Harnaaz Sandhu of India has been crowned the 70th Miss Universe, defeating an 80-strong competition in a spectacle marred by politics and the epidemic.
Andrea Meza of Mexico, the previous Miss Universe, crowned her successor, a 21-year-old model, early Monday in the Israeli Red Sea resort town of Eilat.
The pageant began in the middle of the night and concluded at 5 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Monday to fit the United States' primetime schedule.
The pageant featured traditional national costume presentations, swimwear, and a series of interview questions designed to assess participants' public speaking abilities. The top ten models wore full-length dresses that were beautifully beaded in gold, silver, or bronze.
Beatrice Luigi Gomez of the Philippines wore an asymmetrical cut dress with one sleeve to highlight a new tattoo she described as "celebrating her womanhood."
Before Sandhu, two Indians had won the Miss Universe title: Sushmita Sen of Bollywood in 1994 and Lara Dutta of Bollywood in 2000.
Calls for boycott
Additionally, the contest has garnered prominence in recent weeks due to numerous candidates opposing demands to boycott in favor of Palestinians.
A grassroots boycott movement led by Palestinians has urged contenders to boycott the tournament to protest Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
"We urge all participants to withdraw in order to avoid complicity with Israel's apartheid regime and its violation of Palestinian human rights," the Palestinian Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel declared.
Miss Morocco Kawtar Benhalima and Miss Bahrain Manar Nadeem Deyani were among the 80 competitors whose Muslim-majority countries normalized relations with Israel last year.
Finally, Indonesia and Malaysia, which do not have diplomatic relations with Israel, did not send a delegate, citing the worldwide COVID-19 situation rather than Israel's record on human rights.
South Africa, likewise a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, withdrew support for the country's delegate due to her participation, alleging "Israeli atrocities against Palestinians."
The United Arab Emirates, which normalized relations with Israel last year and hosted Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday, did not submit a candidate.
However, the UAE stated that it chose its national winner "due to time constraints."
'Colonialism, xenophobia'
The contestants arrived in Israel late last month and have since toured landmarks, drawing criticism for their cultural insensitivity.
On one trip in the Bedouin city of Rahat, the candidates wore robes embroidered with traditional Palestinian embroidery. They rolled grape leaves — an activity Gomez described as a "Day in the life of a Bedouin."
The Bedouin are traditionally nomadic Palestinians who have long complained about Israel's discrimination against them in housing and education.
"Colonialism, racism, cultural appropriation, patriarchy, and whitewashing all in one place," advocacy group Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy's Ines Abdel Razek tweeted.
In a recent interview, Meza asked candidates to keep politics out of the pageant, stating that the event would bring women from diverse backgrounds together.
"When you're in there, you lose track of politics and religion," she told the news agency The Associated Press at the time.
According to Sara Salansky of the Israeli tourism ministry, the country was chosen to host the competition earlier this year due to its successful coronavirus immunization campaign.
The competition encountered a last-minute snag when the Omicron variant was introduced, forcing Israel to close its borders to international tourists late last month.
Most Miss Universe contenders had already arrived in the nation before the new laws. However, those who came later were granted special permission to enter, subject to a 72-hour quarantine.
Throughout the 48 hours leading up to Sunday's contest, all candidates were tested for coronavirus and obliged to adhere to rigorous mask regulations.
Despite all precautions, Clemence Botino, France's candidate, tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after landing in Israel. She was declared virus-free and allowed to resume the competition last week after ten days in quarantine.
The pageant was postponed last year owing to the pandemic, and Meza was crowned in May for her brief stint.
Participants in the pageant, which Donald Trump co-owned before he became president of the United States, must be between 18 and 28 and are not married or have children.
