The 58th Annual MISS UNIVERSE® Competition will air live from Paradise Island, Bahamas. The glamorous live event, featuring some of the world’s most beautiful women, will take place at Atlantis, Paradise Island resort and air live on worldwide on Sunday, August 23rd.
Venezuelan native Dayana Mendoza, Miss Universe 2008, will crown her successor at the conclusion of the telecast. During her reign, she has traveled all over the world as an advocate for HIV/AIDS education, research, and legislation. The newly crowned Miss Universe will go on to do the same.
Each contestant from more than 80 countries around the world will be judged in three categories: swimsuit, evening gown and interview as they vie for the coveted title of Miss Universe 2009. In recent years, worldwide distribution of the popular competition has topped more than 170 countries.
These are the top contestants of the pageant according to votes cast on the shows website:
Miss Vietnam – Hoang Yen Vo
Miss Indonesia – Zivanna Letisha Siregar
Miss Egypt – Elham Wagdi
Miss Lebanon – Martine Andraos
Miss Brazil – Larissa Costa
Miss Ecuador – Sandra Vinces
Miss Philippines – Bianca Manalo
Miss USA – Kristen Dalton
Miss Peru – Karen Schwarz
Miss Ukraine – Kristina Kots-Gotlib
Miss Iceland – Ingibjorg Egilsdottir
Miss Russia – Sofia Rudyeva
Miss Mexico – Karla Carillo
Miss Turkey – Senem Kuyucuoglu
