jeux de julie: Leila Lopes, Miss Angola, is Miss Universe 2011

The Miss Universe 2011 pageant finale was held September 12, 2011 at the Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo, Brazil with Miss Angola Leila Lopes as the winner, the first ever from Angola and the 4th African woman to be crowned Miss Universe.

Hosted by Andy Cohen (Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live") and Natalie Morales (NBC's "Today"), the Miss Universe 2011 finals, which also happened to be the pageant's 60th anniversary, started with the introduction of the 89 lovely candidates.

Miss USA 2004 (and Miss Universe 2004 1st Runner Up) Shandi Finnessey and STYLE Network’s Jeannie Mai served as commentators.

The announcement of the Top 16 semi-finalists followed. The Top 16 were: (in order of announcement) France, Kosovo, Colombia, China, Angola, Australia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Netherlands, USA, Ukraine, Panama, Costa Rica, Portugal, Philippines and Venezuela.

While Miss Portugal was called to join the Top 16, the commentators announced that she's the one who won the online fan voting conducted at missuniverse.com which secured her a slot in the semis. It was the first time in Miss Universe history that a semi-finalist was selected by the fans via online voting.

A big favorite, Miss Philippines Shamcey Supsup was still shocked to hear her name being called as one of the semi-finalists. Commentators took notice of that and described her as "humble".

The judges who were given the toughest job of selecting this year's Miss Universe included: 3-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helios Castroneves, Actress-Producer Vivica A. Fox, Miss Universe 2003 Amelia Vega, "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Adrienne Maloof, Houston hair care magnet Farouk Shami, Brazilian supermodel Isabeli Fontana, CONCACAF Deputy Secretary General Italo Zanzi, US Broadcast Legend Connie Chung and Tony-winning actress Lea Salonga. Lea was also introduced as the voice of Princess Jasmine in Disney's "Aladdin".

After the introduction of judges, it was announced that Miss Panama Sheldry Saez won the Best National Costume award.

Top 10 Best National Costume: 1. Panama 2. Mexico 3. Thailand 4. Venezuela 5. Curacao 6. Trinidad & Tobago 7. Tanzania 8. Bolivia 9. Nigeria 10. Japan

Then the Top 16 competed in swimsuits and the Top 10 were announced who later competed in their evening gowns. The Top 10 were: Australia, Costa Rica, France, Ukraine, Portugal, Panama, Philippines, Angola, China and Brazil.

Leila Lopes