Philippines’ Pia Wurtzbach is Miss Universe 2015

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach (Photo from Miss Universe’s official Twitter account)

Forty two years since the last Filipina titleholder, Philippines’ Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach was crowned in the recently concluded Miss Universe 2015 held on December 20 (Philippine time: December 21) in Las Vegas, USA.

Seventy nine other national delegates competed for the prestigious pageant’s coveted crown.

Prior the announcement, host Steve Harvey mistakenly named Colombia’s Ariadna Gutierrez as this year’s Miss Universe and Wurtzbach as the first runner-up.

Not expecting the turnabout, the Filipina beauty queen was given the crown after the host came back on stage and apologized for his wrong announcement. Miss Universe 24 Paulina Vega went to the stage and transferred the crown.

The result card was then flashed on the big screen to show the actual results of the competition.

Wurtzbach’s victory is the third for the Philippines since Margarita Moran in 1973 and Gloria Diaz in 1969.

Before the surprising announcement, singer Seal serenaded the Top 3 candidates: Wurtzbach, Gutierrez and USA’s Olivia Jordan as they took one last walk in the stage.

For the final question and answer portion, they were asked, “Why should you be the next Miss Universe?”

Wurtzbach said that she wanted to use her voice to raise awareness on certain issues and show the world that she is ‘confidently beautiful with a heart.’ Gutierrez believed that she had certain attributes which made her deserving of the crown, while Jordan wanted to empower women.