Amelia Vega

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Amelia Vega Beauty pageant titleholder
Birth name:	Amelia Victoria Vega Polanco de Guerra
Birthdate:	November 7, 1984 (1984-11-07) (age 23)
Birth location:	Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
Height:	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Eye color:	Brown
Hair color:	Brown
Ethnicity:	hispanic
Title(s):	Miss Dominican Republic Universe 2003 Miss Universe 2003

Amelia Vega (born November 7, 1984 in Santiago de los Caballeros, Santiago, Dominican Republic) became the first Dominican woman to be named Miss Universe, in 2003. At the age of 18, she was the youngest winner since 1994.

Vega's father is a general medical practitioner with offices in New York City and Miami. Her mother, Patricia Polanco, was a previous national titleholder who represented the Dominican Republic at the 1980 Miss World pageant. Vega is the niece of the Grammy Award–winning singer Juan Luis Guerra.

Contents 1 Miss Universe 1.1 The competition 1.2 Post-crowning 2 Career 3 Notable TV Guest Appearances 4 External links

[edit] Miss Universe

[edit] The competition

After winning the Miss Dominican Republic Universe title, Vega represented the Dominican Republic in the Miss Universe 2003 pageant held in Panama City, Panama on June 3, 2003. She became the first titleholder from this country to win the title.

Vega was crowned by outgoing titleholder Justine Pasek of Panama. She wore a white evening gown during the competition, which featured strings of beads on the sleeves.

As Miss Universe 2003, Vega traveled extensively working with internationally recognized HIV/AIDS organizations including the Global Health Council, Cable Positive, amfAR, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and God's Love We Deliver. As a celebrity spokesperson, she was responsible for working with the international media to generate a better understanding and acceptance of AIDS/HIV epidemics and its prevention while helping to increase awareness, funding and resources for these key organizations.

As Miss Universe, Vega represented the Miss Universe Organization. Her "sister" 2003 titleholders were Tami Farrell (Miss Teen USA, of Oregon) and Susie Castillo (Miss USA, of Massachusetts).

Vega is the third among Miss Universe winners who also won the National Costume competition. Thailand's Porntip Nakhirunkanok won the award in 1988 and eventually won the crown then, Wendy Fitzwilliam of Trinidad & Tobago also won the Best National Costume and went on to win the 1998 Miss Universe crown.

[edit] Post-crowning

After moving to an apartment in New York provided by Donald Trump which was part of her overall prize package as the new Miss Universe titleholder, Vega visited many countries around the world including: Canada, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Thailand, Vietnam and Russia. Vega returned to her home country several times, and was awarded an honorary medal in the 2003 Pan American Games, held in Santo Domingo. Later that year, Vega co-hosted the Festival Presidente de Música Latina, a Latin American music concert lasting three days and held every two years in the Dominican Republic.

[edit] Career

Vega has appeared in the cover of several magazines, from her local country's Mujer Unica and Oh! Magazine, up to internationally known Cosmopolitan, Caras, and Vanidades. She also was the lead image for campaigns made by the beauty cosmetics company Cover Girl.

Vega debuted as a singer during the Miss Dominican Republic 2004 pageant, where she crowned Larimar Fiallo as her national successor. The night of June 1, 2004, Amelia crowned Miss Universe 2004, Jennifer Hawkins from Australia.

After her reign as Miss Universe came to an end, Vega worked temporarally as the host of the reality show Voces de América, that aired on the Telemundo network. Later she hosted "Suegras", a Mexican reality show. Her film debut was in 2005, co-starring in the film The Lost City directed by Andy Garcia. She will soon appear in Homie Spumoni, a motion picture starring Donald Faison and scheduled to be released in summer 2008.

[edit] Notable TV Guest Appearances

• Premios Juventud (July 19, 2007) "Herself"
• El Show de Cristina (2007) playing "Herself"
• Suegras(TV series) (2007) Host-Herself
• Miss Universe Judge, July 23, 2006
• Premios Fox Sports 4ta, (2006) (TV) playing "Herself"
• Don Francisco Presenta "Herself" April 13, 2005
• ¡Despierta América! playing "Herself" 12 October 2004
• ¡Despierta América! playing "Herself" 18 March 2004
• Escandalo Tv "Herself" 2004
• Premios Juventud 2004 (Acceso Total "Herself"
• Premios Juventud 2004Herself"
• Premios Juventud (Noche de Estrellas) "Herself"
• Don Francisco Presenta "Herself" 16 June 2004
• Don Francisco Presenta "Herself" 9 October 2003
• Miss Universe "Herself" 2004(Her last day has a Miss Universe)
• Cristina 15 Aniversario "Herself" 2004
• Late Show with David Letterman "Herself" 8 July 2003
• Miss Universe 2003(Pageant) Miss Dominican Republic, Miss Universe 2003 (winner) (winner)

[edit] External links

• (English) Amelia Vega on the Internet Movie Database
• (Spanish) Miss Universe 2003-related Website

Preceded by Ruth Ocumarez	Miss Dominican Republic Universe 2002–2003	Succeeded by Larissa del Mar Fiallo
Preceded by Justine Pasek	Miss Universe 2003	Succeeded by Jennifer Hawkins

v • d • e Miss Universe titleholders (2003)
Miss Universe Amelia Vega	Miss USA Susie Castillo	Miss Teen USA Tami Farrell

v • d • e Big Four pageants (2003)
Miss Universe Amelia Vega	Miss World Rosanna Davison	Miss Earth Dania Prince	Miss International Goizeder Azúa

Persondata
NAME	Vega, Amelia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Vega Polanco, Amelia Victoria Patricia Guerra
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Miss Universe 2003
DATE OF BIRTH	1984-11-07
PLACE OF BIRTH	Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH