18-year old Fernandez, who had been criticized for her "off" styling during the 3 weeks of the contest, struggled to maintain the legacy of Venezuelan beauty queens worldwide. Her confidence, added to a very confident answer to the final question, sealed the deal for her crowning.

Favourites Dominican Republic and Australia came in the 1st and 3rd runner-up positions, respectively. The 2nd runner-up was Marigona Dragusha from Kosovo, who was compared all night to legend Audrey Hepburn. The 4th runner-up was Miss Puerto Rico, Mayra Matos.

Completing the top 10 were the contestants from France, South Africa, Switzerland, Czech Republic, and USA. Iceland, Belgium, Croatia, Albania and Sweden. Despite a huge European turnout in the finals, only Kosovo reached the Top 5.

Miss Universe 2009 was presented with a new crown, "Peace" by Diamond Nexus Labs. Dayana Mendoza dropped the crown before she could crown the new winner.

Caption: Pic 2 - The two finalists, Ada Aimee De la Cruz, Miss Dominican Republic, and Stefania Fernandez, Miss Venezuela, anxiously await the announcement of who will take the title of Miss Universe 2009 from the stage at Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas on Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009.