Jimena Navarrete became the second Mexican to win the Miss Universe crown.

Watch the Top 5 of Miss Universe 2010 hurdle the final question and answer...

Check out the Top 5 finalists of Miss Universe 2010...

The 15 semifinalists of Miss Universe 2010 competed in swimsuit competition. The top 10 who received the highest scores and who also advanced to the next round are...

The Miss Universe 2010 official 15 semifinalists have just been announced.

Check out our Top 15 picks during the Miss Universe 2010 swimsuit competition.

Bb. Pilipinas International 2009 Melody Gersbach dies in a car accident around 11 a.m. today, August 21, 2010, at Bula Town, Camarines Sur.

The beautiful teenager from Athens, Greece took the title of Miss Teen World 2010 in Houston, Texas on August 13, 2010.

Check out the 12 most interesting national costumes during the Miss Universe national costume event in Las Vegas, Nevada August 16, 2010.

Miss Philippines Maria Venus was among the most applauded during the Miss Universe 2010 National Costume Presentation Show held last night at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

Albania Anxhela Martini
Angola Jurema Ferraz
Argentina Yesica Natalia Di Vincenzo*
Aruba Priscilla Nicole Wai-Yien Lee
Australia Jesinta Campbell
Bahamas Braneka Bassett*
Belgium Cilou Annys*
Bolivia Claudia Arce Lemaitre*
Botswana Tirelo Ramasedi
Brazil Debora Moura Lyra*
British Virgin Islands Josefina Nunez
Canada Elena Semikina*
China Wen Tang
Colombia Natalia Navarro Galvis
Costa Rica Marva Wright Ureña
Croatia Lana Obad
Curacao Safira de Wit
Cyprus Demetra Olimpiou
Czech Republic Jitka Valkova
Denmark Ena Sandra Causevic
Dominican Republic Eva Carolina Arias Viñas
Ecuador Lady Fernanda Mina Lastra
Egypt Donia Hammed
El Salvador Sonia Cruz
Finland Viivi Pumpanen
France Malika Ménard*
Georgia Nanuka "Nana" Gogichaishvili
Germany Kristiana Rohder
Ghana Krystle Awurama Simpson
Great Britain Tara Vaitiere Hoyos-Martinez
Greece Anna Prelevic
Guam Vanessa Laguana Siguenza Torres
Guatemala Jessica Maria Scheel Loyola*
Guyana Tamika Henry
Haiti Sarodj Bertin Durocher*
Honduras Kenia Melissa Martínez Sambulá
Hungary Timea Babinyecz
India Ushoshi Sengupta
Indonesia Qory Sandioriva
Ireland Rozanna Purcell
Israel Bat-El Jobi
Italy Jessica Cecchini
Jamaica Yendi Amira Phillips*
Japan Maiko Itai
Kazakhstan Assel Kuchukova
Korea Kim Joo-ri
Kosovo Keshtjella Pepshi
Lebanon Rahaf Abdallah*
Malaysia Nadine Ann Thomas
Mauritius Dalysha Doorga*
Mexico Jimena Navarrete Rosette
Netherlands Desiree van den Berg*
New Zealand Ria van Dyke
Nicaragua Scharllette Allen Moses
Nigeria Ngozi Odaloni
Norway Melinda Victoria Elvenes
Panama Anyoli Amorette Ábrego Sanjur*
Paraguay Johanna Maria Belén Benítez Olmedo
Peru Giuliana Zevallos Roncagliolo*
Philippines Maria Venus Bayonito Raj
Poland Maria Nowakowska*
Puerto Rico Mariana Paola Vicente Morales
Romania Oana Paveluc
Russia Irina Igorevna Antonenko
Serbia Lidija Kocic
Singapore Tania Lim Kim Suan*
Slovak Republic Anna Amenova
Slovenia Marika Savsek
South Africa Nicole Flint*
Spain Adriana Reverón Moreno*
Sri Lanka Ishanka Dilrukshi Madurasinghe
Sweden Michaela Savic
Switzerland Linda Fah
Tanzania Hellen Dausen
Thailand Fontip Watcharatrakul
Trinidad & Tobago LaToya Woods
Turkey Gizem Memic*
Ukraine Anna Poslavs’ka
Uruguay Stephany Ortega
U.S.A. Rima Fakih
U.S. Virgin Islands Janeisha John*
Venezuela Marelisa Gibson Villegas
Zambia Alice Rowlands Musukwa


* Cross-references to some of the other pageants

Argentina Italia nel Mondo 2006 (semi-finalist)
Bahamas World 2010
Belgium World 2010
Bolivia Earth 2010
Brazil Top Model of the World 2008 (winner)
Canada Coffee 2008, International 2008 & Bikini International 2010
France World 2010
Guatemala Earth 2007
Haiti Intercontinental 2005
Jamaica World 2007 (semi-finalist & Top 3 Beach Beauty)
Korea World 2009 (semi-finalist)
Lebanon World 2010
Mauritius World 2010
Netherlands World 2010
Panama Miss Model of the World 2009 (Top 30)
Peru Earth 2008
Poland International 2010
Singapore Tourism Pageant 2007 & Beauty of the World 2009
South Africa World 2010
Spain Earth 2008 (Top 8)
Turkey World 2010
U.S. Virgin Islands America 2008

Ma. Venus Raj is definitely the Philippines' best delegate to the Miss Universe pageant since Miriam Quiambao!

Mark my word. The Philippines will finally enter the semi-finals of Miss Universe after a decade of shut out in the prestigious beauty pageant. This fearless forecast, of course, will come true only if no politics or racism cloud the 59th edition of the Donald Trump franchise.

Our very own, Ma. Venus Raj is in her full fighting form to capture the third Miss Universe crown for the country. Her glam photo taken by Fadil Berisha below is no less than stunning:



And here is her swimsuit portrait:



I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for the evening gown.

Images courtesy of Miss Universe L.P., LLLP

Miss Universe has released the evening gown portraits of its 83 contestants. Check out our Top 5 picks!

Miss Russia - Irina Antonenko



Miss Mexico - Jimena Navarrete



Miss Albania - Angela Martini



This one's a little out of the box...

Miss Ireland - Rozanna Purcell



This one's a little simple but fresh and free-spirited...

Miss Jamaica - Yendi Phillipps



Photos courtesy of Matt Petit / Miss Universe L.P., LLLP

The casual interview videos of the 83 Miss Universe contestants can now be seen on YouTube. Check out the interview video of our very own Venus Raj!

Just like with the other candidates, our very own Venus Raj was asked "What piece of advice would you give to a man?", "What is the best gift you have ever received?", "What is the worst date you have ever been on?" and make an impression on the following: lion, car starting, rocket launching, sheep, cow and robot.

Watch Venus Raj's casual interview video here:

Miss Philippines, Ma. Venus Raj, is among the early favorites in Miss Universe 2010.

Pageant website Globalbeauties.com has released their very first leaderboard for Miss Universe 2010. They ranked the Top 25 from more than 80 candidates this year based from the points given by a group of international pageant enthusiasts.

Their Top 5, which they call "The Fab Five" include Miss Russia, Miss Mexico, Miss Colombia, Miss USA and of course, Miss Philippines:



Another pageant website, Missosology.org, has Miss Philippines at no. 1 in their list followed by Miss USA (#2), Miss Venezuela (#3), Miss Russia (#4) and Miss Ireland (#5):



The official Miss Universe website, on the other hand, is having a survey via an online popularity poll where the global community can give ratings on their favorite contestants, 5 being the highest and 1 being the lowest score.

This early, Ma. Venus Raj is at no. 1 and the only candidate who got a 3+ rating. Among the 83 Miss Universe candidates, she now has a rating of 3.58 followed by Miss Brazil Debora Lyra, 2.83; Miss Colombia Natalia Navarro, 2.77; Miss Venezuela Marelisa Gibson, 2.77; and Miss Mexico Jimena Navarrete with 2.76.