The magnificent finale of Miss Universe 2016 came to a conclusion on 30th January 2017, with the crowning of French beauty Iris Mittenaere. 23 year old Iris was crowned by the outgoing queen Pia Wurtzbach. This year, the pageant came up with a new format that lead to the announcement of Top 12, Top 9, Top 6 and then eventually leading up to Top 3. The new format introduced two Q&A segments – first was for the Top 6 finalists, which included six questions for six finalists; and the second round was common question for Top 3 finalists.

The contestants had 30 seconds to answer the question. So without any further ado, let’s take a look at the Question and Answer round of the Top 6 and Top 3 finalists –

TOP 6

Also Read : Antonia Figueroa attends the opening of Expo Coquimbo

Question for Miss Philippines, Maxine Medina: What is the most significant change you've seen in the world in the last 10 years?

Answer: The last 10 years of being here in the world is that I saw all the people being in one event like this in Miss Universe, and it's something big to us that we are one, as one nation, we are all together.

Question for Miss Kenya, Mary Esther Were: Arguably, no US president has had an active first 10 days in office. What are you most excited about, and what most concerns you when it comes to the presidency of Donald Trump?

Answer: Politics...let me just start again. Donald Trump, having been elected as president of the United States may not have been the choice of many people living in the United States because of the divided support system for the outgoing president Barack Obama, who was supporting an upcoming woman president, who was supposed to be a woman president, Hillary Clinton. So so many people oppose his position, but I feel that once he took up his position, he was able to unify the entire nation.

Question for Miss Thailand, Chalita Suansane: Name a curent or past world leader whom you admire and why.

Answer: Mabuhay, Philippines! For me that would be the king of Thailand. His Majesty has been working tirelessly on behalf of the Thai people ever since I was born. For all the Thai people, His Majesty has been like a father to us. Thank you very much.

Question for Miss France, Iris Mittenaere: Given today's worldwide refugee crisis, do countries have an obligation to accept refugees, or do they have a right to close their borders?

Answer: The country should have the right to open or close their borders. Throughout the world, people can choose to have the borders open or closed. In Europe we have open borders. In France we want to have the most globalization that we can, we want to have the biggest exchange of people that we can. Maybe someday that will change, but now we have open borders. Having open borders allows us to travel more through the world, and to find out more about what's out there in the world.

Question for Miss Haiti, Raquel Pelissier: On January 21, an estimated 4.8 million people marched woldwide for human rights, women's rights, and other issues. If you were able to participate, what would you have been marching for?

Answer: One of the women I admire in the world is Eleanor Roosevelt because she fought so much for human rights and I feel like that's what we need in the world. We are just one. A hundred thousand years ago, 6 species of human lived in the world. Now we are just one. And we all need each other, and we need to respect each other.

Question for Miss Colombia, Andrea Tovar: why do we believe violence is so prevalent in today's society and what can we do about it?

Answer: I come from a country that does have violence and this is my reference point. And although there are presidents who don't get along with others, we work together to be able to unite. Campaigns, respect, and inclusivity to be able to have a social transformation that will educate our children.

Based on the Q&A, the Top 6 were narrowed down to Top 3. Check out the Q&A of the Top 3 Finalists –

The Question for the Top 3 are - "Name something over the course of your life that you failed at, and tell us what you learned from that experience?"

Miss Colombia's answer: I think that many times, one makes mistakes for many things. During moments when you may not accept someone due to their differences, to not accept them due to their sexual preferences, and to not be capable of accepting their error. I think any of those experiences gives you the opportunity to have strength and value and principles.

Miss France's answer: I've failed several times in my life, so I thought that I failed the first time that I went out on a casting, because my name wasn't on the list. The very next day, I found that I was in a new book. So I think that when you fail, you have to be elevated, you have to try again, and keep going. If tonight, I'm not one of the winners, I will still have the great honor of being one of the 3 finalists, so I think that I have failed before, but I think this is a great first opportunity.

Also Read : Srinidhi is one of the Bangalore Times’ Most Desirable Woman of 2016

Miss Haiti's answer: About 7 years ago, I survived the earthquake. I feel I was failing myself because I was not living my dreams, I was living day by day in that earthquake, it was a bad event, but I choose to be a very positive person and learn a great lesson from it. Because if I am here today, it's because I am living my dreams.

What do you think of the newly crowned Miss Universe 2016? Let us know in the comment section below...