddenly changed it to a stage built around the Angel de la Independencia. According to secretary of Tourism Alejandra Barrales, no judges will take part in the costume competition, and the audience will select the winner based on applauses.

The National Costume competition will take place at 1:00 pm. It's free.

Vote now for Miss Photogenic NBC has launched its official Miss Universe 2007 special section, where visitors will have the opportunity to vote for this year's Miss Photogenic. The winner will be announced during the live telecast on May 28th and will receive a Rogaska crystal trophy.

Official Rules for voting:
* You must be 13 years of age or older as of May 14, 2007 to register and vote for "Miss Photogenic".
* Each person may vote only once and must be the registered subscriber of the email account from which the vote is made.
* Each person must choose three (3) contestants before submitting his or her vote.
* Votes received after 3pm PST on May 25, 2007 will not be counted.

Cast your vote here

Mario Lopez to host Dancing with the Stars' Mario Lopez will join Vanessa Minnillo as co-host of the 2007 Miss Universe pageant.

---

5/13 - A tribute to Mexican beauties - As we get prepared to move on to the second half of this long and exciting Miss Universe pageant, GB decided to pay tribute to a few beautiful women of Mexico, those who represented the Aztec nation at the Miss Universe pageant from 1952 to 2006. There's been ups and downs in the always caliente relationship between Mexico and Miss Universe, which culminated with its first, and so far only victory, in 1991, with Lupita Jones.

Read about the Mexican history in Miss Universe and find out who our judges picked as the most beautiful Miss Universe Mexican delegate in history. CLICK HERE

---

5/12 - Say no to Playboy - GB's visitors voted in our special coverage's third poll and a large majority (58%) answered that a national candidate who appeared totally naked on the pages of PLAYBOY should not be allowed to participate in Miss Universe.

- Starting Grid - GB's 4th list was released this morning, and while Spain and Venezuela remain on the top, Mexico has climbed to the 3rd position. Contestants from Brazil, Nicaragua, Peru and China appeared on the list of favorites for the first time. See the complete line-up HERE.

- Nigeria arrives The last contestant of Miss Universe 2007 finally arrived in Mexico. Miss Nigeria, Ebinabo Potts-Johnson, completed the group of 77 delegates who are competing in this year's event. On Friday, they posed for the annual Miss Universe swimsuit poster, in a photoshoot that took little over half an hour, in one of Cancun's pristine beaches. See the photos HERE.

Last Thursday, 24 delegates and Zuleyka Rivera attended an event hosted by the Hard Rock Cafe Cancun, where special guests had the opportunity to mingle with the contestants.

---

5/11 - National Costume Outdoors - The finals of the National Costume Competition will take place on May 20th at the Plaza de la Constitucion in el Zocalo (photo), one of Mexico City's architectural gems. A panel of judges will select the winner of the Best National Costume award.

A long runway will be built in the outdoor plaza so the attending public can appreciate the contestants. It's supposed to be an open-door event, where attendants will have the opportunity to see this year's beauties up close.

The Zocalo has hosted numerous events including conventions, concerts and fairs.

Tickets now on sale - Tickets for the 2007 Miss Universe pageant are now on sale. Available for the Presentation Show, Dress Rehearsal and Live Telecast. Click here for more information

Vanessa Minnillo to host NBC will announce that Vanessa Minnillo will co-host the Miss Universe Pageant, airing live May 28 (9-11 p.m.) from Mexico City. Minnillo, who co-hosted the Miss Teen USA pageant in 2004 (she's a former Miss Teen USA), is also a correspondent for "ET."

Minnillo's (male) co-host hasn't yet been named, but it could either be Access Hollywood's Tim Vincent or Tony Potts. (NY Post)

---

5/10 - Everyone to the beach The delegates of this year's contest arrived this Thursday in Cancun, for a 3-day visit which includes taping in exotic locations, and of course, a trip to some of the world's most famous beaches. The delegates from Europe seem to be the most thrilled with this spectacular location.

Oh, the beauty - The first photos of today's beach activities included a very peculiar portrait: This year's top favorites, Venezuela (Ly Jonaitis) and Spain (Natalia Zabala) posed together for a promotional photo. Like Billy Bush said during the Miss Universe 2005 telecast, "the beauty continues to punish and awe" (to this day, no one knows why that line was included in the script anyway).

Other big favorites among locals and press include the delegates from Greece, Tanzania, Korea, USA and of course, Mexico.

Happy Birthday!!! May 10th was Miss Spain's birthday. She is now 24-years old, and by the way, was favored in GB's latest update of the Starting Grid. Also, Ecuador's Lugina Cabezas turned 20 years old on May 8th. Global Beauties wishes them the best on their birthdays.

Meanwhile, South Africa's Megan Coleman will have her birthday on May 28th, the exact same day of this year's Telecast. Will she get the gift she wants? We'll see that day!

Lovely Mexico - A group of delegates had the opportunity to visit the beautiful Chapultepec Castle in Mexico city. Local newspapers have been doing quite a decent job, but TV coverage has kept a low profile. A daily news special about Miss Universe 2007 is expected to start at one of the local networks next Monday. The 30-minute program will feature the latest activities, gossip and of course, the favorites in a special countdown until "D-Day".

Some local outlets insist to report that there are 86 delegates competing in the pageant, although there are 76. Nigeria's arrival is still expected. Will she be able to make it after all?

---

5/9 - Charity World - Twenty-one of the 77 Miss Universe contestants visited a rehabilitation center for children in the city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez. Some of them, like Miss Ecuador, could not hold their tears seeing the suffering of ill children, including a few in critical conditions. The candidates distributed gifts and spent some time with the kids. Misses Mexico, Greece, Uruguay, Tanzania, Belize, Peru, Colombia, Paraguay, Philippines, China, Singapore and Belgium were some of the delegates who participated in this visit.

Getting ready to welcome the world - Mexico City expects many foreign visitors in the days preceding Miss Universe's final event, and to welcome them, the city is taking some important measures: for instance, subway stations will offer signs and information in English, French, Italian and German and security will be invigorated. Bienvenidos a Mexico!

---

5/8 - Mexican Tour - The contestants visited the cities of Palenque and San Cristóbal de Las Casas, still in the state of Chiapas, where, once again, they received a warm welcoming from locals.

Miss Venezuela, one of the favorites to win the title, gave her opinion about the guerilla war in Mexico: "People must learn how to communicate. When we all start listening to what others have to say, the world will become a better place".

The contestants visited San Cristóbal's downtown area and were then taken to the city's central park, where they mingled with locals, took photographs and distributed autographs.

Miss Dominican Republic was impressed with how sweet and hospitable the people of Chiapas are: "They welcomed us with open arms, especially the women and the kids".

Local dignitaries were satisfied with the worldwide exposure the region will receive during the pageants' final telecast. Chiapas invested nearly 1 million U.S. dollars in the pageant, and hopes to get in return thousands of visitors after the pageant. (courtesy of LA RAZA and La Jornada)

- She wasn't invited - Former Venezuelan Miss Universe Alicia Machado is disappointed because she was not invited to be a judge this year. "It has nothing to do with Lupita Jones, she is a great friend and would have invited me. The MUO did not invite me", said the always controversial beauty queen. (courtesy of http://www.esmas.com)

- Bold and Beautiful - Miss Tanzania, one of the last delegates to arrive in Mexico, has been getting massive support from the Mexican crowds wherever she goes. Her exotic and stunning looks are impressing the planet and caused her to jump from #8 to #2 in GB's Starting Grid second list, released earlier this morning.

Back in 1985 another beautiful and charming African candidate, from former Zaire (now Congo-Kinshasa), took Miami by storm and was then nicknamed the "black Cinderela". She nearly captured the crown, finishing the competition as 2nd runner-up. In 1999, just like Tanzania now, Botswana debuted in the Miss Universe pageant, and Mpule Kwelagobe won the competition.

Mere coincidences or fate? We will find out on May 28! (photo: Benita Mureka, Miss Zaire 1985 and Mapule Kwelagobe of Botswana, Miss Universe 1999)

---

5/7 - Bring the Scores Back - Over 11 thousand people have participated in GB's 2nd Miss Universe poll, and 80% of them said they want to see the contestants' scores back on the screen at the worldwide telecast of Miss Universe 2007, on May 28. 16% preferred to see the scores published on the pageant's official website after the pageant, and only 6% responded "No scores, keep the suspense". Will MUO hear the fans?

- Poll II - In the preceding poll, GB's visitors were asked to say who they thought will be Miss Photogenic in 2007: Miss Philippines, Miss Puerto Rico or someone else. Ever since the election of Miss Photogenic was left to internet voter, pageant crazy countries Philippines and Puerto Rico have won all the trophies. 45% said "someone else will win", against 28% who responded that the Philippines will take it, and 27% who voted for Puerto Rico. Wishful thinking?

Perhaps MUO could allow press photographer to vote for Miss Universe, like in the old good days, and rename this internet voting as "Miss Popularity", or something of the sort...

- Official portraits now up The Miss Universe official website has published this year's official swimsuit photographs taken by photographer Fadil Berisha. See them here.

Hello, Chiapas! Three delegates fainted during the welcome festivites held at the Polyforum Cultural Center in Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutierrez, on Sunday.

The lack of air conditioning at the venue and the scorching weather (40°C) was the reason.