London, Dec 07: Bruised by riots in Nigeria, boycotted by some of its own contestants and now dogged by legal action, the Miss World pageant still hopes to come out with its tiara gleaming when it holds its 51st annual finals in London today. Ninety-two hopefuls from around the world, rivals in beauty and elegance, will parade their looks and talent in the Alexandra Palace in a quest for the world-famous title won in 2001 by Nigeria's Agbani Darego. The event, telecast worldwide, is to start at 2 pm (1830 IST).
Having ignored calls to cancel the show and despite the risk of demonstrations by Muslim groups, the contest's energetic organiser Julia Morley is predicting the show will be a huge success.
The finals will be seen in 142 countries and organisers claim it will attract a global audience of more than two billion people. Bureau Report