Luxe Life Blog
Photos: Miss Universe onstage at ‘Jubilee!’; catwalk; lingerie portraits
Miss South Africa's lingerie portrait by Fadil Berisha for the 2012 Miss Universe Pageant at Planet Hollywood on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012.
Photo: Fadil Berisha
Stunning! Majestic! Leggy! These are 89 of the most gorgeous girls in the world, and they are all wishing their rivals good luck to win Miss Universe. Those megawatt smiles are genuine, and many of them could easily go onto swimsuit supermodel success or become a new James Bond beauty.
Tonight, Las Vegas met them all together for the first time on a fashion runway set up at Planet Hollywood. Reigning Miss Universe Leila Lopes of Angola introduced them one by one as they strutted down the catwalk in gowns and outfits reflecting the countries they represented.
Our thanks to Richard Corey for video posted on YouTube; check back Friday for a photo gallery from the fashion show by David Tingey of Donoghue Photography.
2012 Miss Universe fashion show - from YouTube.com
2012 Miss Universe fashion show - from YouTube.com
Despite tottering on high heels and walking inches at a time like petite Miss Thailand, not one of the pageant princesses tripped over their floor-length outfits. 2012 Miss Malaysia Kimberley Leggett, 19, and 2012 Miss Indonesia Maria Selena, 22, were modest, but 2012 Miss Colombia Daniella Alvarez, 24, mesmerized with thigh-high slits.
The audience cheered for 2012 Miss Mexico Karina Gonzalez, 21, 2012 Miss France Marie Payet, 20, 2012 Miss Venezuela Irene Sofia Quintero, 21, 2012 Miss South Africa Melinda Bam, 23, and 2012 Miss USA Olivia Culpo, 20, and I gave a shout-out for 2012 Miss Great Britain Holly Hale, 22.
Miss Universe President Paula Shugart, celebrating her birthday today, told me: “It is amazing just how beautiful these girls are. More importantly, they are all genuinely wonderful, and whoever wins will be a great representative for Miss Universe.”
“They have hard work and long days preparing for the pageant, and so far nobody is showing any nerves. I love their confidence and determination.”
In advance of Monday’s full release of glamour photographer Fadil Berisha’s lingerie portraits of the contestants, Vegas DeLuxe has six more in this preview. We posted the first of the lingerie photos with Miss Croatia on Wednesday.
It’s a busy “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” day for the glamour girls. This morning, they were at Bally’s to meet, dance and pose with the “Jubilee!” dancers as part of the NBC telecast Dec. 19. Our thanks to contributing photographer Tom Donoghue for his gallery; he captured numerous candid shots afterward of contestants’ blogging and tweeting on their cell phones.
The night ended with dinner at Robert Earl’s Buca di Beppo on East Flamingo, where I interviewed several contestants for the first time, and we’ll post those photos over the weekend.
Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.
Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.
Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.
Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.
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