Irma Dimas

Irma Dimas

Beauty pageant titleholder
Irma Dimas crowned as Miss El Salvador 2005, February 27, 2005
Born	Irma Marina Dimas Pineda (1986-08-09) 9 August 1986 San Salvador, El Salvador
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Hair color	Brunette
Eye color	Brown
Title(s)	Miss El Salvador 2005, Miss Piel Dorada 2005
Major competition(s)	Miss El Salvador 2005 (winner)

Irma Dimas, born Irma Marina Dimas Pineda, in San Salvador, El Salvador, August 9, 1986, is a Salvadoran former model who was crowned Miss El Salvador,^[1] on February 27, 2005. She made headlines recently for her foray into the politics of El Salvador.

Life and work

Dimas was born in San Salvador, El Salvador. Before becoming a media personality she led a normal family life and was devoted to her studies. Her first appearance in media came about when she attended auditions for a Channel 12 TV reality show, Rumbo a la Corona and won a chance to compete for the title of Miss El Salvador in the 2005 competition. She eventually won the contest and the right to represent El Salvador in the Miss Universe 2005 pageant in Bangkok, Thailand, and the Miss Earth pageant in Quezon City, Philippines.

Dimas studied law (Legal Studies) at the Jose Simeon Canas Central American University (UCA), but prior to the Miss Universe competition left school temporarily to begin a four-month intensive training regimen. After her stint in beauty pageants, Dimas has worked as a model; her image appeared in advertising campaigns of the former cable company AMNET. More recently she has made headlines for her foray into politics in the ranks of the Salvadoran Christian Democratic Party (PDC) of El Salvador.

Beauty contests

In 2004, Channel 12 TV launched a call for young women to enter a reality show (produced by the same channel) in which the representative for El Salvador in the Miss Universe pageant would be chosen in a national contest. The concept of the reality show was to conduct trials before the contest to see who would be eliminated in the course of fourteen episodes, and to select fourteen of them to represent one of each of the fourteen departments of the country. The contest lasted five months and involved twenty-eight contestants.

Dimas's participation came about by coincidence when she accompanied a childhood friend who was signing up. She was seen by the president of the Miss El Salvador organization, who persuaded her to enter as well. She was the last contestant to join. As the reality show went on air and depicted the ongoing drama of the girls' experiences, Dimas was among the fourteen young women chosen; she represented the department of Sonsonate in the contest. During the final event held on February 27, 2005 before thousands of spectators, she beat the other thirteen contestants and took the crown, thereby earning the right to represent El Salvador in the Miss Universe 2005 pageant. Dimas also won other additional prizes from sponsors like Avon in categories such as best mouth, best legs, best face, and Miss Internet. The finalists included representatives from the departments of San Miguel and La Libertad.

On May 31, 2005 Dimas participated in the Miss Universe contest after months of preparation, but during the final night of the event did not qualify for the fifteen semi-finalists. The title of Miss Universe that year was won by the Canadian representative, Natalie Glebova. On October 23, 2005, Dimas took part in the Miss Earth pageant held in Quezon City, Philippines, where she placed in the top sixteen finalists. This was the first time a contestant from El Salvador reached the finals. In December of the same year Dimas participated in the Miss Piel Dorada pageant held in Costa Rica, with more than thirty other contestants from the Americas and Europe. Dimas won a car and a contract to pose for the Calendario Piel Dorada (Calendar of Golden Skin) in the 2006 edition. Dimas is the thirty-fourth woman to win the title of Miss El Salvador.

Dimas' mother's family is from Izalco in the Sonsonate department, the same that she represented in the Miss El Salvador contest. She was the official "face" of the cable company AMNET from 2007 to 2009 and has appeared on national magazine covers as a model. She has also participated in several national fashion shows, wearing clothes by local designers. She went into politics on the Christian Democratic Party of El Salvador ticket, and sits on the party's political commission.

References