Russia holds Miss Universe contest for the first time

MOSCOW: Women representing 86 countries competed for the Miss Universe crown Saturday at the final of the 61-year-old beauty contest, which is being held in Russia for the first time.
The glitzy contest was held at a concert hall on the edge of Moscow and beamed around the world’s television screens to an audience of around two billion people.
The show, which started at 10 p.m. Moscow time (1800 GMT), began with judges whittling down the 86 contestants to a final 16. The women then faced an interview round.
Among those widely tipped to take the crown were Miss Philippines, 24-year-old chemistry graduate Ariella Arida, and Miss Spain, 23-year-old actress and model Patricia Rodriguez.
Former Spice Girls singer Melanie Brown hosted the event with US television presenter Thomas Roberts.
The contest, whose slogan is “confidently beautiful,” was first held in 1952 in Palm Beach in the United States. The contest remains hugely popular, particularly in Central and South America.
Singer Emin Agalarov, whose family company built the venue, was one of the performers.
The singer, known as Emin, is also the son-in-law of the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and performed at the Eurovision song contest when it was held in Baku last year. Russia won Miss Universe in 2002.