Celebrities
Miss France Crowned Miss Universe 2016
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Iris Mittenaere, a 24-year-old dental student from France has won the Miss Universe 2016 Crown at the 65th annual pageant held in Manila, the Philippines.
Decked out in a gold-sequined gown, Iris Mittenaere beat 12 other finalists to take the crown. As Miss Universe, she will be campaigning for dental and oral care around the world.
“This sash is not only a sash,” said Mittenaere, who is from Northern France, in a Miss Universe interview after the pageant. “This is something to help people, to understand people.”
First and second runner-ups were Miss Haiti (Raquel Pelissier) and Miss Colombia (Andrea Tovar). The top finalists hailed from Kenya, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Panama, Colombia, Phillippines, Canada, Brazil, France, Haiti, Thailand and the U.S.
The pageant changed its format this year; it had 12 instead of 13 finalists, and counted online votes from the Miss Universe app and Twitter.
This was the first time Sierra Leone entered the competition and was represented by Hawa Kamara, 2013 Miss West Africa.
The Nigerian representative, Unoaku Anyadike, winner of the 2015 edition of the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (MBGN) pageant, did not make the cut.
The annual pageant was held on Monday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. Host Steve Harvey joked on the show that he got the winner right this year, after last year’s snafu of getting it wrong. Rapper Flo Rida and R&B group Boys II Men provided entertainment.
CNN
