At the conclusion of the grand finale of Miss Universe Singapore 2017 held tonight, Manuela Bruntraeger managed to defeat nineteen other beauties competing for the title to win the crown of Miss Universe Singapore 2017. She succeeds and was crowned by the outgoing queen, Miss Universe Singapore 2016, Cheryl Chou, and will now represent Singapore in Miss Universe 2017 pageant to be held in Las Vegas, USA next month.
Manuela, who is 24 years of age, is a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Lasalle College of the Arts. She also won the special awards for Miss Aspirational, Miss Beautiful Skin and Miss Alluring. Her court included Rudihra Ramathas, the first runner-up, and fans' favourite Emilbiany Nenggal Intong, the second runner-up. Amanda Jade Tan and Shonalie Raha completed the Top 5.
Other special award winners were Mandi Cheung (Turf Belle), Nadiah Sapuan (Miss Sporty Chic) and Amanda Jade Tan (Miss Urban). Top 10 finalists also included Suffianah Baharin, Ashley Rita Wong, Mandi Cheung, Cara Nicole Neo and Debra Loi.
After winning the crown, Manuela said "I am in so much shock. I worked really hard for this and it’s something that I dreamt of, so I am very happy to be standing here with this crown on my head. I hope it’s because the judges saw my hard work and determination,"
"To say that this was a dream would be a complete understatement. It’s amazing to be able to call myself a beauty queen and I guess even more amazing to be able to represent Singapore.”
She is not new to the glam world of pageants. Last year, she won the title of Miss Earth Singapore 2016 and competed as Singaporean representative in Miss Earth 2016 pageant. And this year, she goes one step ahead by becoming the representative of Singapore for Miss Universe 2017.