Miss World 2008

 Miss World 2008

 

Miss World 2008, the 58th Miss World pageant was held at Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa on December 13, 2008. Originally, the pageant was going to take place in Kiev, Ukraine, but because of the ongoing crisis between Georgia and Russia in neighboring South Ossetia, the Miss World Organization decided to move the pageant away from Eastern Europe. 109 contestants from all over the world compete for the crown, the second highest turnout in the 59 years of the pageant. Miss World 2007, Zhang Zilin of the People's Republic of China crowned Ksenia Sukhinova of Russia as the brand new Miss World.
10 out of 15 countries which made it into the semifinals, were not in the semifinals last year: Barbados (1974), Croatia (1999), Kazakhstan (2000), Ukraine (2001), Iceland, Russia, South Africa and Spain (2005), and Brazil and India (2006). Mexico placed in the finals for the fifth consecutive year. Puerto Rico placed for the fourth consecutive year. Angola and Venezuela reached the finals for the third consecutive year.

Ksenia Sukhinova - Russia
Ksenia Sukhinova appeared in all of the postcards that introduced every participating song in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. Born 1987 in Nizhnevartovsk, Russian SFSR, she lives in Tyumen, Siberia, where she is a fifth-year student at the Tyumen State Oil and Gas University, studying cybernetic systems. She has an excellent academic record; according to the university's deputy president Veronika Yefremova the discipline is very difficult, "but Sukhinova's grades are all A's and B's." Ksenia's measurements are 1.78m (5'10"), she has blonde hair and blue eyes. Her first name is often romanized Ksenya or Kseniya. She is a big fan of sports, and has been doing calisthenics, swimming and biathlon since childhood. Her favorite book is Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. When asked a question about her private life, she confessed that her heart was "still free." She was the Miss World 2008 Beach Beauty competition second runner-up, placing after Miss Mexico who was the eventual winner, and Miss South Africa, the first runner-up. She won the Miss World Top Model competition on December 3, 2008. Both her placements at the two first fast track competitions remind Zhang Zilin's successes at Miss World 2007. On December 13, Ksenia was crowned the new Miss World at the finals in Johannesburg, South Africa after beating 108 contestants. The first runner up was India's Parvathy Omanakuttan and second runner up was Gabrielle Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago. She is the second Russian contestant to win Miss World, the first was Julia Kourotchkina in 1992. The finale was watched by 1 billion viewers from 187 countries. In a press conference after her victory, she said: "I am very glad to have brought this crown to Russia. I am proud that it is Russia that got the crown and I devote my victory to the whole country and to its every citizen... and to my grandmother." She also said that she hoped to improve Russia's international image to show the world that a girl from Russia could personify kindness, beauty and happiness. She says raising funds for charity will be one her main tasks in 2009.