The Miss Universe 2008 Beauty Pageant

Miss Universe 2008, the 57th beauty pageant was held in Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 14, 2008. There were a total of 80 contestants in the event, which was broad casted globally in 180 countries. There were around 7500 live audience present and a billion viewers worldwide.

This was the first time that the Miss Universe pageant was broadcast in High Definition 1080i and also the first time that a USA based television production to take place in Vietnam.
Jerry SpringerJerry Springer ,the host of NBC's America Got Talent, and Melanie Brown of the Spice Girls presented this year's competition.

Prior to the final telecast, all contestants competed in swimsuit and evening gown during the preliminary competition. They also participated in interviews with the judges. During the final competition, the top fifteen contestants (based on their preliminary scores) competed in the swimsuit competition, and the top ten (based upon individual swimsuit scores) competed in evening gown. The final five contestants (based upon individual score from evening gown) participated in a final round of on-stage interviews, before the runners-up were announced and the new Miss Universe named.

Among the top 5 were Colombia, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Russia. This years Miss Universe winner was Dayana Mendoza from Venezuela. This is the first time Venezuela won Miss Universe since Alicia MachadoAlicia Machado won Miss Universe 1996. This is the fifth time Venezuela has won the title. First runner-up was Taliana Vargas from Colombia. Second runner-up was Marianne Cruz from Dominican Republic. Third was Vera Krasova from Russia and the fourth was Elisa Najera.

For Miss Universe 2008 a new crown was unveiled. The 18k white and yellow gold crown was designed by CAO Fine Jewelry specifically for the event. With over 1,000 pecious stones, including 44 carats of diamonds, the crown has a value of $120,000.