Friday 28 May 1999
By eBroadcast Staff and agencies.

The 19-year-old took the 1999 Miss Universe pageant by storm with her charm, intellect, poise, and, er, other assets

'I wuz robbed!'

If you watched the Miss Universe pageant. you might have noticed several things. First, Jack Wagner from Melrose place was hosting (lucky bastard). Second, there wasn't a woman in sight that was less than a 10. Third, Miss Venezuela was robbed.

Not that we were into it or anything.

Mpule Kwelagobe (if you can pronounce that you're doing better than us), who said she wants to be president of her country and sees nothing wrong with Miss Universe becoming pregnant during her reign, was the third African winner in history. A model and former best female student in Botswana, Kwelagobe listed electronics engineer as one of her future goals. One of her goals was not to seduce a daily TV editor/writer, as expected.

'What do you mean the crown goes on top of my hair?'

The Botswana native, who came out of nowhere (a sleeper in horse racing terms), said she would make AIDS and education her top priorities over the next year. "My own country has the highest AIDS victims per capita in the world, so I do want to work with HIV-affected people, specifically children, because I believe they are the ones that are affected most,'' she said.

Kwelagobe also mentioned that she aspired to be President of Botswana one day, and hoped her victory would attract foreign investment. "I believe that my country has a lot of development and if there is anywhere I want to help develop it has to be my country,'' she said. "My country is a very promising country, very young, and I want to work to help develop it.''

Gee, do you think she wants to develop her country?

Some say it was her ability to handle tough questions that helped Kwelagobe take the crown, especially the crucial final question regarding the possibility of Miss Universe becoming pregnant during her reign (Miss Universe candidates are not allowed to get knocked up or have given birth to a child prior to the contest). "When you enter a beauty pageant you do symbolize women and women do get pregnant and have children," she said. "I do not see being pregnant interrupting anything I do in my life. That's what it's all about, celebrating the fact that you're a woman and that you can bear children." Surprisingly, the topic of stretch marks did not show up in any if the candidate's answers.

The first and second runners-up were Miss Philippines Miriam Quiambao and Miss Spain Diana Nogueira. The Miss Universe pageant, which is televised to 2.5 billion viewers worldwide, was hosted by the twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago.

No word yet as to whether Miss Venezuela Carolina Indriago,18, has accepted our offer to be the official daily TV 'nude office model.' We'll keep you posted.