Top 20 this year ???

**bonner** Tue Jul 27, 2010 1:03 am

Las Vegas Sun
Friday, July 23, 2010

Las Vegas will witness the arrival of 82 beauties from all over the planet, in the quest of becoming the next Miss Universe, a beauty contest -60 years old- owned by real-estate mogul Donald Trump.

The contestants will stay at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino for two weeks, before the grand final on Aug. 23.

Donald Trump loves publicity, and what better way to kickstart the pageant by selecting a few lucky contestants, who will accompany his people on a media tour to Los Angeles, including visits to local NBC radio and television affiliates, as well as an appearance on the Ellen show.

To rise interest in the event, the pageant organization has picked six beauties with stories to tell: Miss Haiti, whose mother was murdered and fled with her family to the Dominican Republic when she was a little girl; Miss Philippines, who was fired and then reinstated just for being a victim of bureaucracy; New Zealand's Ria van Dyke, who paid her way through school by working as a magician's assistant and was once trapped during a crucial performance; Miss Israel Bat El-Jobi, talking about her military service and how she flew her first combat plane at 14 years old; Miss Puerto Rico Mariana Vicente, who will talk about tornado-force winds that forced the postponement of the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Central American and Caribbean games; finally Miss Switzerland, Linda Fäh, who attended fat camp when she was a little girl.

And if that isn't enough, Trump himself plans to take his six favorites -yes, his favorites: He has a say in the judging process- on his private plane to New York, for a second media round, later in August. The names of these women have yet to be known, as the competition starts officially on August 10.

Miss Universe's spokesperson, Lark-Marie Anton, said that these media rounds have no influence on the final result. "They are just media rounds, complete separate from the judging process", she added.

USA's representative is Rima Fakih, from Dearborn, Michigan. Fakih became the first Muslim-American to be crowned Miss USA.

20 lucky finalists will advance to the competition finals, to be telecast live on NBC.

The reigning Miss Universe, Stefania Fernandez of Venezuela, has travelled the world working as an ambassador for HIV/AIDS awareness.