South Africa's Zozibini Tunzi crowned Miss Universe 2019
Miss South Africa Zozibini Tunzi has been crowned Miss Universe 2019. The 26-year-old received the honor at the pageant's finale, which was held in Atlanta. Mexico, South Africa, and Puerto Rico made it to the top three. Miss Mexico Sofía Aragón lost in the initial rounds, paving the path for the final showdown between Tunzi and Puerto Rico's Madison Anderson. Here are more details.
Panel of seven women judged the contestants
The competition was held among representatives of 90 countries, and all participants aced in the departments of brains, beauty, talent. This year, the pageant's motto was "Confidently Beautiful", and the winner was finally decided from among 20 semifinalists, by a panel of seven women. Steve Harvey, who will always be remembered for mixing up the winner in 2015, was the host this year too.
Welcome the new Queen!
Tunzi advocates natural beauty and speaks about gender stereotypes
Hailing from Tsolo, Tunzi's Miss Universe biography described her as "a proud advocate for natural beauty". "She has devoted her social media campaign to changing the narrative around gender stereotypes," the biography added. She holds a bachelor's degree in public relations management from Cape Peninsula University of Technology. To note, Tunzi has succeeded Catriona Gray, the Philippines star who won last year.
So, what was the answer which helped Tunzi win?
The final three contestants were asked, "What is the most important thing you should be teaching young girls today?" In her reply, Tunzi said young girls should be taught leadership. "It's something that's been lacking women for a long time not because we don't want it but because of what society has labeled women to be, (sic)," she went on, naturally impressing the jury.
Young girls should take up space in society, said Tunzi
Fun fact: Harvey made a gaffe, again!
Harvey gave viewers a sense of déjà vu when he announced that the National Costume Contest winner is Miss Philippines Gazini Ganados when the actual winner was Miss Malaysia Shweta Sekhon. In what qualifies as another embarrassment for him, Sekhon snatched the mic for correction. The host then explained he wasn't entirely at fault, as he was just reading the teleprompter.
Quit doing this to me, pleaded Harvey
"Well... let me explain something to you. I just read that in a teleprompter. You all quit doing this to me. I can read this. They are trying to fix it now. This is what they did to me back in 2015," Harvey said.
