MISS UNIVERSE GABRIELA ISLER PRESENTS AT THE 25TH ANNUAL BILLBOARD LATIN MUSIC AWARDS

Miss Universe Gabriela Isler Presented at the 25th Annual Billboard Latin Music Awards this past Thursday, April 24th.

Miss Universe 2014 Ma. Gabriela Isler in Manila

Check out these new photos of Miss Universe 2014 Gabriela Isler's recent visit to the Philippines!

GABRIELA ISLER’S ADVICE FOR ASPIRING QUEENS: BE ‘CONFIDENT’ AND ‘REAL’

MANILA, Philippines – Right when the Philippines was experiencing typhoon Yolanda in November 2013, Venezuela’s Gabriela Isler was crowned Ms Universe 2013 in Moscow, Russia.

Less than a year later, months into her reign as Ms Universe, Gabriela is visiting the Philippines not only to serve as one of the judges in the Bb Pilipinas coronation night on March 30, but also to raise awareness for rebuilding efforts in typhoon-hit areas.

This is in cooperation with Cordaid, a Dutch development agency that Miss Universe Organization president Paula Shugart told media was focused on the long-term, with several projects centered on women and children – also a key focal point of Gabriela’s projects as Ms Universe.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: The 22 Most Influential Former Beauty Queens

by JENNIFER MICHALSKI

Last month, Maria Gabriela Isler of Venezuela was crowned Miss Universe — the 62nd woman to be crowned with the prestigious title since the competition was founded in 1952.

And while the Miss Universe crown represents one of the most honorable of all beauty titles, hundreds of pageants take place all over the world each year.

Throughout the past 60 years of Miss Universe and Miss USA competitions, former beauty queens have gone on to have successful careers — journalists such as Oprah Winfrey and Diane Sawyer, Oscar winners like Halle Berry, many leaders in philanthropy, and more.

Check out the former beauty queens who are doing their parts to change the world.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/beauty-pageant-queens-where-are-they-now-2013-12?op=1#ixzz2nxetbYs1

10 Things You Didn't Know About Gabriela Isler

Ten questions for Miss Universe 2013, Gabriela Isler

Life is moving very fast these days for 25-year-old Gabriela Isler of Venezuela. Last month, during ceremonies in Moscow, Isler (a popular TV personality back home) was crowned Miss Universe - the seventh time a Venezuelan has taken that honor in the pageant’s 61-year history.   

Isler moved into a new apartment in New York City shortly before this interview was conducted. Although her command of English is impressive, Isler apologized throughout our conversation while searching for the words to best convey her thoughts.  

Dow: Living in New York City must be overwhelming if you’ve never been there before. How are you handling it so far? 

Isler: It’s very overwhelming. There have been a lot of changes in my life this year. Not only becoming Miss Universe but also in my personal life. It’s a big change to move to the big city – the city that never sleeps. I have a new life – a new apartment – a new roommate. It’s a big experience.   

Dow: You said that you have a roommate. Is that part of the rules of being Miss Universe? That someone must be there to watch over you?  

Isler: I don’t know if it’s a rule, but I do have a roommate. It’s Miss USA, Erin Brady.

Dow: I understand that you have a boyfriend back home in Venezuela. Is he a little nervous about the prospect of you traveling around the world?

Isler: He is a little nervous about that, but he supports me as Miss Universe and offers me lots of advice. He is not only my boyfriend but he’s a very good friend. I hope our relationship is still getting better after this year.  

Dow: What sorts of things do you do to stay in such good shape?  

Isler: I eat many times per day. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack. That way you can regulate your metabolism. Recently, I haven’t had time to go to the gym. Usually I go four or five times a week - two hours of gym to keep the body in good form. I work the abs and the quads but I don’t do heavy weights. Lots of exercise but no diet – just healthy limitations.  

Dow: Is there a food that you consider to be your weakness?

Isler (laughing): Chocolate. Not a bar of chocolate but if you give me a brownie with ice cream or a chocolate cake, I will eat it, I swear.  

Dow: You are a strong advocate for AIDS research and education. How did you decide to adopt that as your platform?  

Isler: As Miss Universe, I think it’s important to not only be a role model for girls but for everyone. I hope that if people see me talk about the importance of HIV and AIDS awareness, they will do the same thing.  

Dow: Who makes you laugh? Who is the funniest person that you know? 

Isler: My niece. When I need to laugh, I think of her. She is 4 years old and a little princess. I have that picture of her in my head and she can always make me laugh when I need it.  

Dow: I read a story yesterday about the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro. Is he OK? What do you know about him?

Isler: He is very proud of me. He took the time to go on Twitter after I was chosen as Miss Universe to wish me congratulations. He is proud of me and I feel honored.

Dow: The reason I ask is because over the weekend, he sent the Venezuelan national army to occupy and steal from electronics stores to give plasma TVs to people who want them. He doesn’t seem to be a very “business friendly” president if you know what I mean. 

Isler: I haven’t had time to read lately so I’m not sure about this, but I do know about some things happening in my country and I feel very sad. But as I told you before, I also feel happy because I give people there a reason to feel the same happiness. I just try to give happiness to my country in these difficult moments. 

Dow: After your year of being Miss Universe, what would you like to do? Where do you see yourself a year from now?  

Isler: I’m a businesswoman. I studied marketing and I would like to have my own company while also being part of the modeling world. I have time to think over the next year. I have a lot of goals in my head right now.  

Dow: Have you ever visited Maine? Do you know where we are? 

Isler (laughing): No; I know it is very far from New York.

Dow: We’re not that far. Bangor to New York City takes about seven hours on a good day.

Isler (laughing): Oh, you are close. I can go there tomorrow.  

Miss Universe 2013: 10 eye-popping moments

By By Jennifer Arellano

Source: Entertainment Weekly / Pop Watch

Congratulations are in order for the new Miss Universe, Gabriela Isler of Venezuela, who beat out 85 other international beauties Saturday night at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall, wearing a shimmering silver dress.While it’s another year of bleached perma-smiles, bizarro-glam costumery that make an ’80s Cher look modest, and suspiciously impressive résumés, for all the glitter and iridescent excess of Miss Venezuela’s finale dress, the event itself seemed a little lackluster this year. Maybe it was the absence of wonderfully cheeky host Andy Cohenpaired with the pure cheesiness of Giuliana Rancic? Or perhaps it was the lack of cringe-worthy fashion dialogue from usual suspect and style commentator Jeannie Mai? Or maybe my crazy-meter broke from theVMAs and Kanye rants and that Emmy musical number? Well, thankfully, it’s not completely broken, because there were still plenty of silly sights to spare. Behold, my picks for the 10 eye-popping Miss Universe 2013 moments:

1. A Nick Jonas shout-out. At least she didn’t pull a Hillary Swank. Did Miss Universe 2012 Olivia Culpo thank her JoBro boyfriend during her parting speech? After thanking her family, friends, and the Donald, she said she couldn’t wait to start a new chapter with a “very special person who puts a smile on my face every day.”

2. Don’t hate them because they’re beautiful; hate them because they’re … superheroes? Apparently beauty queens save lives too. Instead of baton-twirling, flame-throwing extracurricular taglines, Miss Dominican Republic “helped deliver a baby when she was 17″ and Miss Switzerland “once pulled a drowning girl out of a pool.” C’mon, let’s feel inadequate together!

3. Angelina Jolie was a contestant! Well, sorta. Jin Ye, Miss China, was dubbed the Chinese Angelina Jolie. Do you see the resemblance? But where’s the vial of Billy Bob Thornton’s blood? Or the brood of diverse, aesthetically pleasing children?

4. Nostalgia watch: Tara Lipinski as a judge. Or “Lara Lipinski” as Mel B. mispronounced the retired figure skater’s name. What girl didn’t grow up wanting Olympic figure-skating gold when the tiny Tara won the 1998 Winter Olympics? Holy crap, she’s 31. Winter pipe dreams never die!


(read more)

Burning Question: Why Do Venezuelan Women Rule Miss Universe?

(from Yahoo News)

Welcome to the Miss Universe-Burning Questions Lightning Round!

Q: Three of the last six Miss Universe pageants have been won by Miss Venezuela — what's in the water there? Are pageants a big part of their culture?

A: No, pageants aren't a big part of their culture. Pageants are amassive, huge, enormous part of their culture. In 2010, professor Belinda Edmondson of Rutgers University published an academic paper that pretty much summed it up: "In the beauty contest-obsessed societies of the Caribbean and Latin America, a contestant’s chances of winning a national pageant are directly related to the perception that she has a shot at winning an international beauty contest such as Miss World or Miss Universe."

In other words, in Latin America, beauty pageants serve much of the same hometown rah-rah function that football does in Texas, or basketball in Indiana.

"In the Caribbean, Africa, Latin America, and Asia, the beauty pageant is the quintessential middlebrow cultural product," Edmondson writes, "a mix of cheesecake, social desire, commercial canniness, and Third World nationalist ambition. Its winners are frequently used as spokeswomen to promote state initiatives in farming or commerce.

"The beauty pageant, then, covers roughly the same terrain as the romance novel — social aspiration, nationalism, and pleasure." As for Venezuela in particular, well, a source close to the Miss Universe organization puts it to me this way: "They take their pageants very seriously. It's a big deal, and a ton of girls compete. It's a different level of importance there, and they're fierce competitors."

Maria Gabriel Isler, the contest's new 25-year-old, half-Swiss champion climbed her way to the top of the Venezuelan circuit, while working as an anchor for a national TV network. Isler earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and seems to have specialized in presentation as an art form, having worked as a professional gift wrapper in her early life. She began her rise to Miss Universe winning the Miss Guarico prize — representing her home state — before winning the title of Miss Venuezla and finally the entire Universe.

Q: Which countries have produced the most Miss Universe winners?

A: Well, Isler marks the seventh Miss Universe to come out of Venezuela. But there's one country that has produced eight winners. Say it with me: U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! (FYI: Puerto Rico, which sends its own delegate, has won five times.)

Q: Does every country have a Miss Universe contestant?

A: Nope. Every year, 80 to 100 countries send women to compete. And the planet has more than 200 sovereign states on it. For example, this year's Miss Universe pageant did not contain a Miss Albania, Miss Armenia, Miss North Korea, or Miss Bahrain. There is also an opening for a Miss Bhutan, if you're thinking of maybe launching the franchise there.

Steven Tyler asks Isler about overcoming fears during the 2013 Miss Universe pageant:

Q: How do other countries crown their Misses? In countries where there isn't a democracy, but, say, a king or a sole ruler, can he just crown his girlfriend? Do princesses ever get to rep their country?

A: If you think that Miss Universe and McDonald's have little in common, think again. Both are run like franchises. Local organizations hoping to send a Miss Universe contestant to the big show have to get permission from the Miss Universe Organization.

Most of the time, a local pageant has determined the winner of each participating country, but not always. For a few years, Australia stopped hosting pageants, deeming them archaic, and instead selected its Miss Aussie via a modeling agency. (Oz has since reinstated pageants.) Royals, dictators, and problematic governments can't crown whomever they want ... at least, not without the pretense of a pageant or some other ceremonial contest. The Chinese license holder, for example, finds its Miss Universe China using a combination of regional contests and direct auditions.

Miss Universe 2013 winner is Miss Venezuela, Gabriela Isler

By Jamie Wetherbe, LA Times

And the crown goes to ... Miss Venezuela, Gabriela Isler, who was named Miss Universe 2013 Saturday night at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall. Miss Universe 2012, Olivia Culpo, crowned Isler at the conclusion of the two-hour telecast, viewed by an estimated 1 billion people from 190 countries.

Isler beat out contestants from 85 other countries at the 62nd annual competition to nab the crown for Venezuela, the country's seventh Miss Universe title. The 25-year-old, 5-foot, 10-inch beauty works as an anchor for Venezuela's Venevision television; her experience is likely to come in handy during her one-year stint as Miss Universe.

Soon after her win, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro tweeted his congratulations, calling her victory a "triumph." Isler was selected by a panel of eight judges including celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa, gold medal figure skater Tara Lipinski and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, who pulled double duty with a performance during the show.

MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts and “America’s Got Talent” alum and former Spice Girl Melanie Brown served as co-hosts. The pageant took place in Russia for the first time, sparking debate over the country's anti-gay laws. Roberts, who is openly gay, stepped in as pageant co-host after Bravo's Andy Cohen opted out following Russia's enactment of a law banning "homosexual propaganda."

"I certainly think that discriminatory laws are just that, discriminatory and they marginalize the LGBT community," Roberts told Agence France-Press on the red carpet. "I empathize with the LGBT people here." Roberts, however, didn't take the issue to the stage. He dedicated the telecast to victims of the recent typhoon in the Philippines. "We send our very best, our thoughts," he said.

Isler on Sunday preformed her first duty as the new Miss Universe by posing in a ruby and diamond bejeweled swimsuit worth an estimated $1 million.