Iris Mittenaere of France is crowned the new Miss
Universe 2016 by 2015 Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach,
Jan. 30, 2017.

MANILA — A 23-year-old dental student from France
won the Miss Universe crown Monday in the annual
pageant held this year in the Philippines.
Iris Mittenaere from the small town of Lille in northern
France said in reply to a final question from pageant
host Steve Harvey that she would be honored if she just
landed among the three finalists, but was visibly
stunned when she was announced the winner among
the field of 86 contestants.
Mittenaere was speechless and put her hands on her
face as the outgoing winner from the Philippines, Pia
Wurtzbach, crowned her as the crowd erupted in
cheers and applause at the packed Mall of Asia Arena
by Manila Bay. In her profile, she said she would
“advocate for dental and oral hygiene” if she takes home
the crown.
In the final question to the top three finalists, the
candidate were asked to cite a failure in their life and
explain what they learned from the debacle.
“I've failed several times in my life,” Mittenaere said
without elaborating but added that “when you fail, you
have to be elevated and you have to try again and keep
going ... I have failed before but for me this is the great
first opportunity.”
Miss Haiti, Raquel Pelissier, a 25-year-old survivor of the
devastating 2010 earthquake that destroyed her
hometown, was named first runner up while Miss
Colombia, 23-year-old, Andrea Tovar, was second
runner up.
“I survived the earthquake,” Pelissier said in reply to
the same question, citing the quake the Haiti
government estimated to have killed more than 300,000
people and displaced more than 1.5 million others. “I
felt I was failing myself because I was not living my
dreams ... But I chose to be a very positive person, and
learned a great lesson from it because if I am here
today, it is because I am living my dreams.”
As he closed the ceremony, the American comedian host
declared: “This is Steve Harvey, I got it right,” referring
in jest to his mistaken announcement of Miss Colombia
as the winner in the last pageant in Las Vegas more
than a year ago that sparked an uproar.
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/Miss-France-Crowned-Miss-Universe-in-Philippines-412108463.html

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