02:45USA: 'There should not be a political issue' - Russia and Ukraine go head-to-head for Miss Universe title
Miss Ukraine and Miss Russia went head-to-head at the 71st Miss Universe beauty pageant in New Orleans on Saturday.
Ukraine’s Viktoria Apanasenko represented her nation with a costume titled “The Warrior of Light”, a winged suit featuring the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag that came complete with a sword.
Miss Russia, Anna Linnikova, competed alongside her, wearing “The Crown of the Russian Empire,” a deep red costume with an opulent design meant to embody her nation's imperial past.
When asked about potential grievances between the two, patrons of the beauty pageant were quick to downplay any rumours.
"I'm not aware of them having any other issues other than a situation where Miss Ukraine maybe asked Miss Columbia to, you know, allow her to move a little further from Miss Universe,” said a patron from Los Angeles.
“But I'm not even sure if there was anything behind that other than the fact that coincidentally they come from those two countries. They were actually both part of the top 16 for the rehearsal, so they seem to have coexisted on stage very well," he added.
Former Miss Asia, Janet Hickson said the competition is about empowering women and shouldn’t be a platform for political issues.
“I think there should not be a political issue about this because this is more about empowering women. And these two women are the most beautiful and talented,” she said.
More than 80 women from around the world competed for the title of “Miss Universe” with US citizen of Filipino origin R'Bonnie Gabriel taking the top prize.
02:45Miss Ukraine and Miss Russia went head-to-head at the 71st Miss Universe beauty pageant in New Orleans on Saturday.
Ukraine’s Viktoria Apanasenko represented her nation with a costume titled “The Warrior of Light”, a winged suit featuring the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag that came complete with a sword.
Miss Russia, Anna Linnikova, competed alongside her, wearing “The Crown of the Russian Empire,” a deep red costume with an opulent design meant to embody her nation's imperial past.
When asked about potential grievances between the two, patrons of the beauty pageant were quick to downplay any rumours.
"I'm not aware of them having any other issues other than a situation where Miss Ukraine maybe asked Miss Columbia to, you know, allow her to move a little further from Miss Universe,” said a patron from Los Angeles.
“But I'm not even sure if there was anything behind that other than the fact that coincidentally they come from those two countries. They were actually both part of the top 16 for the rehearsal, so they seem to have coexisted on stage very well," he added.
Former Miss Asia, Janet Hickson said the competition is about empowering women and shouldn’t be a platform for political issues.
“I think there should not be a political issue about this because this is more about empowering women. And these two women are the most beautiful and talented,” she said.
More than 80 women from around the world competed for the title of “Miss Universe” with US citizen of Filipino origin R'Bonnie Gabriel taking the top prize.