Miss Universe: Miss USA Slips, Japan Wins

(CBS/AP)  Japan's Riyo Mori was crowned Miss Universe in Mexico City Monday night, but the evening's most memorable moment came courtesy of Miss USA, Rachel Smith.

Smith, who was named fourth runner-up at the pageant, lived a beauty queen's worst nightmare during the evening gown competition: she slipped and fell on stage.

The tumble came after she'd taken only eight steps in her high heeled shoes. Smith landed on her bottom and broke the fall with both hands, but she immediately jumped right back up and took a few more steps before posing with one hand on her hip looking over her shoulder.

Smiling the whole time, she continued down the catwalk as the audience cheered, although she was later jeered by the crowd during the interview phase of the pageant.

Smith earned a respectable 8.547 score in spite of the fall, putting her in fifth place in the evening gown competition.

Mori, a 20-year-old dancer, is the second contestant from Japan to win the world beauty title.

Dressed in a black, red and purple Japanese-style gown, Riyo Mori nervously grabbed the hands of first runner-up, Natalia Guimaraes of Brazil, just before the winner was announced. Then she threw her hands up and covered her mouth, overcome with emotion.

But she gathered herself together enough to catch the diamond-and-pearl-studded headpiece valued at $250,000 as it slipped off her head when Miss Universe 2006 Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico crowned her. Mori immediately placed it back on her head.

The last time Japan won the pageant was in 1959 when Akiko Kojima became the first Miss Universe from Asia.

"She is an amazing champion, an amazing woman and I hear that they go totally insane in Japan, so that's good," said Donald Trump, who co-owns the pageant with NBC.

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Photos: Pageant Night

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The ten semifinalists who took part in the evening gown competition were the contestants from Brazil, Venezuela, Korea, Japan, USA, Tanzania, Angola, India, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

Those contestants were whittled down to the five finalists from Venezuela, Korea, Brazil, USA, and Japan.

Miss Philippines, Anna Theres Licaros, won Miss Photogenic. Ningning Zhang, Miss China, was voted Miss Congeniality.

2Mori, from the small town of Shizuoka at the base of Mount Fuji, won the cheers of the Mexico City audience when she opened her interview, saying 'Hola, Mexico!'

"I learned how to always be happy, be patient and to be positive, and this is what I want to teach to the next generation," she said during the interview competition.

The daughter of a dance school operator, Mori said her grandmother told her as a child that she wanted her to be Miss Japan before she turned 20.

"From the very beginning, I entered the competition with high hopes and an unswerving determination to make this dream a reality," she said in a pre-competition interview.

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[intheair3]

I have to say that most of these posts are going way off the topic. As neither a Mexican or and American and a well traveled guy who lives in Asia and Europe, let me just say that Miss USA was not at all appealing enough to make it to the final 5. Therefore not surprising that she was booed and its actually frustrating to international viewers how Miss USA makes it to the final round routinely, no matter how bad she is (this one couldn't even keep on her feet).

Interesting how excuses are made up about bad relations between the two countries, comments on religion etc. USA face it : Ms Smith just did not cut it. The international audience could see it, and so could the audience in Mexico.

[retmilspouse]

aardbear,
You are insane.

[michmad2]

Disrespect is what we get from Mexico after making contributions to their government and people with the dollars remitted by their citizens who illegally cross our border. Their reaction is typical of an ingrate: after the sacrifices that our taxpayers make to provide services to those the illegals from Mexico. I always thought the affluent and billionaires in Mexico are laughing at us. We are worried about balancing our budgets and getting the trade imbalance lower whereas Senor Carlos Slim is on his way to becoming the richest man in the world. The pressure to cross the border would be less if the Mexican billionaires contributed to creating decent paying jobs in Mexico. Talk about injustice, I pay my taxes and other folks, not even my fellow citizens, benefit, then we get booed without reason or provocation.

[michmad2]

Disrespect is what we get from Mexico after making contributions to their government and people with the dollars remitted by their citizens who illegally cross our border. Their reaction is typical of an ingrate: after the sacrifices that our taxpayers make to provide services to those the illegals from Mexico. I always thought the affluent and billionaires in Mexico are laughing at us. We are worried about balancing our budgets and getting the trade imbalance lower whereas Senor Carlos Slim is on his way to becoming the richest man in the world. The pressure to cross the border would be less if the Mexican billionaires contributed to creating decent paying jobs in Mexico. Talk about injustice, I pay my taxes and other folks, not even my fellow citizens, benefit, then we get booed without reason or provocation.

[honest_news]

Beauty pageants are frills and fluff and tanned, toned bodies with a dash of prurient innuendo -- pure entertainment that, along with sports, sitcoms and soaps makes great mind-numbing TV fare.

It's sad that many audience members had to smear it with their whistles and catcalls as Miss USA walked to center stage. The lovely Rachel Smith showed more class with her bright smile and her composure than they could ever dream.

Whatever made them feel the need to politicize such an innocuous event as a beauty pageant! I can't think of anything less gracious and more petty than that. Shame, apparently, is not in the lexicon of those plebeians who were in attendance.

[global_chick]

After this visit, I have decided I will NEVER visit Mexico for any reason. They have some nerve, after they run across our borders and demand access to services the rest of us have to pay for, to boo us or our contestant. Not to mention their insistence that we accomodate their language and culture above our own. The Miss Universe contestants don't establish law or public policy. Their government does. For an audience of so-called adults to boo them for what their government does or does not do is rude and incredibly immature.


I hope the fence gets put up soon.

[ehshome]

I enjoy watching (and judging) pageants, although I rarely judge a 'pro' kids' pageant, preferring the ones wherein the little girls look like little girls and the big girls aren't refugees from local plastic surgeons. Of course, our 'unbiased' media would lead everyone to believe that all kids pageants are like JonnBenet's. Thank goodness for Sandra Bullock's Miss Congeniality which is the honest-to-god closest to reality I've ever seen to what real national grown-up girl pageants are like.

I've viewed Miss USA/Universe my entire. Since Donald Trump took over, there's rarely a short-haired girl in the top 15, and there are years when Trump wants blondes and years when he wants brunettes, and (again, as an experienced judge), I know judges are 'briefed' on what the pageant is looking for in a titleholder for the next year. Since 12 of the top 15 were almost indistinguishable in hair length, color, and skin tones, I figured it was another year for brunettes. I was really shocked (and gratified) to see two blondes (one with almost short hair) and an almost bald black contestant proud enough of her ethnicity to appear as natural as possible. I knew neither had a snowball's chance you-know-where, but it was refreshing nonetheless.

As for the booing -- in between the competitions, we're treated commercials all about wonderful, amazing, culturally rich Mexico. Hmmm ... if it's so darned wonderful down there, why are they all trying to come here?

[iceman_1960]

"Smith, who was named fourth runner-up at the pageant, lived a beauty queen's worst nightmare during the evening gown competition: she slipped and fell on stage."

She may have lost the pageant, but she achieved Youtube.com immortality."


http://youtube.com/watch?v=ANAsj4ihg6w

[bryanashford]

How could high heels look ridiculous with the swimwear? are they going to appear with their feet bared?

[bryanashford]

Hey I am from Venezuela, I enjoyed watching the Miss Universe yesterday, I had a feeling that Ly Jonaitis (Miss Venezuela) was going to fall and then she looked good on that amazing gown and then Miss USA slipped and fell, I was laughing but I was shocked too, I think Miss Venezuela deserved to win, she is more beautiful than Miss Japan, and she is intelligent and she is better than Miss Japan