Miss Universe 2004 goes to... Miss Australia, Jennifer Hawkins!

QUITO, Ecuador - A 20-year-old, blue-eyed Australian was named Miss Universe (news - web sites) 2004 in a two-hour pageant in this Andean capital watched by hundreds of millions of television viewers around the world.

Jennifer Hawkins smiled as the outgoing titleholder, Amelia Vega of the Dominican Republic, slipped the crown on her head Tuesday night at a convention center on the northern outskirts of Quito.

Some 7,500 spectators, who paid hundreds of dollars for seats, cheered as the 5-foot-11 Hawkins walked down the runway, smiling, waving and looking stunned by her victory.

At a news conference afterwards, she arrived with Donald Trump, owner of the Miss Universe parent organization.

"I want to present to you the new Miss Universe. She's spectacular," Trump said. "Jennifer is the most beautiful Miss Universe I have seen in many, many years."

Hawkins, appearing nervous, said she "had no idea this was going to happen to me. It was completely beyond my imagination.

"I have a lot to learn about being Miss Universe, but I'm going to give it my all," she said.

Hawkins is a model and dancer and said she choreographs a dance team that tours Australia. She said her interests are surfing, wakeboarding, camping with family, reading, watching movies and going to see the Australian ballet.

"We're all so proud and so excited for her," her mother Gail said in Sydney, Australia. "I just wish I was there to give her a big cuddle. It's really hard to believe. I wonder if it's sunk in with her yet. I don't think she realizes the attention she has gotten here."


Miss Australia Jennifer Hawkins is crowned Miss Universe 2004 by Amelia Vega, former Miss Universe 2003, in Quito, Ecuador.
Tuesday, June 1, 2004.