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Dubai to host first-ever Miss Universe UAE

Dubai - The official winner will advance to the international stage in December

Dubai is set to host the first-ever Miss Universe UAE, the Miss Universe Organisation and Yugen Events announced on Thursday at the Armani Ristorante in Burj Khalifa.

The Miss Universe UAE has appointed members of the council to prepare the event and the winner for the global pageant.

The applications and casting for Miss Universe UAE will begin from today, October 7, and can be done through online registration at missuniverseuae.com. All UAE residents between the ages of 18 and 28 can register.

All selected applicants will be called for a personal casting call on October 15 at Al Habtoor Palace Hotel. Only 30 applicants, announced on October 20, will advance to the live show at the aforementioned venue.

Ahead of the final on November 7, all 30 finalists will compete in several pageant activities, such as photoshoot, runway challenges, commercial shoots, preliminary activewear, evening gown and close door panel interview between October 20 and October 30.

The official winner of Miss Universe UAE will advance to the international stage, the 70th edition of the Miss Universe, held in Israel in December.

The members of the council are Josh Yugen, President and National Director, and the Founder and CEO of Yugen Group and XPEDITION Magazine, Alaf Meky, Head of Charities and Philanthropy, Zel Ali, Head of Compassion and Empowerment, Sharihan Al Mashary, Head of Communications and also the first-ever female Emirati Hotel GM in the UAE, Maggie Wilson, Creative Consultant and Furne Amato, Head of Creatives, Fashion and Design.

“Miss Universe UAE is going to be extremely special to us because it is a representation of success, connected with service and significance,” said Sharihan Al Mashary, who is also the first-ever female Emirati Hotel GM in the UAE. “And, the individual who will represent UAE at the Miss Universe, will also represent the service and the significance of the country in the past 50 years, and in the next 50 years as well.”

Swimwear will not be a part of Miss Universe UAE. “An identity of a woman is beyond the parameters of her sculpture. And, that is why, we are changing to make a difference and do something that nobody in 70 years of Miss Universe history has done,” she added.

Miss Universe is the world’s biggest annual beauty pageant, with an estimated audience of 500 million.

The event's 2020 edition was hosted in May this year at Florida, US. Andrea Meza of Mexico is the current title holder. The 69th edition of the event featured participants from only 74 countries and territories.