Miss Italy, Elisa Torrini, looks at one of the displays at the Futbol Museum in Sao Paulo, Brazil on August 31, 2011. Torrini spent two days at the Sao Luiz Hospital, in São Paulo, due to“personal health problems”, which she chose not to reveal to the press. The hospital informed that the Miss Universe Organization prohibited it to mention anything related to Miss Italy’s illness. Torrini will spend the next 2 weeks appearing at events and preparing to compete in the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE Competition on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET broadcast LIVE on NBC from Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Vote your favorite contestant into the semifinals by

Miss Bolivia, Olivia Pinheiro; Miss El Salvador, Mayra Aldana; Miss Croatia, Natalija Prica; and Miss Dominican Republic, Dalia Caritina Fernandez; proudly show off their Australian Gold Suncare Products while posing for the camera as part of a taping for the upcoming Miss Universe 2011 competition while in Guaruja, Brazil on August 30, 2011. Australian Gold is the official suncare products sponsor for the 2011 Miss Universe Pageant. The contestants will spend the next 2 weeks appearing at events and preparing to compete in the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE Competition on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET broadcast LIVE on NBC from Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

From Left to Right -- Miss Slovak Republic Dagmar Kolesarova, Miss Nicaragua Adriana Dom, Miss Kazakhstan Valeriya Aleinikova, Miss Mexico Karin Ontiveros, Miss Honduras Keilyn Gomez and Miss Aruba Gillain Berry pose at the beach in Guaruja in this August 30, 2011 publicity photo. The Miss Universe pageant will be held in Sao Paulo on September 12. The contestants were taken for a visit to Guaruja, one of the most famous beaches in the state of Sao Paulo. The beauties gathered for photos and video shoots at the Casa Grande resort, before going to the beach for another photoshoot. Even though the weather was not on their side -it was cloudy and rainy- they had lots of fun - Photo by Fotoarena/Fernando Genaro

Miss Great Britain, Chloe-Beth Morgan, Miss USA, Alyssa Campanella, Miss Trinidad & Tobago, Gabrielle Walcott, arrive at Tivoli in Sao Paulo, Brazil on August 28, 2011. The Contestants will spend the next 3 weeks appearing at events and preparing to compete in the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE Competition on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET broadcast LIVE on NBC from Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Miss Australia Shows No Signs of Nerves, Miss Universe hopeful Scherri-Lee Biggs showed no signs of nerves as she mingled with her rivals in Brazil. The Australian beauty, who will compete against 89 other stunners for the Miss Universe crown, was all smiles as she posed with Miss Canada contestant Chelsae Durocher. Dressed in a beige dress, and her hair tied back, the 20 year old Perth model said she hoped to "offer something that represents Australia, which is fun and energetic" at the competition, on September 12. The event, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, will be held in Sao Paulo. It has been a turbulent week for Biggs after she was forced to apologise to Jennifer Hawkins after reportedly accusing her having cosmetic surgery. The model took to her Twitter page to tell fans she was trying to get in contact with Hawkins' management to apologise. She Tweeted: "I never said that about her. those words were taken completely out of context! and words were put in my mouth. Journalists are very sneaky and I think Jens an amazing, beautiful woman and I look up to her......hope no-one thinks I really think these things of her. Feeling very awful at the moment!' (sic) Hawkins' has always denied having plastic surgery. -The West Australian - AP Photo/Andre Penner

Miss Ghana, Yayra Nego; Miss Turkey, Melisa Asli Pamuk; and Miss Japan, Maria Kamiyama; cook a dish at Atelie Groumand on August 27, 2011 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Contestants will spend the next 3 weeks appearing at events and preparing to compete in the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE Competition on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET broadcast LIVE on NBC from Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Miss El Salvador, Mayra Aldana, Miss Panama, Sheldry Saez, and Miss Guatemala, Alejandra Barillas Solis, pose on August 25, 2011 at club Dequinta in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She will spend the next 3 weeks appearing at events and preparing to compete in the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE Competition on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET broadcast LIVE on NBC from Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Miss Philippines Shamcey Supsup now competing in the 2011 Miss Universe beauty contest in Sao Paulo, Brazil has been named by the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) along with three other candidates as ambassadors of “Operation Smile,’’ the charity event for the most prestigious beauty pageant. Along with Supsup, the three other candidates who joined the first official activity of the pageant were Miss China Luo Zilin, Miss Venezuela Vanessa Goncalves and Miss Brazil Priscila Machado. Reigning Miss Universe Ximena Navarette of Mexico also joined the beauties. The ladies visited Hospital Sao Luiz and cheered children who will benefit from cleft lip and palate repair surgeries. They also attended a press conference and photo shoots. The information was relayed by Tessa Mangahas, Araneta Center Public Relations and Corporate Communications Manager, who talked to Supsup last Thursday. “I was able to talk to Sham just now. It’s 6 a.m. there. She confirmed that she is getting ready to go for an ‘Operation Smile’ at a hospital, with girls as Miss Venezuela, Miss China, and Miss Brazil.’’ “Operation Smile’’ is a non-profit medical service organization provides reconstructive surgery to children in 60 countries around the world. So far, it has provided surgeries to more than 150,000 children since it was founded in Norfolk, Virginia in 1982. It would be recalled that last year, Miss Philippines Universe Maria Venus Raj was personally chosen by billionaire Donald Trump, head of the MUO, along with delegates from Colombia, Haiti, Australia, Puerto Rico, and Mexico for the promotional tour of the beauty contest. Raj later won fourth runner up in the pageant held in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Eighty-nine contestants are competing in this year’s contest, the biggest number in the history of the 60-year-old pageant.

On September 12th, Ximena Navarrete returns to the catwalk on which she walked a year and a month ago in Las Vegas, overwhelmed with excitement and nervousness, when she was crowned Miss Universe. Nevertheless, this night in Sao Paulo, Brazil, marks a farewell to her yearlong reign, as she says goodbye to her daily work in Donald Trump's organization. The second Mexican Miss Universe knows that, at that moment in which she removes her crown, she will be overcome by emotions. From Mexico City, where she travelled to sign a very important contract and formed part of the Nuestra Belleza 2011 electorate, Navarrete spoke exclusively to AOL Latino about her future projects, what should change after winning the coveted title, and who would be the happiest person upon the conclusion of her Miss Universe duties. "It has been a great opportunity – a blessing – and a privilege to represent women, Miss Universe, my country, knowing, learning, to have a voice. In every place at which you arrive, the band and Miss Universe crown always opens doors, and people want to listen to you. What I enjoyed most was having the opportunity to speak, to say something good and help different people." "I think that overall I have matured a lot, living alone and away from family, from what's yours, makes you mature. I am a more capable, assured and mature woman, with many more tools and knowledge. I love to travel and experience new cultures, and it was a great opportunity to have had to do that." "I just signed on to Mr. Trump's agency here in New York, after which I will be modeling for them. I am very happy. I have a pair of projects lined up in Mexico and I am about to make a decision on those." "I will be travelling quite a bit to New York, but it is not clear exactly. I will return to Mexico in October."

Miss Thailand, Chanyasorn Sakorchan, and Miss Vietnam, Hoang My Vu, pose in Sao Paulo, Brazil on August 24, 2011 at Hilton Sao Paulo Morumbi. They will spend the next 3 weeks appearing at events and preparing to compete in the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE Competition on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET broadcast LIVE on NBC from Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Miss Universe Australia Scherri-Lee Biggs has denied saying Jennifer Hawkins had surgery and is trying to contact her management over the issue. The Perth model ignited fierce debate last weekend over whether Hawkins, one of the nation's highest-paid models and winner of the 2004 Miss Universe crown, had surgery. Biggs, who has only just landed in Brazil for the Miss Universe final in Sao Paulo on September 12, had said the Aussie supermodel went "that little bit too far" with cosmetic work. But the 20-year-old apologised to Hawkins on her Twitter page yesterday, claiming her words were "taken completely out of context". "I just wanted to apologise to Jen Hawkins about today's article," she wrote. "I never said that about her... and words were put in my mouth. "I think Jen's an amazing, beautiful woman and I look up to her. "(I) hope no-one thinks I really think these things of her. Feeling very awful at the moment!" "Jen is a very inspirational woman to me and I would never bring her down like that. "I feel horrible .... and am currently trying to get in contact with her management." Hawkins has repeatedly denied having plastic surgery since winning the title as a fresh-faced cheerleader in 2004 and has attributed her appearance to a healthy diet and exercise. Former Miss Universe Australia Rachael Finch weighed in to the debate today, saying she preferred Biggs' real beauty to how Hawkins' face had "changed". "I'm not completely against plastic surgery, I think that everyone makes their own personal decision, but I do believe Sherri-Lee is right when she says that natural beauty is best," Finch told the Austereo radio group. Finch added that she was "not sure" if Hawkins had been surgically enhanced. "She denied it, so maybe she hasn't, but I love what she looks like in a picture in 2004. "Whether it might be weight loss or changes in the face in maturity, whatever it is, it looks so beautiful and fresh in 2004." Hawkins' management yesterday refused to deny the former Miss Universe had gone under the knife. Biggs, who lives in Watermans Bay with her family, will compete for the crown wearing a national costume and bathers designed by Perth swimwear label Kooey.

For the next three weeks we will be following the 89 contestants that are participating on the 60th anniversary of the Miss Universe Pageant in Sao Paulo, Brazil, we will be giving you inside information on the activities of the contestants so you can witness with pictures and videos the hard work that this girls do day by day to get the precious crown. The contestants are arriving from as far away as Australia, as soon as they arrive they are greeted at the Sao Paulo Ariport by the MU welcome committee, immediately after that they are accompanied to the vehicles that will transport them to the host hotel on their arrival to register they get introduced to the chaperon ladies that will be in charge of their lives 24/7 during the next three weeks. After that, they are sent to their rooms to meet their roommates and then they get an assessment by the MU Doctor and the MU Nutritionist to see if they are on a special diet or they have any food allergies. Then they will be sent to the wardrobe, makeup and hairdressing rooms to get ready for their first glam shot on their swimsuit and night gown. The contestants will be arriving during the whole day today and tomorrow by Wednesday they will have a welcome event at the Sao Paulo Government Palace hosted by Governor Geraldo Alckmin and his wife.

Miss China, ZiLin Luo, and photographer Patrick Prather, prepare for registration and fittings upon arriving in Sao Paulo, Brazil on August 21, 2011 at Hilton Sao Paulo Morumbi. She will spend the next 3 weeks appearing at events and preparing to compete in the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE Competition on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET broadcast LIVE on NBC from Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo, Brazil. They have never won the Miss Universe title, so this year the Chinese have decided they're not leaving anything to chance. While their contender Lou Zilin is undeniably stunning, her team are worried she'll never scoop the prestigious title because she's just too Chinese. They've decided the old Oriental ideal of a shy, retiring type, who giggles behind her hand at the slightest compliment just won't make the grade in this modern world. So they've packed 24-year-old Miss Zilin off to New York where she can learn the ways of the wild west.

This is the current photo of the world's very first Miss Universe from 1952 Armi Kuusela of Finland as she poses for a photographer at her home in San Diego, California. When Kuusela won her country's national pageant, Suomen Neito, on May 24, 1952, she was awarded a box of chocolates, a gold bangle, and a two-way ticket sponsored by Pan American Airways to the United States. On June 17, Kuusela took a flight to Long Beach, California and the first Miss Universe contest. Thirty contestants participated in the first Miss Universe pageant in 1952. The pageant was held on June 29, 1952, and Kuusela, as Suomen Neito, captured the crown. At her crowning she was only 17 years old. At the time she weighed 49 kg (108 lb), and her height was 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in). Immediately after her winning there was a Finnish movie made of her, called Maailman kaunein tyttö (World's most beautiful girl) where she played herself, and Tauno Palo acted Jack Coleman (opposite role). It was directed by Veikko Itkonen, with writing credits going to Mika Waltari. It would be very honored and a great privilege for all pageant fans around the world if Ms. Armi could return to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Miss Universe Pageant in Sao Paulo, Brazil on September 12. -Photo courtesy of Michelle Santos; special for Behind The Crown

The reigning Miss Thailand Universe Chanyasorn Sakornchan poses in her "Hermarch Naree" costume as the 20-year-old unveils Thailand's National Costume for the 2011 Miss Universe Pageant during the fittings at Siam Kempinski Hotel in downtown Bangkok. The costume, which is designed under the theme "Creative Thai" reminiscents legendary Thai's literative character "Kinnaree". Graceful kinnorn, a Sanskrit word meaning "What kind of being?" are divided into Kinnara (male) and Kinnaree (female) and are said to inhabit the caves of the Himaphan forest in the foothills of Mount Krailas, the abode of the gods. The 5' 9" Sakornchan will represent Thailand in the upcoming Miss Universe Pageant which is scheduled to be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil on September 12. The pageant will also be celebrating its 60th Anniversary. Ximena Navarrete of Mexico will crown her successor where 89 contestants are entering this year´s pageant, surpassing the previous record of 86 contestants in 2006, becoming the edition with the highest number of contestants ever. -Photo courtesy of www.t-pageant.com