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Miss World: 'I'm still in shock'
06/12/2003 19:13 - (SA)
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| Miss Ireland, Rosanna Davison is crowned by outgoing Miss World, Turkey's Azra Akin. (Miss World Organisation, AP) |
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Sanya, China - China's first ever staging of the Miss World competition ended Saturday with heavy favourite Miss Ireland, Rosanna Davison, beating 105 other beauty queens for the annual title.
"I can't believe it still, I'm still in shock," 19-year-old Davison told AFP by telephone.
Davison takes over the crown from the reigning Miss World from Turkey, Azra Akin, and earns $100 000 in prize money after edging out 24-year-old Miss Canada, Nazanin Afshin-Jam, and China's Guan Qi, 21.
China this year officially lifted a 54-year ban on beauty pageants - seen under Mao as a symbol of bourgeois decadence - although contests masquerading as modelling competitions and "cultural" events have gone on for more than 10 years.
With long blond hair and soft brown eyes, Davison is the daughter of "Lady in Red" singer Chris de Burgh and is the first Ireland-born Miss World.
She has finished her first year at University College in Dublin and says her ambition is to finish her studies and pursue a career in the arts, fashion, sports science and nutrition.
But first she will take up her duties as Miss World for one year, largely composed of various charity fundraising activities for disadvantaged children around the world.
The heavy travelling demands are likely to suit Davison who says she "loves" exploring new cultures, basketball, water sports and yoga.
"I don't know what I'm going to do next, but I will put all my energy into being Miss World," said Davison, who wore a long pink evening gown for the show.
In the run-up to Miss World, the contestants took part in four competitions, with the winners fast-tracked to the final 20.
Davison jumped in the rankings after she was last week named Miss World Beach - meaning she looks sexiest in a bikini - and was the heavy favourite with most Ireland and London-based bookmakers.
Among top five finalists were also Miss Philippines, Maria Rafaela Yunon and Miss India, Ami Vashi.
Twenty-two-year-old Miss Australia, Olivia Marie Stratton, was the winner of the popular vote chosen on the internet.
The young women were chosen for their poise, intelligence, artistic talents and aesthetic merits, with Hollywood action film star Jackie Chan and Candace Bushnell, writer of the US comedy hit "Sex and the City", among a panel of judges.
After four weeks of preparations in China, which included tours of the cities of Xian, Shanghai and Beijing, the contest opened to a full house at the 4 000 seat Beauty Crowne Theatre, with Miss China receiving the loudest cheers.
This year's final was aired in China from the resort town of Sanya in tropical southern Hainan province, by Hong Kong-based cable television network Phoenix TV and Hainan's state-run TV channel.
But China Central Television, the country's main government-directed channel, did not broadcast the event, which means most of the country's 400 million TV-owning households did not see the programme.
Nonetheless, Miss World Organisers said it reached a worldwide audience of around two billion people, putting the show near the ranks of the Olympics' opening ceremony and football's World Cup.
In Sanya, officials hope that the millions spent on hosting rights and the sprucing up of the resort town of 500,000 people, will yield greater tourism and investment dollars.
- AFP
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