Mariana Valente

Canada crowns Mariana Valente to be this country's representative to the Miss Universe 2009 pageant to be held in Nassau, Bahamas in August 23. The 23-year old beauty queen who is originally from Brazil and moved to Canada when she was 12 was crowned as Miss Canada Universe 2009 at John Bassett Theatre in Toronto, May 16.

Have you noticed that lately Canada is not selecting pure Canadians to represent this country in international pageants? I just noticed that their recent beauty titleholders are of mix blood. Most of them are immigrants.

Natalie Glebova who won Miss Universe 2005 is from Russia and Miss Earth 2007, Jessica Trisko is of Filipino heritage. Miss World 2003 First Princess, Nazanin Afshin-Jam has Iranian parents.

Going back to Miss Canada Universe 2009, Valente is a student of languages at York University. She is 1.72 meters tall.

The first runner up is a contestant from Canada's Next Top Model. She is 26-year old Ylenia Aurucci. Ksenia Mezenina is second runner up. Neda Derakshan is third runner up while fourth runner up is Isabelle Grastin.

Even the courts of Valente are not pure Canadians, I guess. Their names sound Russian. I know for a fact that Neda has Iranian blood because I posted a blog entry about her here.

There are 56 women who competed in this year's pageant.

For the special awards, TingJia Lorogiano is People's Choice Award. Chanel Beckenlehner is Miss Elegance and Audience Favourite. Xiao Sun is Best in Runway while Cristina Heslenfeld is Best in Swimwear.

Have you noticed it again? Even the winners of the minor awards are not pure Canadians. Well, this means Canada is a melting pot of all nationalities around the world.