At a glamorous event at the National Opera and Ballet, the first Macedonian woman was chosen on Tuesday, who will represent us at the prestigious beauty pageant - Miss Universe, which will be held this year on November 16 in Mexico City.

In a competition of 20 finalists, the flattering title went to the 21-year-old Thea Gjorgievska from Kumanovo.

"I signed up for this election to push my own limits, to prove to myself and everyone around me that I can do a lot, that I am very brave and very self-confident. I would like to improve myself in every sense, to learn and understand", said Gjorgievska.

Also, the winner received an annual contract worth 50.000 euros with the Turkish fashion agency "Daman", which organized the competition.

The most beautiful Macedonian woman was chosen by a jury-commission, composed of the model Svetlana Crnokrak, the host Irena Spirovska, the singer Adelina Tahiri, the make-up artist and hairdresser Daniel Nikolovski, the cosmetic surgeon Dr. Robert Stojovski, the designer from Lebanon Fouad Sarkis, the actor and model Stéphane Pierre, the Turkish actress Ebru Destan, as well as Merdita Ramadani.

As criteria, in addition to beauty, the attitude and gait, the emphasis on the girls' expression, the foreign languages ​​they speak, their purpose in life and the idea of ​​how they would present our country to the world were taken into account.

The hosts of the event were Tatjana Stojanovska, Borislav Tnokovski и Bojana Tevcheva.

- There is only one restriction on the Miss Universe selection, that the candidate must be of legal age. The beauty of a woman in a universal sense is important - said Tatjana Stojanovska.

The singer Tamara Todevska sang the Eurovision song "Proud" in the show part of the event, a track that many consider a women's anthem.

Last year, Miss Universe was held in San Salvador, and the crown was taken by 23-year-old Shinis Palacios from Nicaragua. Last year's election was also remarkable in that two transgender candidates also made it to the finals, which was the first such case in history, and they were the beauties from Portugal - stewardess Marina Maschechi and Ricky Kole from the Netherlands.