The town of Toa Baja won a queen tonight, Thursday, with the triumph of the young Elena Rivera as the new Miss World of Puerto Rico.

The beauty was crowned by the outgoing sovereign Aryam Díaz in an unattractive contest in visual and production terms, held at the Center for Fine Arts in Caguas.

In the final round of questions, made by public figures through videos, Rivera responded to the actor Julián Gil about the recent determination of the Supreme Court of the United States that limited the constitutional right to abortion.

The Toabajeña indicated that abortion is a very personal matter, since, in her case, she learned about it through a relative, however, she understands that a court should not limit the right of women to decide about their bodies.

The second and third finalists were the young women from Río Grande, Amanda Pérez Solis, and Lares, Andrea Carolina Rivera, respectively.

The 30 candidates presented themselves at the beginning with pink cocktail dresses, while a new performer sang an urban pop song that was obviously previously recorded since it was not seen in sync with the parade. The interpreter moved from one side of the stage to the other in disproportion to the candidates.

This edition was dedicated to Delia Cruz, former holder of the franchise of the contest and who passed away last May, at the age of 87. Her daughter, Wilnelia Merced, expressed that her mother’s hope was that “another young Puerto Rican would have the dream that I had”, in reference to her triumph in 1975 in the Miss World international contest.

The previous mini-competitions in the areas of talent, figure, and top model were won by the candidates from Río Grande (Amanda Pérez), Luquillo (Mariela Pepín), and Toa Baja (Elena Rivera), respectively.

The group of seven semifinalists was made up of representatives from the towns of Luquillo, Dorado, Toa Baja, Orocovis, Carolina, Lares and Río Grande.

The questions that preceded the selection of the group of finalists were given in a dynamic with public figures, mostly from the artistic field, who asked pre-recorded questions. The group included Jacobo Morales, Melina León, Julián Gil, Daniel Habif, Karolina Bielawska, Johnny Lozada and Víctor Manuelle.

The contest lacked a good image on the screen, it also had poor lighting, which detracted from the appreciation of all the activity on stage. Likewise, it was an extremely simple set design, subtracting from the showiness that these events regularly have for television.

The animation was in charge of the comedian Danilo Beauchamp and Génesis Dávila, Miss World 2014.