(26 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Auditorio de Belgrano, Buenos Aires – 25 May 2024
1. Wide of curtain sliding as contestants are revealed onstage
2. Various of Miss Universe Argentina contestants parading
3. Alejandra Rodriguez, 60, parading in swimsuit
4. Rodriguez in red evening dress
5. Wide of contestants on stage
6. Various of Rodriguez walking to centre of stage as she is named "Miss face", receiving prize band
7. Rodriguez leaving stage as she and other contestants are eliminated from top 15
8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Alejandra Rodriguez, 60, Miss Universe Argentina contestant:
"It was a crazy adventure I embarked on, with no expectations, just the idea of facing a new challenge. I dared to do it because, at 60 years-old, it really took courage to undertake this project. But well, it was all positive, full of experiences, all good, and full of learning. I learned a lot, especially about myself, about what I was capable of doing, what I was capable of giving, what I could dare to do, and well, so I am happy with this experience."
9. Magali Benejam Corthey parading onstage in bikini before being declared winner
10. Various of contestants parading onstage
11. Various of Benejam Corthey being crowned Miss Universe Argentina 2024
12. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Magalí Benejam Corthey, Miss Universe Argentina 2024:
"The truth is I am super excited and always grateful because the competition was not easy; there were 27 women, all wonderful and splendid. Each of them taught me something. It has been a week full of learning, and it is a great honor to be able to represent Argentina from now on."
13. Contestants surrounding Benejam Corthey in circle as they celebrate her victory
STORYLINE:
A 60-year-old woman, whose efforts to become the oldest Miss Universe contestant in history was cheered as a triumph over ageism in a youth-obsessed world, saw her dreams melt away in a haze of sequins and selfies on Saturday at Argentina’s annual beauty pageant.
Alejandra Marisa Rodríguez, a legal advisor for a hospital in La Plata, south of the capital Buenos Aires, may not have clinched the Miss Argentina crown but she did win the title of “best face" on Saturday, one of several pageant categories including best evening gown, best swimsuit and most elegant.
During the contest she thanked everyone who followed and felt inspired by her success in the Miss Buenos Aires competition last month.
Her win, after Miss Universe eliminated its long-standing age limit, generated a frenzy of global media attention that vaulted her from obscurity to local fame.
In an instant the soft-spoken single lawyer was doling out moisturizer tips to women striving to achieve her surreally smooth face and promising the public there was truth to the adage that age is just a number.
For the bikini-dominated swimsuit portion of the Miss Argentina contest, Rodríguez chose a one-suit with a shawl draped over he shoulders, giving the crowd a shimmy as the audience whooped, cheered and blew air horns.
The winner of the best swimsuit category, a 29-year-old actress and model from Cordoba donning a skimpy blue bikini and sky-high stilettos, was ultimately crowned Miss Argentina and will head to Mexico City for the global competition in November.
Even Magali Benejam Corthey’s victory as Miss Argentina would have been impossible a year ago, as the contest long capped the age at 28. This year, for the first time in its 73-year-history, Miss Universe contest announced it would welcome any participant over the age of 18.
AP Video shot by Cristian Kovadloff
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