★ M.A.R.A.★

famousfilipinos:

Riyo Mori

(森 理世, Mori Riyo^?) (born December 24, 1986 in Aoi-ku, Shizuoka, Japan) is a Japanese dance instructor who won the Miss Universe 2007 title in May 2007, becoming the second woman from Japan to hold the title. The first Miss Universe winner from Japan was Akiko Kojima in 1959. Mori is the eleventh Asian woman to win the pageant, the most recent being Lara Dutta of India who was Miss Universe 2000.

At the end of her reign as Miss Universe 2007, she was considered by Donald Trump, as one of the two best Miss Universe’s of all time, the other being Jennifer Hawkins.

Mori starred in Donald Trump’s new MTV reality show Pageant Place along with Rachel Smith, Katie Blair (former Miss Teen USA 2006) and Hilary Cruz (Miss Teen USA 2007). The show started airing on October 10, 2007 and ran for eight episodes.

famousfilipinos:

Anya Ayoung-Chee

(born 1981) is the winner of Miss Trinidad and Tobago Universe 2008 and was a contestant in the Miss Universe 2008 pageant.

Anya Ayoung-Chee hails from the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago, born in the very cosmopolitan city of Port-of-Spain, the only girl in a family of eight.

Anya is the second title holder in the franchise’s 44-year history to be of Chinese descent, the first being Stephanie Lee Pack in 1974. When asked “Is your Asian heritage an issue since you represent a country with an overwhelming African and Indian heritage?” by missology.org Anya replied, “Trinidad & Tobago is unique in its ethnic make-up because it is a country with people of all races. I am of mixed origin, mainly Chinese, Indian and Caucasian, and although my particular mixture is a minority, I represent the unusual combination of ethnicities that defines us as a people”, a statement largely supported by her countrymen.

From an early age she pursued classical ballet training. However it was during her attendance to an all girls secondary school that she discovered her true calling lay in art and design. She continued her education in London and New York, gaining experience in Graphic and Interior Design.

famousfilipinos:

Hiroko Mima

(美馬 寛子, Mima Hiroko^?, born 1986-12-05 in Tokushima Prefecture) is the reigning Miss Universe Japan 2008.

Mima currently attends Nihon University and her major is physical education. She competes on the track and field team with a high jump of 1.65 m., approaching her own height of 1.73 m. ^[1]

She was the official representative for Japan at the Miss Universe 2008 pageant which took place in Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 14, 2008. She made the first cut by advancing to the top 15 on the final night, and was ultimately placed in the 14th position being only one of the two Asians to make the first cut.

Mima continued Japan’s stake in the Miss Universe pageant by placing in the semifinal for a consecutive third time, despite not being favoured by numerous pageant sites as a potential semifinalist. ^[2][3][4]

famousfilipinos:

Jennifer Chiong

won the title of Miss Guatemala in 2008 and subsequently competed in the Miss Universe Pageant.

Chiiong was born in 1984 to a mother who is Guatemalan and a father who is Chinese (from Hong Kong) [via]

famousfilipinos:

Aishwarya Rai

Born on November 1, 1973, Aishwarya Rai, and sometimes known simply as Aish, is an Indian actress and former Miss World. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model and gained fame after winning the Miss World title in 1994.

Often cited by media as the most beautiful woman in the world,^[2][3][4] Rai made her movie debut in Mani Ratnam’s Tamil film Iruvar (1997) and had her first commercial success in the Tamil movie Jeans (1998). She came to the attention of Bollywood in the movie Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Her performance in the film won her the Filmfare Best Actress Award. In 2002 she appeared in Bhansali’s next project, Devdas (2002), for which she won her second Best Actress Award at the Filmfare. After a low phase in her career during 2003-2005, she appeared in the blockbuster Dhoom 2 (2006), which turned out to be her biggest Bollywood commercial success. She later appeared in films like Guru (2007) and Jodhaa Akbar (2008), which were commercially successful and got her critical acclaim. Rai has thus established herself as one of the leading contemporary actresses in the Indian film industry.

During her career, Rai has acted in over forty movies in Hindi, English, Tamil and Bengali including the international productions Bride & Prejudice (2003), Mistress of Spices (2005), The Last Legion (2007) and The Pink Panther 2 (2009) in English.

famousfilipinos:

Miriam Redito Quiambao

was born in Quezon City on May 20, 1975.

Quiambao placed as 1st Runner-Up, with Kwelagobe winning the Miss Universe title in 1999.