filipino-norwegian beauty wins miss norway-Universe 2007 title  

13 April 2007 — Philippine Ambassador to Sweden Victoria S. Bataclan reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that 21-year-old Filipino-Norwegian Kirby Ann Basken was crowned Miss Norway-Universe 2007 during the finals of the annual beauty pageant held in the Norwegian capital Oslo on 9 April 2007.  

Ambassador Bataclan, who holds concurrent jurisdiction over Norway , said that Kirby Ann bested around 100 participants to win the title.  

“This year’s competition spanned four months, starting with around 100 participants.  From 40, it was further trimmed down to 20 semifinalists from which the last 10 contestants were selected for the final competition on 9 April.  Her landing in the finals was helped by efforts from the different Filipino communities in the region and from around the world following the selection format based on internet and SMS (text messaging) voting,” Ambassador Bataclan stated.  

Kirby Ann – who is also the reigning Mutya ng Pilipinas titleholder – will represent Norway in the Miss Universe pageant to be held in Mexico City in May.  

She was born in Oslo to a Norwegian father and a Filipino mother.  In 2006, she joined the Miss Norway search and finished as first runner-up.  She then represented the Filipino community in Europe last year in the Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant, where she bagged the crown.  As the reigning Mutya titleholder, Kirby Ann represented the Philippines at the Miss Intercontinental pageant held in the Bahamas last year.  END

/jay

(Home)