Elegant Woman - Dayana Mendoza, Miss Universe 2008

Dayana Sabrina Mendoza Moncada (born June 1, 1986 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a model and beauty pageant titleholder who won the titles of Miss Venezuela 2007 and Miss Universe 2008.

Mendoza has stated that she enjoys "design, photography, advertising and wave surfing." She was once kidnapped in Venezuela, and stated the trauma taught her to remain poised under pressure.

In 2001, Mendoza signed with Elite Model Management and was a finalist at the Elite Model Look International 2001, in Nice, France. She has worked with the companies Max Mara and Costume Nacional, where she modeled in New York, Italy, Germany, France, Athens and Spain for Versace, Roberto Cavalli and other fashion designers. She speaks Spanish, English, and Italian. After Elite, she signed to Trump Model Management, and in Milan, Names Model Agency.

Dayana beat 27 other candidates to win Miss Venezuela 2007 on September 13, 2007, and became only the second woman representing the Amazonas state to win (the first being Carolina Izsak in 1991). She was crowned Miss Universe 2008 at the pageant in the Crown Convention Center, Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 13, 2008. Mendoza became the first winner of the pageant from Venezuela since Miss Universe 1996's winner Alicia Machado, thus making her the first Venezuelan Miss Universe in the 21st century.

Miss Universe 2007 Riyo Mori crowned her with a tiara worth 120,000 U.S. dollars. Her prize package includes cash, a year contract promoting Miss Universe, world travel, a rent-free, prestigious New York City flat, luxury apartment and a gift bag stuffed with designer shoes, dresses and beauty products, a $100,000 stipend for a 2-year course at the New York Film Academy and free access to famous fashion houses and beauty parlors. Mendoza will spend her year-long reign traveling the world to lecture on humanitarian issues and to promote education regarding HIV/AIDS.

 

Elegant Woman - Marelisa Gibson, Venezuelan beauty pageant titleholder

Marelisa Gibson Villegas (born 26 August 1988) is a Venezuelan beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Venezuela 2009.

Gibson was born in Caracas, where she now studies architecture at the Central University of Venezuela.[3] She speaks Spanish, English and French. She is the great-granddaughter of a Swedish immigrant and she admires Le Corbusier, Santiago Calatrava, Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe and Renzo Piano. Her hobbies include theater and photography.

Gibson, who stands 1.78 m (5'10"), became the sixth Miss Miranda to win that title since the Miss Venezuela pageant began in 1952.[5] She also won the Best Face award.

She represented Venezuela in the 2010 Miss Universe pageant, in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on August 23, and did not make it to the Top 15. This was only the third time in twenty-eight years that Venezuela was not among the semifinalists.

Elegant Woman - Vanessa Goncalves, Miss Venezuela in 2010

Vanessa Andrea Gonçalves Gómez (born February 10, 1986) is a Venezuelan beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Venezuela in 2010.

Born in Baruta, Miranda, Venezuela, Gonçalves is a dentist of Portuguese ancestry, her father is from Madeira Portugal. She attended the prestigious Academia Merici,an Ursuline school in Caracas, Venezuela and is a graduate from the school of dentistry at Universidad Santa María in Caracas.

Gonçalves, who stands 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in), competed as Miss Miranda, one of 28 finalists in her country's national beauty pageant Miss Venezuela 2010, held on October 28, 2010 in Maracaibo, where she obtained the Best Body and Evening Gown awards and became the seventh Miss Venezuela winner from Miranda, gaining the right to represent her country in Miss Universe 2011.