Parvathy makes India proud!
When the fingers were crossed across the world to hear the name of their country’s representative, Pantaloons Femina Miss India World’08 Parvathy Omanakuttan made Indians proud standing tall as the first runner-up at the Miss World 2008 contest. She was also the 2
nd
runner-up at the Miss World Top Model contest that took place on December 3 at Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication in Soweto, South Africa. 32 semifinalists competed in the event.
Back home in India, she won the Pantaloons Femina Miss India South 2008 in December last year. From there she moved to win the Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2008 title in April.
Miss World 2008: Winners
The final verdict is out, here are the results:
Miss World 2008, Winner Miss Russia: Ksenia Sukhinova
Miss World 2008, First runner-up: Pantaloons Femina Miss India World’08: Parvathy Omanakuttam
Miss World 2008, Second runner-up: Miss Trinidad & Tobago: Gabrielle Walcott
Top 5 stunners
From the Top 15, race to the coveted Miss World 2008 crown shortened down to the Top 5, which included:
1. Pantaloons Femina Miss India: Parvathy Omanakuttan
2. Miss Trinidad & Tobago: Gabrielle Walcott
3. Miss Angola: Brigith dos Santos
4. Miss Russia: Ksenia Sukhinova
5. Miss South Africa: Tansey Coetzee
The Semi-finalists
Now comes the moment when the jury has given their word of the semi-finalists. The shortlisted beauties include:
1. Miss Russia: Ksenia Sukhinova (Miss World top model)
2. Miss Mexico: Anagabriela Espinoza (Winner of the beach wear round)
3. Miss Barbados: Natalie Griffith (Winner of the talent round)
4. Miss Iceland: Alexandra Ívarsdóttir (Winner of the sports round)
5. Miss Trinidad & Tobago: Gabrielle Walcott (Winner of Beauty with a purpose)
6. Miss Venezuela: Hannelly Quintero
7. Miss Ukraine: Irina Zhuravskaya
8
. Miss Croatia: Josipa Kusić
9. Miss Brazil: Tamara Almeida
10. Miss Angola: Brigith dos Santos
11. Miss Kazakhstan: Alfina Nassyrova
12. Miss Puerto Rico: Ivonne Orsini
13. Miss Spain: Patricia Rodríguez
14. Miss South Africa: Tansey Coetzee
15. Pantaloons Femina Miss India World’08: Parvathy Omanakuttan
Peppy performances
Soon after the jury was announced, 109 beauties begin grooving to the tunes of a musical band. The ladies are looking sensuous in real short-numbers. Five major colours that rule the ramp include fuschia pink, turquoise, yellow, red and orange. During the semi-finalists’ announcement, British singing sensation Alisha, dressed in a glittering golden short dress added zing to the show with a breathtaking performance.
The hosts & the jury
Hosts for the evening Tumisho Masha and Angela Chow, are looking great in black tuxedo and a gorgeous golden gown, respectively.
The panel of judges include: Albin Beart (France), Andre Sleigh (Taiwan), Fahad Khan (Pakistan), H.K. Lee (China), Jimmy Steele (Canada), Jean Vandecasteele (Belgium), Martina Aubrechtova (Czech R.), Marjukka Nieminen (Finland), Jose Cinqueterra (Philippines), Sean Spurrier (South Africa), David Iza (Mexico), EJ Toledo (Puerto Rico), Josi Watkins (Ghana), Marcelo Stein (Argentina), Carmen Wu (Hong Kong), Arturo Gallo (Spain), Roberto Rodriguez (Costa Rica) and Patrick Tripoldi (USA)
The action begins
The much-awaited event opened in grandeur with a splendid show by a bunch of dazzling dancers. The beauties from across the world have started sashaying down the ramp in alluring evening gowns. Pantaloons Femina Miss India World’08, Parvathy Omanakuttan is looking gracious in a scintillating red dress.
Miss World 2008: Curtain raiser
More than 100 international beauties are primping and preening in the final anxious moments before the Miss World pageant begins tonight. The event this time is hosted by South Africa for an expected one billion-strong TV audience.
South African and Jamaican designers have created racks of dresses for the women, aged 17 to 25, who have spent a gruelling month in galas, rehearsals and even a safari on the tip of the African continent.
Contestants from the eight countries participating in the FIFA Confederation Cup, taking place in South Africa in June as a warm-up for the 2010 World Cup, also joined in the draw for their teams.
The event, which begins at 2030 hours (IST), has a special focus on song, dance and music, and includes a high-tech twist with an online competition where viewers can vote for their favourite beauty.
The winner of the online vote will go directly to the semi-final round, where Miss Barbados, Miss Mexico, Miss Russia and Miss Iceland have already secured spots by winning special competitions in the run-up to the big show.
An international jury will decide on the next Miss World, who will succeed China's Zhang Zi Lin, who was crowned last year when the pageant was held in her home country.
(With inputs from AFP)
-  of Russia.
 of Russia, won the  crown on Saturday, outshining 108 other international competitors. She was crowned by her predecessor ,  of the People's Republic of China. She pledged to "help people" and said, "I think I can help people and I want to help people and today if I walk away with this crown I will do that." 

Sukhinova, 5' 10", said that her immediate ambitions included meeting  Dmitry Medvedev. She is a student of , she is enrolled in the Bachelor of Science program, majoring in Engineering.

Sukhinova was born in 1987 in ,  in the north west of Siberia. Sukhinova won the 2007 Miss Russia beauty contest on December 14, in Moscow, where she represented Tyumen. Ksenia surpassed 50 other contestants from all over Russia. She was unable to represent Russia at  due to her college work, so her 2nd runner-up, , replaced her in the contest. Vera placed as the 3rd runner-up to Venezuela's .

Miss World 2008, the 58th Miss World was held at Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa on December 13, 2008. Originally, the pageant was going to take place in Kiev, Ukraine, but because of the ongoing  in neighboring South Ossetia, the  decided to move the pageant away from Eastern Europe. 109 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown, marking the biggest turnout in the 58 years of the pageant, surpassing the previous record of 107 during Miss World 2004. 
A locator map for  showing number of winners from each country.
She is the second Russian contestant to win Miss World, the first was  in .

The first runner-up was India's , while the second runner-up was Trinidad and Tobago's . The other finalists were Angola's  and South Africa's . There were 15 semi-finalists. 

, Miss World committee head, and wife of Miss World creator  said that the winner has to espouse "beauty with a purpose" with charity via fund raising, being one of the main focuses of the contest. "Over the years the crown that is worn by the winner is a symbol for fundraising. Miss World herself, this year, the winner from China, she's raised over 30 million dollars in her year in office. So perhaps from anything else it does a lot of good things for needy children and old people, which I think is important too." she said.

It was the sixth time that South Africa hosted the pageant, more than any other country except England. The event was aired live to millions of viewers in 187 countries, who, for the first time in the pageant's history, were allowed to vote for one of the semi-finalists through the Internet. An international jury elected the winner.