missuniverse2000

Above: Miss Universe 2001 Denise Quinones of Puerto Rico waves towards the crowd after being crowned Miss Universe 2001 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico

Miss Puerto Rico, Denise Quinones, won the Miss Universe crown before an ecstatic crowd in Puerto Rico on May 11, 2001. A few minutes earlier, she had won the Clairol Herbal Essence Style Award, and earlier in the week, she had been chosen Miss Photogenic.

She is the fourth Puerto Rican to become Miss Universe.

The first runner-up was Miss Greece, Evelina Papantoniou, and the second runner-up was Kandace Krueger, Miss USA. The third runner-up was Eva Ekvall, Miss Venezuela, and the fourth runner-up was Celina Jaitley, Miss India.

Other semifinalists were Eva Siso Casals of Spain, Agbani Darego of Nigeria, Ilanit Levi of Israel, Oxana Kalandyrets of Russia and Elodie Gossuin of France.

Nakera Simms of the Bahamas was chosen Miss Congeniality.

THE COVERAGE:

From start to finish, it was Puerto Rico's night.

The evening began with a sizzling performance by hometown hero Ricky Martin, which had even Puerto Rico Gov. Sila Calderon and Miss Universe co-owner Donald Trump swaying on their feet.

And it ended with the coronation of local girl Denise Quinones as Miss Universe 2001, setting off spontaneous jubilation and raucous street parties that lasted late into the night.

Few doubted that Ms. Quinones, 20, a long-legged brunette from the town of Lares, would be one of the top contenders. During the preparations for the pageant she won the award for Miss Photogenic, and her dazzling smile lit up the pages of all the local newspapers as excitement built in Puerto Rico toward Friday night's spectacle.

The organizers of the pageant did their best to keep the suspense growing. After Martin's two numbers and a pass across the stage from all 77 contestants in traditional country costumes, supermodel hosts Elle MacPherson and Naomi Campbell announced the 10 semifinalists, who had been chosen during a series of preliminary events and interviews in the three weeks the girls had been preparing on the island.

Though they stressed that the finalists would be announced in random order, the hosts announced nine and then paused for dramatic effect.

Those nine were Miss Spain, Eva Siso Casals; Miss Venezuela, Eva Ekvall; Miss Nigeria, Agbani Darego; Miss Israel, Ilanit Levi; Miss Greece, Evelina Papantoniou; Miss India, Celina Jaitley; Miss Russia, Oxana Kalandyrets; Miss USA, Kandace Krueger; and Miss France, Elodie Gossuin.

The crowd in Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum held their breath, fearing that perhaps Ms. Quinones somehow had not made the cut. But then the tenth finalist was announced, and Ms. Quinones traipsed down the grand staircase at the back of the set, beaming like the queen she would soon become. Though all of the finalists were stunning, there was a star quality about Ms. Quinones -- buoyed as she was by the crowd's adoration -- that set her apart from the rest.

She extended that dominance in both the swimsuit and evening gown competitions. After those rounds, an informal survey put her slightly ahead of the other finalists, with Ms. Papantoniou of Greece and Ms. Ekvall of Venezuela close behind.

Soon the crowd was narrowed to five, with Ms. Jaitley of India -- the only surprise among the last five finalists -- and Ms. Krueger of the United States rounding out the field leading into the question-and-answer portion of the event.

Each contestant drew a judge's name from a bowl and then fielded that judge's question. Unlike the previous year -- when the ultimate winner, India's Lara Dutta, clearly distinguished herself with her beautiful elocution and thoughtful answers -- none of this year's finalists particularly shone in the question-and-answer period.

Ms. Quinones was asked what she considered the most important thing in life.

"To be the best I can be . . . to be beautiful inside and outside," she responded.

She gave a similar answer to her second question, which dealt with common misperceptions about beauty.

"Trying to find it on the outside," she said. "You have to go deep in the soul of the person."

Similarly unenlightening were the responses to the final question. While the other contestants waited on the side with earphones on, each girl was asked what, if anything, she would change about her past.

In some ways, it seemed a trick question. Admitting deficiency in the past might be construed as an unflattering sign of weakness. Only Ms. Jaitley tackled the question head-on, recounting an illness that left her bed-ridden for a year and stole "the best years of my life."

The other girls all gave variations on a theme They would change nothing about their lives, claiming either to have had perfectly wonderful lives up to that point or to have benefited from adversity.

The only marginally thoughtful response was from Ms. Krueger, who said that her parents' divorce had made her a stronger and more independent woman. She also alluded to other, unspecified, troubles, perhaps an oblique reference to her mother's untimely death from breast cancer, which forced Ms. Krueger to work several jobs to help support the family.

Her response may have catapulted Ms. Krueger -- a fit and muscular blonde with a sweet smile identical to actress Gwyneth Paltrow's -- ahead of several of the other finaliists.

As the judge's results were announced, the contestants peeled off to receive bouquets from Ms. Dutta, who moments before had taken her final turn onstage as Miss Universe, blowing kisses to the audience and wiping away tears. In order, they were fourth runner-up, Ms. Jaitley, who received a hug from her compatriot, Ms. Dutta; third runner-up, Ms. Ekvall; and second runner-up, Ms. Krueger.

It now came down to Ms. Quinones and Ms. Papantoniou of Greece, and the audience tensed, though in truth Ms. Quinones had far outshone Ms. Papantoniou, and there seemed little doubt about the outcome.

When Ms. Papantoniou was announced as first runner-up, the crowd exploded in exultation for Ms. Quinones, who basked in the adulation of the hometown crowd like a conquering hero.

"Miss Puerto Rico brings back the Crown"

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico: Puerto Ricans took to the streets shouting for joy, waving flags and dancing after their island's beauty queen was crowned Miss Universe.

With her coronation on Friday night, Miss Puerto Rico Denise Quinones August became one of the few women in the history of the pageant to win on home soil.

"I'm proud to have won this crown," said Quinones, wearing a shimmering white evening gown with a plunging neckline. "I think I have left a great legacy for my beloved Puerto Rico."

Hundreds of people celebrated in the streets outside the coliseum in the San Juan suburb of Bayamon, beating on pots and shouting the name of their champion.

``We came to celebrate the victory of our queen Denise!'' said reveller Odannys Esquilin. Into the early morning Saturday, horns blared in honour of the victory along many streets in the US Caribbean territory.

This year's Miss Universe pageant was the 50th. Since the first competition in 1952, few contestants have won in their homeland. Pageant organisers said the only other case in recent memory came in 1997, when Miss USA Brook Lee won in Miami.

Quinones became the fourth Puerto Rican to be crowned Miss Universe.

Miss Greece, 22-year-old Evelina Papantoniou, took second place, and Miss USA, 24-year-old Kandace Krueger, came in third. Miss Venezuela, 18-year-old Eva Ekvall, and Miss India, 22-year-old Celina Jaitley, were runners-up.

Judges chose the winner among the finalists after asking each contestant brief questions. When one of the judges asked Quinones to name the biggest misconception about beauty, she said it is ``just trying to find beauty in the outside of the person.''

``You have to go deep in the soul of that person,'' she said.

For the final question, the judges asked each of the five what, if anything, she would change in her life. Jaitley said she would change a time in which she was ill and bedridden. ``I missed out on the most important years of my life,'' she said.

Others, including Quinones, said they wouldn't change anything. ``I really enjoyed all my life,'' Quinones said, after hesitating several seconds.

The show also included a performance by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin, who appeared in the crowd in a puff of smoke.

Quinones succeeds Lara Dutta of India, who won last year on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

Ten semifinalists were picked ahead of time from among the 77 contestants after swimsuit and evening gown competitions on Sunday and interviews with judges this week. The field was then narrowed to five finalists on Friday before the winner was chosen.

The judges included Puerto Rican singer Marc Anthony, 1993 Miss Universe Dayanara Torres Muniz, also of Puerto Rico, and Kel Gleason, a contestant on the TV show "Survivor: The Australian Outback."

Quinones wins a prize package worth about $250,000, plus other modeling and promotional contracts that usually follow. The title requires the winner to spend one year in New York as representative of the Miss Universe Organisation, which is jointly owned by the television network CBS and entrepreneur Donald Trump.

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