Miss France Iris Mittenaere wins Miss Universe 2017
24-year-old Miss France Iris Mittenaere won the Miss Universe 2017 title held at the Mall of Asia Arena in Metro Manila, Philippines. Mittenaere, who hails from Northern France said, "This sash is not only a sash. This is something to help people, understand people." She is a dental surgery student and will campaign for dental and oral care around the world as Miss Universe.
About Miss Universe
Run by the Miss Universe Organization, Miss Universe is a yearly international beauty pageant and the most publicized beauty pageant in the world. Globally, Miss Universe is held in more than 190 countries and watched by half a billion people. The pageant was founded in 1952 by Pacific Knitting Mills, a California-based clothing company and the Miss Universe Organization.
Iris Mittenaere's reaction to winning
According to the Miss Universe website, Iris Mittenaere was described as hoping to "advocate for dental and oral hygiene" if she won. On winning the title, she said, "I was very surprised that I won. I feel blessed. Miss Universe was a dream, every girl wants to be Miss Universe..the stage is amazing. Everything is amazing."
Other contestants
Raquel Pelssier (Miss Haiti) and Andrea Tovar (Miss Columbia) were the first and second runner-ups respectively. The top finalists were from Kenya, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Panama, Colombia, Philippines, Canada, Brazil, France, Haiti, Thailand and the United States.
Miss India didn't make it to the top 13
22-year-old Bengaluru-based Roshmitha Harimurthy represented India in the Miss Universe 2017 pageant, but didn't make it to the top-13. She is a multilingual student (she can speak up to 5 languages) at the Mount Carmel College. She is pursuing a Master's Degree in International Business and enjoys reading, dancing, gardening and swimming. She has worked as a volunteer-teacher at the Thanisandra Government Primary School.
India at Miss Universe
It has been 17 years since an Indian contestant was crowned Miss Universe. Sushmita Sen was the first Indian to be crowned Miss Universe in 1994; Lara Dutta was crowned in the year 2000.
