Although she was among the 16 semifinalists, Miss Colombia was not chosen among the five finalists of the Miss Universe pageant, a contest that has been held for 73 years.
The crown went to the representative of the United States, while Venezuela was left as viceroy (Amanda Dudamel, daughter of soccer coach Rafel Dudamel)while the Dominican Republic was the first runner-up.
The other two finalists were Puerto Rico and Curacao.
María Fernanda Aristizábal was in the group of 16 (She was called last), but it was not enough to be in the five in the final.
The new Miss Universe replaces Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu, from India. The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, in New Orleans, United States, was the venue for the final ceremony, in which 25-year-old María Fernanda Aristizábal from Quindía represented Colombia.
The blonde, who was always among the candidates to win the crown, in 2019 was chosen as Miss Colombia, in the National Beauty Contest. Then, when the Miss Universe Colombia brand bought the franchise for the Miss Universe country, María Fernanda was chosen in 2021 to represent Colombia in the popular beauty pageant. For more than two years she prepared for the event.
The most winning
During the 73 years (71 editions) of the competition, the United States is the country that has won the most, nine times (with last night), followed by Venezuela with 7 titles (this year’s representative is the daughter of soccer coach Rafael Dudamel), while Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Switzerland have won five, four and three times, respectively.
Colombia has won it twice, with Luz María Zuluaga, in 1958, and with Paulina Vega, in 2014. On five occasions the “queens” of Colombia have won the title of viceroy: Paola Turbay (1992), Paula Andrea Betancur (1993), Carolina Gómez (1994), Taliana Vargas (2008) and Ariadna Gutiérrez (2015).
Precisely, 2015 was one of the most controversial elections in history, when the presenter Steve Harvey by “mistake” announced that the queen was Colombia (Ariadna Gutiérrez) and then rectified and the Philippines was elected.
For succeeding in Miss Universe, the winner received a prize close to 250 thousand dollars and an important salary throughout the year.
About the crown, which must be delivered next year, it emerged that the tiara has 933 precious stones, 110.83 carats of blue sapphire, 48.24 carats of white diamond and costs about US$5.3 million