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Señorita Colombia (Concurso Nacional de Belleza de Colombia) is an annual national beauty contest in Colombia that selects representatives to Miss Universe and Miss International. The winner, Miss Colombia, is sent to Miss Universe and the first runner-up, Miss Colombia International or Virreina, to Miss Miss International.

History

The Miss Colombia pageant is held annually in the city of Cartagena de Indias. Coverage is given by the media to the contest, including by Cromos magazine which devotes entire issues to the individual contestants favored to win, and four covers of the magazine are devoted to the pageant in a 4-week period.

Every major network sends news crews, and have sets built by the beach in Cartagena to report live for at least fifteen minutes every day towards the end of the news broadcast on the goings-on of the contestants. Aspirants must compete in their respective Departments to earn a title for the pageant.

Rules

Colombia has strict rules regarding participation of any Miss Universe preliminary: once a contestant registers for the pageant, she is confined to her own Department and cannot jump states/provinces as happens frequently elsewhere. However, she can participate more than once for the same department; the winner of the pageant in 2003 had already come in fourth place at the Miss Valle pageant the year before she won and eventually went on to win the national crown.

Perhaps this rule is the reason for the intense rivalries that have developed between departments (states) to win the most crowns, a couple of them have garnered a significant number, starting with Atlántico (10), Valle (9), Santander (7), Antioquia (6), Bolívar (6).

Prelude to the pageant

The pageant itself always around November 11, and many of the activities, such as the entire production of the Cromos magazines devoted to the pageant take place in the weeks preceding the pageant.

There are a number of preliminary events involving the sponsors, such as the election of the Figura Bodytech (the Bodytech Figure) which confers free gym membership at the Bodytech franchise for five years to the contestant with the most toned, harmonious and healthy body of the pageant.

List of winners of Figura Bodytech prize

2002 - Diana Lucia Mantilla (Santander)
2003 - Catherine Daza Manchola (Valle del Cauca)
2004 - Adriana Tarud (Atlántico)
2005 - Valerie Dominguez (Atlántico)
2006 - Laura Montoya Escobar(Antioquia)
2007 - Maria Cristina Diaz-Granados (Bogotá)
2008 - Stephanie Garcés Aljure (Valle del Cauca)
2009 - Natalia Navarro Galvis (Bolívar)
2010 - Natalia Valenzuela Cutiva (Huila)
2011 - Thael Lisney Osorio Redondo (Cundinamarca)

Since the prize was first awarded, the winner of the Bodytech Figure prize has gone on to win Miss Colombia each year except for in 2006 and 2007 when they became Runner Ups. There are also prizes for the contestant with the best hair (Silueta Schwarzkopff brand), the most photogenic candidate (Sony), the most punctual (who receives a Edox watch), most beautiful costume, and even the mothers of the delegates must compete in a talent show to select the "Queen Mother."