Paulina Vega

Miss Universe Paulina Vega has success in New York

By GTVW staff

Photos Agency

Paulina Vega presently resides in New York City, and the transition from her cushy lifestyle back in Colombia to owning her new role as Miss Universe. This Colombian is not only beautiful, she is feisty and talented. She confesses what makes Colombians so beautiful and responds to her haters.

Pageant Trends

Beauty Pageants and Latinas go well together. Latin American beauty queens have been consistently crowned since the Miss Universe pageant began in 1952. In fact, over one-third of the total Miss Universe winners come from the region.

Venezuela is especially known for its seven titles, second only to the U.S. who has a total of eight. Puerto Rico follows close behind with five crowns while Mexico, Brazil and now Colombia each have two. Here is the complete list below, ordered chronologically: 1957 Gladys Zender (Peru); 1958 Luz Marina Zuluaga (Colombia); 1962 Norma Beatriz Nolan (Argentina); 1963 Iêda Maria Vargas (Brazil); 1968 Martha Vasconcellos (Brazil); 1970 Marisol Malaret (Puerto Rico); 1979 Maritza Sayalero (Venezuela); 1981 Irene Sáez (Venezuela); 1985 Deborah Carthy Deu (Puerto Rico); 1986 Bárbara Palacios Teyde (Venezuela); 1987 Cecilia Bolocco (Chile); 1991 Lupita Jones (Mexico); 1993 Dayanara Torres (Puerto Rico); 1996 Alicia Machado (Venezuela); 2001 Denise Quiñones (Puerto Rico); 2002 Justine Pasek (Panama); 2003 Amelia Vega (Dominican Republic); 2006 Zuleyka Rivera (Puerto Rico); 2008 Dayana Mendoza (Venezuela); 2009 Stefanía Fernández (Venezuela); 2010 Ximena Navarrete (Mexico); 2013 María Gabriela Isler (Venezuela).

They are trending on television right now—see our interviews with Maria Canals-Barrera from the hit ABC show, “Cristela” and from BET’s “Being Mary Jane,” the stellar beauty Lisa Vidal.