Miss Peru becomes Miss World 2004

Sanya - Miss Peru, Maria Julia Mantilla Garcia, was chosen Miss World 2004, ahead of contestants from the Dominican Republic and the United States, at a beauty pageant held in China for the second time.

Mantilla Garcia, a 20-year-old brunette, beat Claudia Julissa Cruz-Rodriguez, 18, from the Dominican Republic and Nancy Randall, 24, from the United States to take the crown.

"I am so happy and surprised -- it is one of the few things I have always wanted," Mantilla Garcia told reporters.

Mantilla Garcia's win came as something of a suprise as she was not one of the five contestants earlier chosen to be finalists after winning various competitions in the past weeks.

"I was surprised, yes, very surprised but am very happy too," she said.

Asked what her plans were for the next year, the new Miss World, who was wearing a low-cut peacock blue evening dress, said she wanted to be involved in charity works and to learn more English.

"Sorry I can't speak much English, I need to learn more," she said.

Mantilla Garcia was crowned by the reigning champion, 2003's Miss Ireland Rosanna Davison, daughter of "Lady in Red" pop crooner Chris de Burgh.

The newly crowned Miss World earned 100,000 US dollars in prize money and as part of her contract obligation will go on to perform a variety of duties largely focused on fundraising for charitable organisations.

Mantilla Garcia was born in Trujillo on the north coast of Peru. She is studying to become a high school teacher, but said she is also considering a career in tourism.

Cheers at the packed 3,000-seat venue were loudest for Miss China, who did not make it into the finals.

This year's contest, held in the resort town of Sanya in the tropical island province of Hainan, saw 107 beauty queens parade their looks and talents at the Beauty Crown Theatre.

US star Lionel Richie was the most high-profile celebrity to take part in the beauty pageant, singing his hits "Hello" and "Say you, say me".

For the first time, Miss World hopefuls had to use their charms and youthful beauty to impress millions of television viewers worldwide who picked the winner via telephone, SMS text and Internet voting.

Previously the winner was chosen by a panel of judges.

Miss World organiser Julia Morley announced Friday that the 55th contest next year would return to the beach resort for the third consecutive year, following the controversy and sectarian violence that marred the 2002 event in Nigeria.

Beauty contests like Miss World have long been ridiculed and attacked in the West as degrading, but in China where anything from the West is synonymous with progress, they represent freedom and openness.

Even before China officially lifted a 54-year ban on beauty contests last year, they were taking place in disguised forms. Since the official endorsement, a pageant craze has swept the country.

For a population that for decades lived under the iron grip of communist ideology which saw beauty contests as bourgeois and decadent, people regard their return as another sign of the country's loosening of social controls and waning political interference.

To many Chinese people, beauty contests are also a matter of China's growing national pride.

For residents of Sanya, the contest emerged as the event of the year.

Three weeks ago, thousands turned out to cheer the arrival of the beauty queens as a colourful parade was put on in which traditional dancers and drummers helped brighten up the normally quiet town.

"It's great for Sanya, to let the whole world know about us ... Sanya used to be such a desolate place," retired teacher Chen He, 72, said.

"This is the Chinese people's pride, and will make us more famous in the world. Development is surely a good thing," said Liu Wenxiang, a 64-year-old shop keeper.

Sanya is reminiscent of many other Southeast Asian tourist destinations with gleaming white beaches and azure ocean contrasting with lush rising green hills. -- AFP News

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