Monday 17-05-2010
Words: Raj Kumar
Rima Fakih from Michigan was crowned Miss USA and became the first Arab-American to win the competition. Rima stunned judges with her strapless white gown and her firm belief health insurance should cover birth control.
Rima narrowly avoided crashing out of the competition after stumbling on her dress stormed home in a dazzling orange and gold bikini at the pageant hosted by the Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas.
She is thought to be the first Middle Eastern woman to win the title which began as a small-time bathing suit competition in Long Beach, California, in 1952.
Asked what it felt like to win Rima, 24, said: "Ask me after I've had a pizza."
Stunning Rima, a Lebanese immigrant who grew up in New York, told judges at the event — co-owned by US star of The Apprentice, Donald Trump — her family practised both Christianity and Islam.
Rima said she looked over at Mr Trump during the final yesterday and knew she had clinched the title having seen his body language on the show.
She said: "That's the same look that he gives them when he says 'You're hired'."
As the victor Rima wins a spot representing the United States in the Miss Universe pageant, a rent-free apartment in New York, a salary plus living expenses and health and beauty treatments.
Rima Fakih in the swimsuit segment at Miss USA 2010
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