The 73rd Miss Universe competition saw over 120 queens vying for the coveted crown. Competition was fierce, with this year's pool of contestants being the biggest in the pageant's history. Fun fact: there were even four Pinay candidates, with Philippine bet Chelsea Manalo making it to the Top 30.
It was a tight race, and the beauty queens brought their A-game all the way to the end. For the much-awaited Q&A portion, the Miss Universe 2024 Top 5 from Nigeria, Mexico, Denmark, Thailand, and Venezuela answered the selection committee's questions, with a final identical question being posed to all: "Miss Universe has inspired generations of women. What do you want to say to the ones watching you now?"
Read Miss Denmark 2024's winning answer below!
READ: The Complete Transcript of the Miss Universe 2024 Final Q&A
Miss Nigeria Chidimma Adetshina
QUESTION: What is more important: being liked or being respected, and why?
ANSWER: I feel like it's being respected. We live in a society where we often don't feel respected because of who we are. And I feel like when you respect yourself, you respect others around you. And respect is really important.
FINAL QUESTION: Miss Universe has inspired generations of women. What do you want to say to the ones watching you now?
ANSWER: As a woman who has faced adversity, I feel like I have a powerful story. I don't stand here as Chidimma Adetshina. I stand here as a symbol of hope, a beacon of faith. As someone who has persevered with grace, I believe I have fought for not only myself, but for Africa.
Miss Mexico Maria Fernanda Beltran Figueroa
QUESTION: When something bad is happening in your life, what gives you power to keep going?
ANSWER: [Giving me power] to keep going in my life, is my mom through her fight of cancer. Right now I'm feeling very happy to be here, to represent her resilience, her perseverance, and her discipline about all these illnesses. I want to invite you to always build your dreams, and as a powerful woman say, Diana de Gales, I want to be the queen of the people's heart.
FINAL QUESTION: Miss Universe has inspired generations of women. What do you want to say to the ones watching you now?
ANSWER: As my social project says, say no [to] cyberbullying and cyberharassment. Right now we are in a huge problem that is [caused by] social media, and the message that I want to give to the world is to fight, control and adapt to this new situation with the emotional intelligence that we need to have. We need to have this emotional intelligence so we can control that emotions [we're feeling] and with that emotions [in check], we can give that message with no fears.
Miss Denmark Victoria Theilvig
QUESTION: How would you live your life differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
ANSWER: I Would never change how I live my life. We learn from our mistakes. We learn every day. We learn something new and we gotta take that [and] bring it to the future, and that's why I live each day by each day and I just gotta stay positive. So no, I will not change nothing.
FINAL QUESTION: Miss Universe has inspired generations of women. What do you want to say to the ones watching you now?
ANSWER: My message to all the world that is watching out there is: no matter where you come from, no matter your past, You can always choose to turn it into your strengths It will never define who you are You just gotta keep fighting I stand here today because I wanna change I wanna make history And that's what I'm doing tonight So never give up Always believe in yourself and your dreams And that is exactly what you're going to do
Miss Thailand Suchata Chuangsri
QUESTION: What qualities must someone have to be a truly successful leader?
ANSWER: A quality that a leader should have for me is empathy. Because no matter how good you are, no matter what kind of education you are, in the end, you need empathy to care about your people, to care about their well-being. And not only leaders, I believe that everyone in this world needs to have empathy among each other. That's how we can unite.
FINAL QUESTION: Miss Universe has inspired generations of women. What do you want to say to the ones watching you now?
ANSWER: One message I would like to give them is to always believe and to always have hope. Working on my project Opal for Her, I work a lot with cancer patients and doctors. We all know that it is a hard thing to overcome this disease, but what I can feel is everyone has hope and everyone believes that tomorrow will be a better day. As long as you believe your power is infinite and as long as you have hope, your spirits and your power will shine.
Miss Venezuela Ileana Marquez Pedroza
QUESTION: Describe the ideal woman of today and what you have in common with her?
ANSWER: My ideal moment today has been sharing with these amazing 127 women from all across the world, leaving behind our differences and sending the world a message of respect, love and union because that's the way the world is built.
FINAL QUESTION: Miss Universe has inspired generations of women. What do you want to say to the ones watching you now?
ANSWER: The crown tonight does not only go to the representative of Miss Universe tonight, but the crown goes to every single woman that has earned the respect, love and visibility for us to be here tonight.
Hey, Preview readers! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tiktok, and Twitter to stay up to speed on all things trendy and creative. We’ll curate the most stylish feed for you!
