The three-day extravaganza that is the Italian national beauty pageant finished last night, crowning Maria Perrusi.
Miss Calabria, 18 years old, from Cosenza broke down in tears saying "...finally Calabria takes back the crown".
"I will try to be always myself", she said. "I just turned eighteen yesterday and I don't know what awaits me".
"It all happened so quickly. I was named Miss Calabria on the 21st of August, then whisked away to Miss Italia, and now..."
The Miss Italian event is a huge happening on Italian TV occupying 4-5 hours of TV time over three nights. Typically it starts at around 9pm and finishes late after midnight.
The show is sprinkled with several guests appearances (including Ramazzoti and Tiziano Ferro) over the three nights and the girls are selected through a combination of judges in the studio and telephone voting.
Miss Perrusi can now look forward to lucrative contracts and a year representing Italian beauty across Italy and the world.
