The First Time's The Charm

The three beautiful women left on stage were from different continents, but they agreed completely on the final question: What if Miss Universe became pregnant during her reign—in violation of the rules?

Bend them, said Miss Spain, Diana Nogueria. Ditto, said Miss Philippines, Miriam Quiambao.

Miss Botswana also agreed. But whereas her predecessors hemmed and hawed, 19-year-old Mpule Kwelagobe was proudly resolute.

"Personally, I think it should not in any way interrupt her duties," she declared to wild applause from the Trinidadian audience. "She should celebrate her femininity."

And thus did the lithe aspiring electrical engineer manifest the characteristic that world boxing champ and Miss Universe judge Evander Holyfield said he was seeking: confidence.

Kwelagobe was the first Botswana contestant to enter the pageant.

First runner-up was Quiambao, a 23-year-old physical therapist who turned a fall in preliminaries last week into a plus with a much-discussed graceful recovery. Nogueria, a 24-year-old who works in the fashion world, came in third.

Miss Photogenic went to Miss Puerto Rico, Brenda Liz Lopez, 23, and Miss Congeniality to Marisa Ferreira, a 21-year-old student from Portugal.

It had been a roller coaster ride for the contestants as well as for their Trinidadian hosts.

The latter, delighted with the tremendous exposure on live TV to 80 countries, turned the event into a celebration of their twin-island nation's cosmopolitan society, which borrows from African, East Indian and British culture.

Trinidad's distinctive steel drum music throbbed in the auditorium, which was decorated with the vibrant colors of Trinidadian art. A troupe sporting feathered costumes showed why Trinidad's carnival is one of the best in the world.

Earlier Wednesday, pageant officials scrambled to prepare a new site for the post-pageant coronation ball as hundreds demonstrated near the old site, where a worker had been electrocuted to death Monday.

After Kwelagobe was crowned by the outgoing Miss Universe, Trinidad's Wendy Fitzwilliam, she said she wanted to follow her example in fighting AIDS.

"I come from the area with the highest incidence of AIDS in the world," Kwelagobe said of sub-Saharan Africa.

She told reporters at a news conference that her first name means "bring the rain" and that she hoped to do just that for her drought-plagued southern African homeland.

"Winning won't just change my life, it will change Botswana," Kwelagobe said, hopeful that her victory would "open Botswana to the world" and bring in development and investment.

Kwelagobe described herself as "very focused, determined and ambitious."

She has studied subjects alien to most African women pure electronics, physics, chemistry and mathematics. Yet pregnancy, she said, explaining her winning answer, is "what it's all about: celebrating women, celebrating our femininity."

It'not so clear that pageant officials would agree with her views. Earlier in the week Miss Guam, Trisha Heflin, was disqualified and sent home, with pageant officials saying she was pregnant. Her promoters later insisted she was merely ill.

Written by Tim McDonald