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Miss Great Britain Hale on stage at the 2012 Miss Universe National Costume Show at PH Live in Las Vegas
Miss Great Britain Holly Hale on stage at the 2012 Miss Universe National Costume Show at PH Live in Las Vegas Reuters

The 89 contestants in the 2012 Miss Universe pageant have hit the runway in Las Vegas, USA, in costumes representing their countries in the National Costume competition.

Miss Great Britain 2012, Holly Hale, wore a superhero costume, with the Union Jack featuring prominently in the design. The 21-year-old Cardiff University psychology student continued to impress the crowd after a wonderful time in the Evening Gown competition.

"Because I couldn't model while being in university as travelling to London for everything would've been too much, I looked into the next best thing, pageants," Hale said, "It looked like a great way to continue my love of being on the stage while raising money for charity."

Hale, who is the eldest in her family, also hopes to become a successful clinical psychologist and run her own practice.

When asked what she thought best characterised her personality among the Miss Universe contestants, she replied, "Edginess. I have a tattoo down my side which comes as a shock to a lot of people in the pageant world as most girls tend to try and hide theirs but I'm really proud of mine. I'm a Christian and it's a quote from the Bible about hope, faith and love. Possessions-wise, I'd take a lot of books as there'll be a lot of waiting around. I'm particularly into Dan Brown."

The Miss Universe pageant will be broadcast live from Planet Hollywood on 19 December at 8pm ET (2am GMT) via NBC to approximately 190 countries. Miss Universe 2011, Leila Lopes of Angola, will crown the successor at the end of the two-hour television special. The big show will be hosted by Andy Cohen (the host of Bravo's Watch What Happens Live) and Giuliana Rancic, a co-anchor on E! News.

Among the contest's judges are reality-television personalities Masaharu Morimoto of Iron Chef, and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills participant Lisa Vanderpump. Also present will be photographer Nigel Barker, celebrity stylist Brad Goreski, singer CeeLo Green and San Francisco Giants MVP Pablo Sandoval. The judges will be led by pageant owner Donald Trump at the event.

Click on Start to see highlights of the Miss Universe 2012 National Costume show.

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