Miss World 2014

Miss South Africa, 22-year-old
Rolene Strauss, was crowned Miss World 2014 at
the contest's glitzy final in London on Sunday,
with an estimated billion viewers watching on
television around the globe.
Miss Hungary, Edina Kulcsar, was judged the
runner-up and Miss United States, Elizabeth
Safrit, came third in the 64th annual competition,
contested by women from 121 countries.
Medical student Strauss clasped her hands
together in surprise and was crowned by the
outgoing Miss World, Megan Young of the
Philippines, to huge cheers in the ExCeL exhibition
centre.
"South Africa this is for you," Strauss said. "I
think I will brace myself for what's about to
happen. It's a huge responsibility."
She told AFP she wanted to help spread
education in her homeland and thereby help other
people realise their dreams.
"I am what I am today because of the
opportunities I have received and I would love to
give others the same opportunities; educating, the
opportunity to be educated, to make healthy
choices and also to live their dreams," Strauss
said.
And she was already getting used to the glittering
crown.
"I'll definitely keep it on as long as I can but my
parents are staying around here so they'll be
hugging me and I'm afraid that it might fall off,"
she said.
This year's event has been rocked by the murder
of Miss Honduras, 19-year-old Maria Jose
Alvarado, who was shot dead along with her
sister last month.
Police in Honduras accuse her sister's boyfriend
of shooting them after seeing his partner dancing
with another man at a party.
- Shimmering costumes -
Strauss and other contestants will travel to the
crime-plagued central American nation to build a
school named in the sisters' honour.
"We hope that it will really start to impress on the
people in Honduras that the violence, and hurting
people like those two innocent women... maybe
they can think again before they take a gun,"
Miss World chairwoman Julia Morley told AFP.
Sunday's show started with a spectacular
choreographed dance routine, with all the beauty
queens on stage in costumes inspired by their
homelands -- including Miss Bolivia in a colourful
feathered headdress.
While beauty remains central to the event, the
women taking part are chiefly judged on their
talents and involvement in good causes.
Miss Malaysia won the talent competition in a
live sing-off with Miss Scotland.
In the Beauty with a Purpose section -- the heart
of Miss World -- contestants present a charitable
project they have been working on in their
homeland.
In this section, the judges gave equal first place
to Misses Brazil, Guyana, India, Indonesia and
Kenya, unable to separate them.
In rounds held since the contestants arrived in
London, Miss Finland topped the sporting
competition; Miss United States was the
multimedia winner; Miss Bosnia and Hercegovina
won the top model round and Miss Sweden
triumphed in beach fashion.
- Bollywood star honoured -
The event also featured a special 20-year award
for 1994's Miss World, Bollywood star Aishwarya
Rai.
The 41-year-old Indian actress appeared on
stage with her film star husband Abhishek
Bachchan, their daughter Aaradhya and her
mother.
The prize was for the "Dhoom 2" star's charitable
work with children with cleft palates since being
made famous by Miss World.
"I stand here overwhelmed by this honour," she
said.
The 10 contestants who topped the final
scoreboard were, in descending order, from India,
South Africa, England, Guyana, Brazil, Hungary,
Kenya, United States, Mexico and Australia.
They were joined by Miss Thailand, who won the
people's choice award, voted for by people
around the world through a mobile phone app.
The judges chose Miss Hungary, Miss Australia,
Miss South Africa, Miss United States and Miss
England as their top five before picking their top
three.
Miss World began in 1951, a year before its chief
rival Miss Universe.
Strauss is the third South African Miss World, the
country having held the title in 1958 and 1974.
Venezuela tops the all-time leader board with six
titles, ahead of India and the United Kingdom on
five titles each.