MEXICO CITY -- A panel of nine judges Friday chose Miss Puerto Rico out of 79 contestants to become the 42nd Miss Universe before a worldwide audience estimated at 600 million.
Daynara Torres, 18, a dark-haired, blue-eyed odontology student from Santurce, will collect about $250,000 in prize money and gifts for winning the title.
Second place was 21-year-old Paula Betancourt of Colombia and third 19-year-old Milka Chulina of Venezuela.
The other seven semifinalists were Miss Australia, 18-year-old Voni Delfos of Gold Coast; Miss Brazil, 21-year-old Leila Schuster of Sao Paulo; Miss Czech Republic, 19-year-old Pavlina Baburkova of Novy Bor; Miss Finland, 22-year-old Tarja Smura of Helsinki; Miss India, 22-year- old Namrata Shirodkar of Bombay and Miss USA, 22-year-old Kenya Moore of Detroit.
Friday's event -- witnessed an estimated 600 million television viewers worldwide -- was hosted by five-time Emmy award winner Dick Clark of American Bandstand fame. Co-host was former Miss Universe Cecilia Bolocco, of Chile.
It was the third time the show has been held in Mexico. It was staged in Acapulco in 1978 and Cancun in 1989.
