India’s Harnaaz Sandhu was recently crowned as the 70th Miss Universe, beating out a total of 79 other contestants from different countries.
The Bollywood actress was all smiles after getting the most prestigious title at an event that was held at the Israeli Red Sea resort in Eilat.
Without a doubt, critics have dubbed this year’s competition to be full of controversies after many drew attention to the Palestinian-led boycott that resulted in several contestants skipping the event as a whole as a means of protest against Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians.
Nations like Malaysia opted to sit out of the competition for this very reason, preventing its participation by not sending its representative. They opted to stay neutral on the matter by citing the reason for their absence as the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the government of South Africa who holds a strong relationship with Palestine also opted to support the cause put forward by the Palestinians. This was the reason why they withdrew their support for the nation’s representative regarding her participation.
Sandhu who is an actress from Bollywood beat out nearly 79 contestants to win the title, being crowned by the previous reigning face of Miss Universe, which was Mexico’s, Andrea Meza.
The pageant was hosted by a renowned American personality Steve Harvey and displayed a colorful array of national costumes, sexy swimsuits, and a round of interview questions as a means of testing the public’s speaking skills.
In addition to that, the competition drew in more controversy when Steve Harvey requested the current Miss Universe winner to “Meow” on stage.
All top ten contestants dazzled on the platform in their intricately curated gowns that revolved around the color schemes of gold, bronze, and silver.
Despite the organizers requesting contestants and their countries to stop thinking about issues relating to politics and the pandemic, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that this was definitely a competition with plenty of hiccups along the way.