MANUEL ERNESTO RIVERA
Associated Press Writer
AP Photo/ Tomas van Houtryve
Miss United States, Shauntay Hinton, competes in the national costume show for Miss Universe delegates in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Tuesday, May 21, 2002. The national costume does not count towards the title of Miss Universe 2002, which will be judged in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on May 29, 2002.
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Other competitors sported provocative feathers and flowing lace, but Miss U.S.A., in the first competiton of this year's Miss Universe pageant, chose to represent her country with the decidedly un-sexy uniform of a New York firefighter.
``U.S.A.! U.S.A.!'' the crowd chanted as Shauntay Hinton, garbed in a firefighter's coat, fireproof pants and black helmet with reflective yellow stickers, saluted and waved the Stars and Stripes during Tuesday's competition in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Her show of patriotism and tribute to the firefighting heroes who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center were not enough to win the day.
The prize went to Miss Colombia, 20-year-old Vanessa Mendoza, in a gold dress adorned with blue, yellow and red feathers designed to reflect ``the richness of Colombia's Pacific Coast.''
Mendoza takes home $1,000 and a crystal trophy. The costume contest has no bearing on the final May 29 competition.
``Some of the costumes are extremely detailed but while there's not a lot of glamour in Miss U.S.A.'s outfit, the impact is tremendous,'' said pageant spokeswoman Mary Hilliard.
Seventy-six beauty queens donned costumes supposed to reflect the spirit of their countries for the national costume contest in the 51st Miss Universe pageant.
AP Photo/ Tomas van Houtryve
Shauntay Hinton
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Among those that stood out was Miss Israel, 20-year-old Yamit Har-Noy, who wore a white dress with a map of Israel with borders that included the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem. On the back of the dress was the Israeli flag.
Miss Puerto Rico, 24-year-old Isis Casalduc, won first runner-up for her flowing white dress of lace and embroidered flowers.
The second runner-up was the Dominican Republic's 20-year-old Ruth Ocumarez, in a wild Carnival costume with extravagant headdress of blue and green peacock feathers.
Costumes were meant to reflect the contestants' countries although some _ such as Miss Uruguay's outfit _ stumped even organizers.
Fiorella Fleitas, 20, wore a gold, caped outfit that resembled a cross between a bathing suit and a superhero costume.
``I'm not sure what Miss Uruguay is,'' said Theresa Beyer, the pageant's vice president of marketing. ``But this year you see a lot of carnival themes, a lot of very complicated costumes.''
Miss Honduras, Erika Lizet Ramirez, wore an orange and gold Carnival costume with a 14-foot-wide span and enormous headdress. The costume, which took two men to carry and required its own dressing room because of its size, had to be hoisted onto the beauty queen with ropes.
Others wore simple evening dresses in national colors _ Miss Ireland in green, Miss Hungary in bright red.
The only rules for the costumes: No violence and no fur.
``I think they figure that feathers are OK because you don't necessarily have to kill an animal for them,'' Beyer said.
