SAVE THE DATE!

Miss Tahiti 2010 is June 25!

Who will win the the 50th annual title?

TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE - 2002

Panama's Justine Pasek, Miss Universe 2002

ZEN ON SUNDAY

India's two Miss Universes

Sushmita Sen, Miss Universe 1994, and

Lara Dutta, Miss Universe 2000

TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE - 1964

Miss Philippines Gemma Cruz is crowned Miss International 1964!

PAGEANT POLITICS

25-May-2010, AP, SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — A beauty queen known as the Dominican Cinderella for her rise from humble roots is trading pageants for politics and will serve as deputy mayor of the region where she was born.

Ada Aimee de la Cruz, who was the 2009 Miss Universe runner up, was voted to office on the ticket of Mayor Francisco Fernandez of the opposition Revolutionary Dominican Party in May 16 elections. She will represent Santo Domingo Norte, the country's fourth largest municipality with 445,000 residents.

"I'm here to shatter the myth that beauty queens are airheads," the 23-year-old told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "I want to help youth so they do not find themselves without anything to do because of a lack of plans and opportunities."

The 6-foot-tall beauty starts work Aug. 16 and will become the first former beauty queen to assume an elected position in this Caribbean nation.

She said she would promote education and sports programs for children in a municipality where only half are enrolled in high school and where the illiteracy rate is 10 percent among those older than 10, according to government statistics.

She said most schools in her municipality offer only a fifth-grade education.

De la Cruz also envisions creating work programs for impoverished women and promoting her hometown of Villa Mella for its popular pork products.

"We're going to build a pork rind park as a tourist attraction," she said.

De la Cruz recently earned an accounting degree and recalled how she worked since she was 16 in a women's clothing store to pay for her studies and transportation.

She was crowned Miss World Beach Beauty in 2007 and Miss Dominican Republic in 2009. She stepped down from that position a month before it expired.

"At 23 I have achieved all my goals. From here to 35 you never know, I might even reach the presidency," she said with a laugh.

TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE - 1986

Trinidad and Tobago's Giselle Laronde, Miss World 1986

SAVE THE DATE!

Miss and Mister Croatia 2010 is set for June 6! Here are some of the contenders for the coveted titles.

MISS PERU 2010

Last night, in an elegant, outdoors ceremony full of glamour, Miss Loreto, Giuliana Zevallos, won the title of Miss Universe Peru 2010. Miss Lima, Alexandra Liao, won the title of Miss World Peru 2010. The last time Miss Universe was in Las Vegas, in 1996, Peru made the finals...can they do it again with Giuliana?

ZEN ON SUNDAY

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Miss World 1994

MISS ICELAND 2010

The new Miss Iceland 2010 is Fanney Ingvarsdóttir. First runner-up in the contest was Íris Björk Jóhannsdóttir; second runner-up was Íris Thelma Jónsdóttir.

PRECIOUS METAL 2010

Jennifer Hawkins, Miss Universe 2004, arrives at the 2010 Precious Metal Ball in support of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre at Peninsula, the Docklands on May 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.

TRUE BLUE BEAUTY

Venezuela's Stefania Fernandez, Miss Universe 2009, attends "People en Espanol's 50 Most Beautiful" event in New York, Thursday, May 20, 2010.

LAND OF OPPORTUNITY

Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih visits "Late Show With David Letterman" at the Ed Sullivan Theater on May 18, 2010 in New York City.

Detroit Free Press, 19-may-2010: Praising America as a land of opportunity, the new Miss USA, Rima Fakih of Dearborn, told the Free Press today her victory shows that anyone can make it in the U.S. — regardless of background. And she hopes it will inspire Michiganders to rebuild the struggling state. Touching upon the fact that she is the first open Arab American to win Miss USA, Fakih said she hopes her win will dispel anxieties.

“The fear that people had implanted since 9/11, maybe what I did can show people that, you know what, who cares what ethnicity you are,” Fakih said from an SUV driving her through Manhattan. “This is America. Everyone has been through hardships. Everyone has been through something. And that does not mean you should be afraid or should be shy to say who you really are, what your ethnicity is, and what your background is. Because America is the land of opportunity and the land of the free.”

Read the entire article at the Detroit Free Press.

TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE - 1966

The moment of truth at Miss Universe 1966

MISS USA RATINGS GROW BY 5%

From 7-9 p.m. on Sunday night, Miss USA, televised by NBC, averaged 5.3 million viewers overall, matching its year-ago rating in adults 18-49 and grew by 5 percent in total viewers (5.3 million this year vs. 5.0 million last year). The pageant ran third (out of four) in its time slot, and NBC ran third for the night.

MISS MICHIGAN IS MISS USA 2010

Miss Michigan Rima Fakih reacts as she is crowned Miss USA 2010 Sunday, May 16, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fakih, of Lebanese descent, is believed to be the first Arab American and Muslim to become Miss USA.

First runner-up in the glittering, two-hour televised gala was Miss Oklahoma Morgan Elizabeth Woolard. Miss Virginia Samantha Casey was second runner-up; Miss Colorado Jessica Hartman was third runner-up; and fourth runner-up was Miss Maine Katherine Whittier. This is the third Miss USA title for the Great Lakes State. Michigan won its first Miss USA title in 1990 with Carole Ann Marie Gist. In 1993, Kenya Summer Moore won Michigan its second Miss USA title. Both did very well at Miss Universe, and Beauty School expects Rima to do the same!

MISS UNIVERSE HAITI 2010

Sarodj Bertin, fourth from right, poses for pictures with fellow contestants after being crowned as 2010 Miss Haiti during the Miss Haiti beauty contest at a hotel in Port-au-Prince, Sunday, May 16, 2010. Bertin will represent Haiti in Miss Universe beauty contest.

ZEN ON SUNDAY

Paulien Huizinga, Miss Universe Netherlands 1991 and first runner-up to Miss Universe 1991

FAVES FOR MISS USA 2010

Miss Pennsylvania

Miss New Jersey

Miss Nebraska

Miss North Carolina

Miss Connecticut

Miss California

TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE - 1967

The moment of truth at Miss Universe 1967

MISS UNIVERSE SLOVENIA 2010

Miss Universe Slovenia 2010 is Sandra Marinovič. She won the title tonite in a glittering, nationally-televised ceremony. First runner-up was Tjaša Resnik; second runner-up was Marika Savšek.

WE THREE QUEENS

Newly-crowned Miss World Hungary 2010 Agnes Dobo (C) poses with runner-up and Miss Universe Hungary 2010 Timea Babinyecz and Miss Earth Hungary 2010 Jennifer Kalo after winning a joint beauty contest in Budapest May 13, 2010.

HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTEST

MUMBAI, INDIA - MAY 12: Bollywood actress and Miss Universe 2000 Lara Dutta arrives for the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) press conference in Mumbai on Wednesday, May 12, 2010. The three-day IIFA awards which are scheduled for 3-5 June, 2010 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, will see Lara Dutta as the host along with Bollywood actors Ritesh Deshmukh and Boman Irani. Several Bollywood stars, Indian and Sri Lankan celebrities are scheduled to attend the Awards ceremony.

ASH CANNES

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 12: Miss World 1994, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, attend the 'Robin Hood' Premiere at the Palais des Festivals during the 63rd Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 12, 2010 in Cannes, France.

HU OWNS THE RUNWAY

Kelly Hu, Miss Teen USA 1985, walks the runway at the Race to Erase MS.

MISS BRAZIL 2010 CONFESSES

The new Miss Universe Brazil 2010 is Miss Minas Gerais, Débora Lyra, 20. She won the title last night in a glittering ceremony attended by pageant royalty - Miss Universe 2009, Stefania Fernandez was there, as was Natalia Guimarães, first runner-up to Miss Universe 2007. According the newspaper A Tarde, the new Miss Brazil confessed that she sacrificed chocolate for a whole year in order to win the pageant. She also confessed that after winning the coveted title, she ate french fries. First runner-up for the title of Miss Brazil 2010 was Miss Amazonas, Lilian Lopes.

The moment of truth

MIT MISTER SCHWEIZ IM BETT!

Jan Bühlmann, 22, is the new Mister Switzerland. He won the title last night in a James Bond-themed contest. Jan is a Kung-Fu artist and aspires to be an opera singer. First runner-up in the contest was Stefan Tobler, 28. Second runner-up was Rafael Beutl, 24. Jan and Rafael were among Beauty School's faves for the title.

Get in bed with the new Mister Switzerland!

ZEN ON SUNDAY

Whitney Toyloy, Miss Switzerland 2008/2009 and

top 10 finisher at Miss Universe 2009

WHO WILL WIN?

Today is the big day. Who will win the coveted title of Mister Switzerland 2010? The competitors for the title are:

•Abdullah Akbas (LU)
•Fabian Bertschy (FR)
•Rafael Beutl (BE)
•Marc Bochsler (TG)
•Jan Bühlmann (LU)
•Goran Cvetkov (BE)
•Marco Dell’Acqua (TI)
•Reto Eichenberger (LU)
•Mike Leuenberger (ZH)
•Daniel Mkongo (TI)
•Sandro Sabatini (BE)
•Pascal Schaidl (LU)
•Christian Stieger (SG)
•Stefan Tobler (ZH)
•Joshua Tyrell (VD)
•Stefan Zahnd (BE)

Beauty School's faves for the title are Abdullah Akbas, Rafael Beutl, Jan Buhlmann, Daniel Mkongo, and Joshua Tyrell.