Viva Miss Vega!

Amelia Vega, Miss Dominican Republic, was crowned Miss Universe 2003 on June 3, 2003, in Panama. She also won the national costume award. She is the first Dominican woman ever to win the title, though her country hosted the Miss Universe Pageant in 1977.

The first runner-up was Mariangel Ruiz Torrealba, Miss Venezuela, and the second runner-up was Cindy Nell, Miss South Africa. The third runner-up was Sanja Papic, Miss Serbia and Montenegro, and the fourth runner-up was Miyako Miyazaki, Miss Japan.

Others among the Top 10 were Katerina Smrzova, Miss Czech Republic; Gislaine Ferreira, Miss Brazil; Faye Alibocus, Miss Trinidad and Tobago, Ndapewa Alfons, Miss Namibia; and Leanne Marie Cecile, Miss Canada.

The five other women who made the initial Top 15 were Miss Angola, Ana Sebastiao; Miss Greece, Marietta Chrousala; Miss Panama, Stefanie de Roux; Miss Peru, Claudia Ortiz de Zevallos; and Miss USA, Susie Castillo.

Kai Davis, Miss Antigua and Barbuda, was voted by other contestants as Miss Congeniality. Miss Puerto Rico, Carla Tricoli, won the Crest Whitestrips Photogenic award.

In her position as Miss Universe, Ms. Vega will travel the world as a goodwill ambassador. She will be based in New York, and her roommate will be Miss USA, Ms. Castillo. They should feel at home together, because Ms. Castillo, who is from Massachusetts, is partly of Dominican descent. (The rest of her heritage is Puerto Rican.)

The 2003 Miss Universe Pageant was a lavish affair. The Panamanian crowd was exuberant, partly because the outgoing Miss Universe 2002, Justine Pasek, is a Panamanian. The tone was extremely sexy, with low-slung swimsuit bottoms and some very revealing gowns. The string quartet Bond, whose members are nubile young women in skimpy outfits, added to the provocative atmosphere.