Ready for revenge

   Only a few months away from the big event in Sao Paolo, Miss Venezuela-Universe 2010 Vanessa Goncalves is getting ready to avenge Marelisa Gibson's dismal performance last year. Her handler, the beauty genius Osmel Sousa is making sure they get it right this time. He was quoted as saying, ''I'm sending an atomic bomb to Brazil.'' Well if these pictures are of any indication to that bold declaration, her rivals better hide for cover. Game on bitches!

Miss Universe Final Looks

   My favorite part in the Miss Universe pageants is the Top 5 Final Look, giving the judges one last chance to scrutinize and choose the winner among the last 5 standing. And as for the ladies, it's their last chance to put their best foot forward and get the judges' nods. For me 2005 has the best set of final 5 (though 2006 has the best set of top 10). See which final 5 you love best:

Pageant Archive: Miss Universe 2002

Venue: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Hosts: Daisy Fuentes & Phil Simms

TOP 10

OXANA FEDOROVA (Russia) - Winner

JUSTIN PASEK (Panama) - 1st Runner Up

LING ZHOU (China) - 2nd Runner Up

VANESSA CARREIRA (South Africa) - 3rd Runner Up

CYNTHIA LANDER ZAMORA (Venezuela) - 4th Runner Up

NATASCHA BORGER (Germany)

DEMETRA ELEFTHERIOU (Cyprus)

ANISA KOSPIRI (Albania)

NEHA DHUPIA (India)

NEELAM VERMA (Canada)

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Pageant World's Most Beautiful Faces

   Various magazines and sites come up with ''world's most beautiful'' polls every year and I noticed that some readers including myself don't agree with its results. Most often than not, those with huge fan base place high in the rankings which defeats the real purpose of coming up with truthful results. But I guess the concept of beauty around the world is really subjective and depends on various peoples' tastes, upbringing, tradition etc. But if you were to ask me, the world's most beautiful women come from the field whose core of existence depends on searching for the most beautiful -- the world of beauty pageants, where every event is like a general assembly at the United Nations headquarters. 

   Among the most famous pageants in the world include the Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International, and Miss Earth. These four major beauty pageants produced some of the world's finest female species that even so-called most beautiful celebrities pale in comparison. Why so? Because these ladies were trained, enhanced and even modified to look their very best. And through my years of closely watching these pageants, there were a lot of stunners but only few have remarkable presence. Here's 10 of the most unforgettable  and most beautiful faces to ever grace the pageant stage:

Music Is Universal

   Music is truly universal as it encompasses all boundaries and all sorts of social and physical barriers that not even former Miss Universe titleholders are spared. Winning a pageant as grand and prestigious as Miss Universe opens doors of opportunities - acting, ad campaigns, and in this case, a music career. Watch our former queens Dayanara Torres (1993), Sushmita Sen (1994),  Alicia Machado (1996), Lara Dutta (2000), Denise Quinones (2001), Oxana Fedorova (2002), Amelia Vega (2003), Jennifer Hawkins (2004) and Dayana Mendoza (2008) sing and/or get featured in these awesome and diverse music videos.  

Pageant Archive: Miss Universe 2009

Venue: Nassau, Bahamas

Hosts: Billy Bush & Claudia Jordan

TOP 15

STEFANIA FERNANDEZ (Venezuela) - Winner

ADA AIMEE DELA CRUZ (Dominican Republic) - 1st Runner Up

GONA DRAGUSHA (Kosovo) - 2nd Runner Up

RACHAEL FINCH (Australia) - 3rd Runner Up

MAYRA MATOS (Puerto Rico) - 4th Runner Up

CHLOE MARTAUD (France) 

TATUM KESHWAR (South Africa)
IVETA LUTOVSKA (Czech Republic)

KRISTEN DALTON (USA)

WHITNEY TOYLOY (Switzerland)

HASNA XHUKICI (Albania)
ZEYNEP SEVER (Belgium) 

RENATE CERLJEN (Sweden)

SARAH COSIC (Croatia)

INGIBJORG EGILSDOTTIR (Iceland)

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Pageant Archive: Miss Universe 2010

Jimena Navarrete, 22, of Mexico was crowned Miss Universe 2010 by Miss Universe 2009 Stefania Fernandez on August 23 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, NV.

Venue: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Hosts: Brett Michaels & Natalie Morales

TOP 15 

JIMENA NAVARRETE (Mexico) - Winner

YENDI PHILIPPS (Jamaica) - 1st Runner Up

JESINTA CAMPBELL (Australia) - 2nd Runner Up

ANNA POSLAVSKA (Ukraine) - 3rd Runner Up

MARIA VENUS RAJ (Philippines) - 4th Runner Up

ANGELA MARTINI (Albania)

 ROZANNA PURCELL (Ireland)

NICOLE FLINT (South Africa)

JESSICA SCHEEL (Guatemala)

MARIANA PAOLA VICENTE (Puerto Rico)

IRINA ANTONENKO (Russia)

NATALIA NAVARRO (Colombia)

MALIKA MENARD (France)

CILOU ANNYS (Belgium)

JITKA VALKOVA (Czech Republic)

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