Tahiti wins Miss France 2019

Vaimalama Chaves, Miss Tahiti, was the winner of Miss France 2019, succeeding Maëva Coucke, who competed in Miss World 2018 and was a Top 12 semi-finalist.

The new Miss France is 23 years old and holds a master’s degree in management as well as qualifications in negotiation and customer relations.

The top five contestants were Lauralyne Demesnay, Miss Franche-Comté; Morgane Soucramanien, Miss Réunion; Vaimalama Chaves, Miss Tahiti; Aude Destour, Miss Limousin; and Ophély Mezino, Miss Guadeloupe.

Miss Guadeloupe was named runner-up and Miss Franche-Comté placed 3rd. Soucramanien and Destour were in fourth and fifth places.

The event was held at the Zénith de Lille, hosted again by Jean-Pierre Foucault and Sylvie Tellier.

Thirty candidates vied for the title.

Named into the top 12 by the judging panel were the regional winners from Guadeloupe, Provence, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Côte d’Azur, Réunion, Aquitaine, Lorraine, Tahiti, Franche-Comté, Île-de-France, Limousin and Langedoc-Roussillon.

For the first time since its inception in 1920, Miss France had an all-female judging panel, headed by Line Renaud, with singer Jenifer, 2011 titleholder Laury Thilleman, comedienne Claudia Tagbo, dancer Alice Rennevand, actress Maud Baecker, and tennis player Caroline Garcia.

The judges and the public nominated the top five, while phone and SMS voting from only the public determined the outcome of the top three places.

The questions for the top five were also from the viewing public.

As in previous years, there were themed segments, including Moulin Rouge, Bollywood, circus and superheroine parades. The swimsuit parade was nearly 10 minutes long. The eveningwear parade was a tribute to late French-Armenian singer Charles Aznavour.

Eight million viewers were expected to have watched the telecast live on TF1. Last year’s ratings showed at the telecast attracted 7·4 million viewers (a 37·1 per cent share), peaking at 8·8 million at the time of the crowning.

While most European national pageants have lost space on television and public interest, Miss France keeps on growing, perhaps as the most solid and well produced national pageant in the entire world.

The new Miss France will represent the country in Miss Universe or Miss World 2019.

Congratulations to the winner!