lifestyle

Miss Universe entrant named

Carolina Dementiev will leave for the pageant, which is being held in Vietnam, next month.

Edwards Santos/LA PRENSA

Carolina Dementiev1029051

After a competition that lasted several weeks, Carolina Dementiev was named Panama's representative to the Miss Universe pageant that will be held in Vietnam in July.

The announcement was made early Thursday morning.

Kareen de Farías, producer of the reality show that was conducted to determine the winner, said the judges deliberated for hours Wednesday night and Thursday morning before picking Dementiev.

The show was filmed over six weeks. A total of 10 contestants were vying for the title, and they were whittled down to four finalists, Ginelle Saldaña,

Estefanía Varela, Karina Pinilla and Dementiev. The winner said she felt "very happy, proud and confident that I will represent the county well and bring the Miss Universe crown to Panamanian soil." Dementiev will compete against 80 other women from around the world. She will spend about a month in Vietnam preparing for the competition. The pageant will take place in the beach town of Nha Trang.