Colombian beauty Paulina Vega Sunday night beat 87 contestants, including India's Noyonita Lodh, to win the Miss Universe 2014 crown here Sunday night.
Bangalore girl Noyonita, 21, failed to reach the Top 10, but she had managed to pave her way into the Top 15 at the 63rd edition of the pageant. India has not won the Miss Universe crown since 2000, when now Bollywood actress Lara Dutta had walked away with the accolades.
At the 2014 pageant, contestants from 88 countries were participating.
Miss USA Nia Sanchez was crowned first runner-up, while Diana Harkusha from Ukraine was named the second runner-up at the glitzy event, which was held at the FIU Arena at Florida International University. Miss Jamaica Kaci Fennell and Miss Netherlands Yasmin Verheijen were also among the top five.
Vega said the contests leading to Miss Universe were the first she'd participated in and will be her last, as she's eager to return to her studies in business administration.
The 22-year-old is the granddaughter of a legendary tenor, Gaston Vega.
Miss Colombia was crowned by the outgoing Miss Universe, Gabriela Isler of Venezuela. The broadcast included performances by singers Nick Jonas and Prince Royce.
The judges included actor William Levy, Grammy winner musician and producer Emilio Estefan, footballer Desean Jackson, baseball player Giancarlos Cruz-Michael Stanton and boxer Manny Pacquiao.
Some of the highpoints of this year's Miss Universe was the new crown, created by Diamonds International Corporation (D.I.C), given to the winner along with an audience question that was asked in addition to the judges round.
The subtitle winners are:
Miss Congeniality - Miss Nigeria
Miss Photogenic - Miss Puerto Rico
Best National Costume - Indonesia
Colombia's Paulina Vega wins Miss Universe 2014 title
