Miss Colombia Paulina Vega has been crowned the winner of the 2014 Miss Universe competition. The 22-year-old business administration student from Barranquilla was crowned Sunday night at Florida International University in Miami.
"It is amazing," Vega said, the Miami Herald reports. "It's very new, very modern, it's very different. I will wear it with pride and excitement."
She beat out 88 contestants from all over the world, including runner-up Miss USA Nia Sanchez. Rounding out the top five were Miss Ukraine Diana Harkusha, Miss Jamaica Kaci Fennell and Miss Netherlands Yasmin Verheijen.
Prior to winning the competition, Vega told reporters that this was her first time participating in contests leading up to the Miss Universe pageant. She also said this was her last time competing because she wanted to finish school in Colombia.
"It will be a dream come true to represent the woman of today. A woman that not only cares about being beautiful and being glamorous, but also cares about being a professional, intelligent, hard-working person," Vega said earlier this week.
Over the last three weeks the contestants spent time in Miami attending photo shoots and parades as they finished preparing for the pageant. On Wednesday the competition kicked off with the preliminary contest, which saw judges whittle the group of 88 down to 15.
Each woman flaunted a costume they felt represented their home country. Miss Indonesia won fan-favorite, the Miami Herald reports. The next part of the competition involved the 15 finalists - Colombia, Italy, India, France, USA, Indonesia, Venezuela, Spain, Philippines, Argentina, Jamaica, Ukraine, Brazil, Netherlands and Australia - showing off their bathing suits as Prince Royce performed.
Viewers also got to learn more about the contestants. Following the swimsuits competition was the evening gowns, were the top 10 modeled gorgeous dresses as Nick Jonas belted the words to his catchy single "Jealous."
The competition was then whittled down to five contestants and the women had to answer questions from a fan and a judge. At the end of the of the three-hour show, "Today Show" host Natalie Morales announced Vega as the winner. Former Miss Universe Gabriela Isler from Venezuela handed the crown over to Vega.
