Tuesday, 29th May 2007 at 9:26 am

And Miss Universe 2007 is…?

NOT Miss South Africa Megan Coleman, so we’re really not interested.

Okay. Fine. That sneaky Miss Japan, Riyo Mori, came seemingly out of nowhere (okay, fine… she obviously came from Japan) and snatched the crown during last night’s competition in Mexico City. Now we know why kimonos have such wide sleeves.

It would have been so cool for our Megan to take the crown. On many betting sites, she was actually among the top ten favourites. Just goes to show that those are as reliable as stories printed in Sun/Son.

During the pageant yesterday, which was also Megan’s 22nd birthday, she didn’t even make it into the top 15!

And the top 5 were all brunettes. We thought they had the blonde jokes to keep them feeling superior, but now they’re getting greedy, aren’t they?

Anyway, since YOU probably want to know more about 20-year old Riyo Mori: She is a lifelong ballet dancer from a village near Mt. Fuji. She loves travelling the world and enjoys visiting museums and watching musicals with ambitions to one day star on Broadway. When she was little, her grandmother wanted her to become Miss Japan.

She is the second Miss Japan to win the title, and will spend her reigning year travelling the globe and speaking on issues such as poverty and disease.

At least the pageant was exciting. Miss Sweden, Isabel Lestapier Winqvist, dropped out of the contest after complaints in her country that it degrades women. Miss USA Rachel Smith (who made it into the top 5), slipped and fell during the evening gown parade. She was also booed by a handful of Mexicans during the run-up to the finals because of her country’s unfriendliness towards illegal immigrants.

The pageant also attracted protesters wearing white dresses splashed with fake blood and sashes proclaiming “Miss Juarez”, “Miss Atenco” and “Miss Michoacan” in reference to places in Mexico made infamous by killings or sexual abuse of women.

Additional reading: Miss Universe 2007 official site.

Previously: Miss South Africa gearing up for Miss Universe.