Mexico city, May 29
A raven-haired Miss Japan, Riyo Mori, was crowned Miss Universe 2007 in a contest that was marked by protests, a banned dress and the withdrawal of one beauty queen on the ground that the pageant degraded women.

Mori, 20, the 56th winner of the title, was given $250,000 diamond-and-pearl crown by last year's winner, Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico.

Mori, a ballet dancer from a village near Mount Fuji, wore a striking black gown with coloured lapels for the final.

Her winning surpassed the ambition of her grandmother who told her as a child that she wanted her to be Miss Japan one day.

“My mind went blank,” Mori said of the winning moment.

During the evening gown parade, Miss USA, Rachel Smith, slipped on the runway and landed on her bottom, although the slip didn't stop her from earning the fifth place.

This year's contest was marked by controversy, with a handful of Mexicans booing Smith in the run-up to the finals because of what they saw as US un-friendliness toward illegal immigrants.

Miss Sweden, Isabel Lestapier Winqvist, unexpectedly pulled out of the event because of complaints in her country that it degrades women. Sweden has won the Miss Universe crown three times in the past.

In another hitch, Miss Mexico was made to change her outfit for the regional dress contest after her original dress, decorated with brutal images of rebels in a 1920s religious uprising being hanged or shot, drew accusations of poor taste. This was the fourth time that the pageant was held in Mexico. — Reuters