Name: Jennifer Hawkins Age: 20 Nationality: Australian Claim to fame: Miss Universe 2004
Aussie gals are really going places these days. Australians had hardly finished celebrating one of their girls becoming a Danish crown princess, that they started parting again after a female from Downunder became Miss Universe 2004.
Jennifer Hawkins, the cheeky former cheerleader from Newcastle in New South Wales, beat 79 entrants and 14 semi-finalists to win the coveted crown in a glittering ceremony in Ecuador’s capital, Quito.
A model and dancer, Hawkins takes home an undisclosed year-long salary as Miss Universe, an ample wardrobe and a US$45,000 scholarship at a New York film school and will be participating in events to benefit charitable organizations. This blue-eyed blonde is the second Australian to win the competition after Kerry Anne Wells did in 1972.
Ms Hawkins, who describes herself as “vivacious”, had to go through countless outfit changes for more than 15 official events, a gala, two parades, an auction, three lunches, two presentations and innumerable hair and makeup calls. In the Parade of Nations round when most beauties were in feathers and finery that depicted their national identities, Jennifer surprised everyone by sashaying on the stage in a borrowed 10-year-old steel-grey dress featuring maps of Sydney harbour and foreshores. This shocked some fashion-conscious folks but it probably went well with the judges.
“This is very new to me and I’m very excited,” the smiling winner told reporters after she had received the opulent diamond Miss Universe crown. The new Miss Universe aspires to work her way from the catwalks to eventually a job in television. The 5ft 11in beach lover likes surfing, camping with family, reading, watching movies and going to see the Australian ballet. Coming from a close-knit family that includes her two elder brothers and a sister, the lady is a little sad about the fact that she will be away from her family when she goes to the US for the scholarship she won with the title. However, those who clearly seem to benefit from these beauty contests are the organizers and the beauties. Right Ashwaria and Sushmita?
Aussie gals are really going places these days. Australians had hardly finished celebrating one of their girls becoming a Danish crown princess, that they started parting again after a female from Downunder became Miss Universe 2004.
