Monday, 24 Aug 2009 03:27:33 UTC
NASSAU (Reuters) - Miss Venezuela, Stefania Fernandez, was crowned Miss Universe 2009 on Sunday, giving her country its sixth title in the international beauty pageant.
Fernandez, an 18-year-old brunette, became the 58th winner of the title in a show broadcast live around the world from the Atlantis, Paradise Island resort in the Bahamas.
It was the second consecutive year that a contestant from the oil-producing South American country, which is famous for its beauty queens, won the Miss Universe title.
Venezuela had produced five previous winners.
Fernandez was selected out of five finalists chosen from the total field of 83 contestants.
The first runner-up this year was Miss Dominican Republic, Ada Aimee de la Cruz.
The rest of the top five were from Australia, Puerto Rico, and Kosovo.
Fernandez received the Miss Universe crown from last year's winner, also a Venezuelan, Dayana Mendoza.
The 2008 contest was held in Vietnam's resort city of Nha Trang.
(Reporting by Neil Hartnell; Writing by Pascal Fletcher)
