Ms. Universe 2017 Winners, Harvey Got It Right

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Ms. Universe 2017 – Top 3 – Colombia, Haiti, and France

Ms. France was crowned Ms. Universe 2017 in the Philippines. Ms. Haiti was first runner-up and Ms. Colombia came in as 2^nd runner-up.

When and where was it held?

The Philippines couldn’t be prouder to have hosted the 66^th Ms. Universe 2017 on January 29^th, 2017. Other years that were hosted by the Philippines were 1974-23^rd edition, and 1994 – 43^rd edition.

Who were the hosts?

Steve Harvey was the main host, despite the controversy of introducing the wrong winner last year. Ashley Graham served as the backstage host. Steve and Pia Wurtzbach made some funny moments when she offered Steve a pair of glasses to read the final results. Steve made some funny gestures and had said “Listen to me, sir, this got to be right, okay?” after he was given the card for the final result.

Who were the judges?

Dayanara Torres, former Miss Universe from Puerto Rico; Sushmita Sen, first ever Miss Universe from India; Leila Lopes, first Miss Universe from Angola; Mickey Boardman, editorial director of PAPER magazine; Cynthia Bailey, founder of The Bailey Agency School of Fashion; and Francine LeFrak, Tony award-winning producer, social entrepreneur and women’s empowerment activist. Mickey Boardman was asked in the beginning who were his favorite candidates and he named Canada, France, Brazil, and the Philippines. Ms. Cynthia Bailey named Haiti, France, and Canada.

Such a funny moment with Pia and Harvey making sure He will get it right.

Who made it to the TOP 9 and what did they have to say about themselves?

USA – She was a captain in the US army when she competed for Ms. USA. At that time she won, her mom was in a hospice fighting against lung cancer.

Thailand – As a young girl, she helped her mom who was a cleaner. She spent most of her time growing up helping her family to get by. She had to earn money early and she learned the value of it because she always knew what it was like to have no money. She wants to dedicate her life helping the poor people.

France – She had always loved Paris and its history. She talked about how France has the best cuisine in the world. She learned a lot of cooking from her mom. She is currently taking up Dentistry because she realized how her dentist had to work a lot on her teeth when she was a kid and that made her want to do the same for others.

Mexico – She loves everything about Mexico, the rich culture, the people and the foods. As a Latina, she loves singing and dancing. Her family is what is most important to her. She did not win the first time she competed for Ms. Mexico but had persevered to win the title the next time, which led her to represent her country in the Ms. Universe 2017.

Kenya– She was very proud and honored to represent her country of 42 tribes. She said, if she was to become Ms. Universe she would tell the women of the world to believe in themselves, that in every height or every shape they maybe, they should be confident in who they are. That they should not be defined by what they wear, who they date, and with their material wealth. She said, that whatever makes a woman complete is knowing what she can achieve and that there are no limitations in whatever she may want to be.

Colombia – She loves being with people. She is passionate about life. She laughs and plays with everybody. She added that she particularly loves being with the children. She loves to see their growth, the many opportunities that await them. She believes that if everyone has an education, we will all have a brighter future.

Canada – She is a law student at the University of Saskatchewan. She wanted to be an advocate for others. In 2009, her family lost their house from a fire. She realized how they were very focused on their possessions rather than the people they have in their lives. She then volunteered for Red Cross and had the opportunity to help on a greater scale. After 2 weeks of losing their home, she had the opportunity to be in the Ms. Teen Sakatchewan and won it. That experience served as her platform to achieve her dreams.

Haiti – She witnessed her grandmothers go blind because of glaucoma. She realized that she may have had acquired the same sickness so she decided to take up a course in Optometry. She is working on a project on the regeneration of the optic nerve to cure blindness. She claims that Haitian women are strong and resilient, always ready to get back on their feet and accomplish their goals.

Philippines – She is a simple girl that grew up in her grandma’s house. She claimed that they never owned a house and she realized how she wanted a good space, so she went on to get a degree in Interior Design to fulfill her dream. She believes that creating a space impacts how we feel, how we work, and how we deal with our lives.

Top 6 – Q & A

Philippines

Q: What is the most significant change you have seen in the world in the last 10 years.

A: In the last 10 years of being here in the world, I saw all the people bringing in one event like this in Ms. Universe. And it’s something big to us…that we are one nation…we are all one.

Kenya

Q: Now arguably, no US president has had more active 10 days in office. What are you most excited about and what concerns you when it comes to the presidency of Donald Trump?

A: Politics is — okay, let me just start again. Donald Trump having been elected
as president of the United States may not have been the choice of many people living in the United States because of a divided support system for the outgoing president Barack Obama, who was supporting an upcoming woman president who was supposed to be a woman president, Hillary Clinton. So many people opposed his position. But I feel that once he took up his position he was able to unify the entire nation. Thank you very much. Thailand

Q: Name a current or past leader whom you admire and why?

A: For me, that would be the King of Thailand. His majesty had been working tirelessly on behalf of the Thai people since I was born. For all the Thai people, the king has been like a father to us.

France

Q: Given today’s refugee crisis, do countries in the world has an obligation to accept refugees or do they have the right to close their borders?

A: So the countries should have the right to open or close their borders. So, throughout the world, people can choose to have their borders open or closed. In Europe, we have open borders. In France, we want to have the most globalization that we can. We want to have the biggest exchange of people that we can. Maybe someday that will change, but now we have open borders. So having open borders allows us to travel through the world and find out more about what’s out there in the world.

Haiti

Q: On June 21^st, an estimate 4.8 million people marched worldwide for human rights and other issues. If you were able to participate, what would you have been marching for?

A: Hello, everybody. One of the women I admire in the world is Eliana Wuzel because she fought so much for human rights. I feel that’s what we need in the world. We are just one. 100,000 years ago six species of humans lived in the world. Now we are just one. And we all need each other and we need to respect each other.

Colombia

Q: Why do you believe that violence is so prevalent in today’s society and what would we do about it?

A: I come from a country that does have violence, and this is my reference point. And though there are presidents that don’t get along with each other, we work together to be able to unite, campaign, respect and inclusively, to be able to have social transformation to educate our children.

Ms. France was named Ms. Universe 2017. Pia, Ms. Universe 2016, from the Philippines is passing on the crown.

TOP 3 – Q & A

Final Question:

Name something over the course of your life that you failed at, and tell us what you learned from that experience.

Colombia – I think that many times, one makes mistakes for many things. During moments when you may not accept someone due to their differences, to not accept them due to their sexual preferences, and to not be capable of accepting their error. I think any of these experiences gives you the opportunity to have strength, value, and principle.

France – I have failed several times in my life. So, I thought I failed the first time I went out on a casting because my name was not on the list. And the very next day, I found that I was in a new book. So I think, when you fail, you have to be elevated, and you have to try again, and you have to keep going. If tonight I will not be one of the winners, I will have had the great honor of being one in the three finalists. So for me, I failed before but, this is the first great opportunity.

Haiti – About 7 years ago, I survived an earthquake. I feel like I was failing myself because I was not living my dreams. I was living day by day that the earthquake was a bad event. But, I chose to be a very positive person and learn a great lesson from it. Because if I am here today, it is because I am living my dream.

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