Brazilian Wins Miss Earth Beauty Pageant

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Priscilla Meirelles, a medical student from Brazil, was named Miss Earth 2004 recently, winning a beauty pageant that promotes environmental concerns.

MANILA, Philippines — Priscilla Meirelles, a medical student from Brazil, was named Miss Earth 2004 recently, winning a beauty pageant that promotes environmental concerns.


Meirelles, 21, bested 60 other candidates for the title in suburban Quezon City.


There are no first and runner-up finishers in the competition; each of the final four receives a title. Yanina Gonzalez, a 24-year-old marketing student from Paraguay, was named Miss Fire; Murielle Celimene, an 18-year-old student from Martinique, was Miss Air; and Stephanie Lesage, a 20-year-old social economics student from Tahiti, was Miss Water.


The Miss Earth pageant, launched three years ago by a Philippine production outfit, requires candidates to be aware of environmental problems faced by their respective countries.


During 3.5 weeks in the Philippines, contestants helped clean a beach of trash, did farm work, planted mahogany trees, biked to promote clean air, and released schools of fish into a reservoir in the north ahead of Sunday's event, organizers said.


Among the 11 judges was Vida Samadzai of Afghanistan. She was a contestant last year, when she was condemned in her conservative homeland for appearing in a bikini. There was no Afghan competitor this year.


Source: Associated Press