Miss

TIRANA, Albania (AP) A tearful Kristina Slavinskaya of Russia was crowned Miss Globe International 2004, impressing judges who reviewed 43 contestants at an ancient amphitheater in an Albanian town. Slavinskaya, the youngest contestant at age 16, edged finalists from Albania, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Belarus to win Tuesday night's pageant. She received a modest prize of US$5,000 (€4,080).

The pageant was organized by Albania's Deliart Association under a license from Charlie See, a U.S. citizen from Las Vegas who oversees 22 beauty contests worldwide. The 31st Miss Globe contest was held at an amphitheater built in A.D. 200 in the port city of Durres, 35 kilometers (20 miles) west of the capital, Tirana. Judges awarded Best National Costume to Paraguay's Tania Maria Dominiczky, Miss Cosmopolitan to Bulgaria's Vanya Krasteva, Miss All Nations to Venezuela's Carmin Martinez, Miss Dream Girl of the World to Albania's Enkelejda Bargjo and Miss International to Slovenia's Katarina Jurkovic.
Albania, which hosted the 1996 Miss Europe pageant, will host next year's Miss Globe International contest, organizer Petri Bozo said.