Miss France Beats Haiti And Colombia To Emerge Miss Universe

Decked out in a gold-sequined gown, 24-year-old dental surgery student Iris Mittenaere beat 12 other finalists to clinch Miss Universe title.

As Miss Universe, she
will be campaigning for dental and oral care around the world.

"This sash is not only a sash," said Mittenaere, who is from Northern France, in a Miss Universe interview
after the pageant. 

"This is something to help people, to understand people."

First and second runner-ups were Miss Haiti (Raquel Pelissier) and Miss Colombia (Andrea Tovar). 

The top finalists hailed from Kenya, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Panama, Colombia, Phillippines, Canada, Brazil, France, Haiti, Thailand and the U.S.

The pageant changed its format this year; it had 12 instead of 13 finalists, and counted online votes from the Miss Universe app and Twitter.