Like in Namibia 1995, and Trinidad 1999, Brazil paid tribute to their African roots appointing a daughter of Africa as the new Miss Universe, in a final as thrilling as the duel between Trinidad Tobago’s black beauty Janelle “Penny” Commissiong and Austria’s golden beauty Eva Maria Duringer (today Roberto Cavalli’s wife) at the 1977 MU in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic).
Despite not being one of the 15 pre-pageant favorites from the beginning of the event, Leila Lopes, a British-educated Angolan, won the Miss Universe 2001 title, ending the reign of Latin America, which enjoyed a streak of three consecutive MU wins (2008-2010). Curiously Leila has a striking facial resemblance to Nigeria’s black beauty Agbani Darego, who was one of the semi-finalists 2001 in Bayamon (Puerto Rico). After her victory, the young Miss Universe 2011 was greeted by a hundreds of admiring fans.
Historically, she is the first Miss Universe from one of the world’s poorest countries. Her country, Angola, is emerging from one of the worst civil wars on the planet.
Miss Leila was crowned by outgoing queen Ximena Navarrete from the United Mexican States during a majestic ceremony that celebrated the 60th anniversary of the international pageant in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo, where there were entrants from 89 countries and dependencies (a new record in MU history) and telecast judges from Brazil (2), Dominican Republic (1), Philippines (1) and the States (5), among them the world-famous reporter Connie Chung. Many contestants came from as far away as Kosovo, Mauritius, Haiti, and the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Miss Universe family appointed her as their first African MU in this century, breaking away from the traditional practice of appointing only candidates from Asia,Europe, Oceania, and the Americas. Ukraine’s representative Olesya Stefano was Vice Miss Universe, followed by the host country’s delegate Priscila Machado (second runner-up), Philippines’ Shamcey Supsup (third runner-up), and Miss People’s Republic of China Luo Zilin (my favorite). Certainly MU 2011 was one of the most outstanding events of its generation due to its excellent organization, the host country, telecast judges, and,of course, for their world-class delegates not only from Europe, Australia and Americas but also from Africa and Far East. Congratulations to the Miss Universe family.
The Perfect Woman is Eliminated
One moment that must have shocked pageant fans in the world was when the “huge favorite” Miss Malaysia failed to reach the Miss Universe semi-finals, bringing back to memory the disqualification of beauties such as Miss Italy 1959 Maria Grazia Buccella, Bolivia’s Jacqueline Gamarra in 1975, Colombia’s Patricia Lopez in 1987, and Miss Ukraine Okelsandra Nikolayenko in 2004.
Malaysia’s entrant Deborah Priya Henry was highly regarded by many world pageant experts during three weeks. To be frank, I couldn’t believe that Miss Malaysia didn’t even make the semis, being beating by 16 entries. In fact she is one of the best delegates in the history of Miss Universe. A modern beauty of the 21st century. Aside from being beautiful girl and a born-athlete, Malaysia’s delegate is also intelligent. An international model with a degree in economics and political sciences. She could have been an excellent Goodwill ambassador for the Miss Universe Organization.
Africa’s Black Queens!
Over the course of the pageant, the memories of Gilette Hazoume, Joan Khoali Libuseng, Kayonga “Benita” Mureka Tete, Mpule Kwelagobe, and Flaviana Matata, and other African queens seemed to inspire Leila Lopes on her way to her win at Brazil.
By the early 1960s, the Republic of Dahomey -present-day Benin– sent a beauty queen to compete in Miss Universe in Miami Beach, FL. Since then, Miss Dahomey 1962, Gilette Hazoume, became one of the first beauty queens from sub-Saharan Africa to go to the United States, home to the 1962 Miss Universe Pageant. Because of economic and political reasons, Benin – one of the least-developed nations of the world– has not participated in the international contest since that year.
Kayonga “Benita” Mureka Tete (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
By 1978, Lesotho’s top queen Libuseng became the first black African to be considered as one of the 12 pre-pageant favorites to win the universal event in Mexico. Seven years later, a spectacular beauty with an exotic hairstyle impressed the telecast judges among them Mister Frederick Forsyth, a novelist well-known for his mercenary thriller “The Dogs of War”, a book inspired by Equatorial Guinea’s dictatorship.
Although she wasn’t considered among the 25 top favorites by experts, Kayonga “Benita” Mureka of the Republic of Zaire, a French-speaking country, wrote one of the most interesting chapters in MU history. After being the second leader of the competition (interview and appearances in swimwear and evening wear), Miss Zaire finished third on American soil in the mid-1980s -staying behind only Puerto Rico’s Deborah Carthy-Deu (winner) and Spain’s Teresa Sanchez (first runner-up)- becoming the first black African to reach the finals in the global event. Her swimsuit score of 8.705 is one of the top scores among delegates from Africa in MU history.
Encouraged by these results, Mureka went to the United Kingdom to compete in the traditional Miss World 1985. In Great Britain, she had become the darling of the international media, capturing the Miss Photogenic title. Aside from that, she was named “Queen of Africa 1985″ by telecast judges in the UK.
Upon being one of the seven pre-pageant favorites by Britain’s bookmakers, along with contestants from USA, Paraguay, Israel, Iceland, Jamaica and the host country, the 18-year-old young, a native of Kintambo, made the top 15, but did not place in the top six. The following year, 1986, her compatriot, Aimee Likobe Dobala, was also semi-finalist at Panama City’s Atlapa Convention Center. After finishing in seventh place (well ahead of Switzerland,Chile and Puerto Rico) in Central America, she worked as an international supermodel for a top model agency in Paris.
Mpule Kwelagobe (Botswana)
At Namibia’95, South Africa’s Augustine Masilela, a TV presenter of Soweto, was elected as one of the seven most beautiful girls by a jury headed by Zakes Mokae, a prestigious international actor from Southern Africa. Towards the end of the 20th Century, the Republic of Botswana won the global event during its universal debut on Trinidad Tobago (Chaguaramas) with Miss Mpule Kwelagobe (after being eliminated in the first phase at the 1997 Miss World on Seychelles, East Africa ). She (which means in Tswana “one who comes with the rain”) was chosen as the last Miss Universe of the 20th century by a panel of telecast judges led by Trinidad’s former ambassador Charles Gargano. Miss Mpule once said, ” Today women use their beauty and brains to stand up for what they believe in, and pageants are platforms to spearhead and promote issues of concern”.She used her title to begin a worldwide battle against AIDS/HIV and working closely with the Harvard AIDS Institute, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and other major organizations in the States.
Flaviana Matata (Tanzania)
By 2007, Tanzania, a country famous by Ernest Hemingway’s book “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”, sent a top contender to Mexico City to participate in the telecast. She, Flaviana Matata, qualified for the second round, becoming the first Tanzanian (and only) to do so. “I am very glad to represent my country Tanzania and, above all, to make it to the top ten finals. I finished sixth out of the 77 contestants from across the world”, she said during an interview. Miss Matata, what is regarded as one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most outstanding beauties, is currently an international model.
A Dark Horse in Brazil
Leila Luliana da Costa Viera Lopes was born on February 26, 1986 in Benguela, Angola (Southern Africa). Like countless other girls in her homeland country, Leila dreamed of one day competing for the African republic at the Miss Universe pageant after Angolan government abandoned its Marxist ideology. Before winning the global title, she lived in Great Britain, where was a business management student.
Her country, Angola, is one of the poorest countries on Earth because of its political legacy of the 27-year civil war that devastated the country after national independence from Portugal. Over that time, at least 1.2 million people were killed. Additionally, it has one of the world’s highest rates of HIV/AIDS infection. Despite all this, it is very rich in wildlife, timber, minerals and water resources. Since the late 1990s, this land has become one of the largest oil producers in sub-Saharan Africa, along with Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.
The former Portuguese colony made its first international appearance at the 1998 Miss Universe on Hawaii’s capital, Honolulu, but it could not qualify for the semis until 2003 with Ana Sebastiao in Panama City. Subsequently, Telma de Jesus Esperanza Sonhi became the second Angolan entrant to reach the semis on Ecuadorean soil. Three years later, in 2007, Portuguese-born Micaela Regis competed in the second round in Mexico City. By November, she returned to the international pageants representing Angola at the Miss World in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), finishing in second place behind the host country’s contestant. In China she also was elected Miss Africa 2007.
As well as being the fourth Miss Universe from the Dark Continent after South Africa’s Margaret Gardinier (1978), Namibia’s Michelle McLean (1992) and Miss Kwelagobe of Botswana (all winners are from Southern Africa), Leila has become the first Angolan citizen to win a worldwide title. Additionally, she is the third MU from the Portuguese-speaking world to capture the prize.
Finally, congratulations to Leila Lopes. She will be an extraordinary Miss Universe!