OREANDA-NEWS   Representative of the Philippines Katriona Gray won the title of "Miss Universe" at the 67th International Beauty Contest, held at the Bangkok exhibition center Impact Arena.

This decision was made on Monday by the jury.

Gray is involved with HIV and AIDS at Love Yourself and works as a volunteer at Young Focus, a nonprofit organization.

The second place was taken by the representative of Venezuela - Stephanie Gutierrez. The crown of this year's winner was presented by South African native demi-Lee Nel-Peters, who won the Miss Universe - 2017 in the United States.

First, the jury announced all the contenders for the crown, then chose the 20 most distinguished and eventually determined the top three, among which were representatives of South Africa, Venezuela and the Philippines. Russia at competition was represented by the inhabitant of Cheboksary - the winner of the title "Miss Russia - 2018", the 18-year-old Julia Palakihin, which was not included in the top twenty.

Russian Yulia Poschechina dropped out of the race at the selection stage to the semifinals. However, the audience and leading contest called it one of the best costumes.

During the event, the audience was also presented with videos of the intermediate stages of the competition. The last one consisted of swimsuit shows and evening dresses. As a result, each of the girls was asked the final question, the answer to which influenced the final decision of the judges.

International beauty contest "Miss universe" is an annual and one of the most prestigious in the world, along with "Miss World", "Miss international" and "Miss Earth". It has been held since 1952. In November 2017, the 66th Miss Universe contest was held in the United States. In Thailand, the event was held twice-in 1992 and 2005, Thai candidates won the competition in 1965 and 1988.