The Final of Miss World 2006 was the ultimate night of glamour and style, with six new queens of beauty being chosen. But the most dazzling jewel in the crown on the night was the 18-year-old from the Czech Republic who was awarded the ultimate pageant accolade – the title of Miss World 2006.

The delight on the face of the 18-year-old student was breath-taking as Tat’ana Kucharova from a small town outside of Prague was named as winner of the prestigious Miss World 2006 title.

Miss World 2005 Unnur Birna Vilhjalmsdottir was on hand to place the coveted crown on the head of the new Miss World 2006.

The President of Warsaw was also in attendance to present the new Miss World with a scroll dedicating Tat’ana as an honorary ambassador for the city of Warsaw, entrusting her to carry a message of peace around the world.

Only adding to the drama on the night and in a last minute twist, the judges were unable to decide between leading contestants in the Asia Pacific continental group, so three girls from that group and not two went through to the final 17 semi finalists, not the proposed 16.

That was not the only excitement on this night of the brightest stars of beauty. Lamisi Mbillah, a 23-year-old student from Ghana was also announced as the much-deserved winner of the Beauty With A Purpose Award, for her sterling work raising awareness and changing attitudes towards the impact of iodine deficiency and Guinea Worm.

After the Final, the contestants attended the Coronation Ball, where they dined with friends and family, before partying into the early hours and then saying their final farewells to new friends from around the world.

An impressive cast of international stars and music artists ensured that the 56th Miss World Final was a dazzling event of global proportions. The TV spectacular was hosted by top Chinese TV presenter Angela Chow and British host Tim Vincent, both of whom make a return to the Miss World stage after carrying last year’s show. Leading Polish TV presenter Grazyna Torbicka joined them.

Top-notch musical entertainment at the Miss World 2006 Final came in the form of internationally successful Irish band Westlife and Bee Gees singing legend Robin Gibb. Pop opera quartet Amici also performed.

This year Miss World welcomed its first contestant from Cambodia.

MISS WORLD - CZECH REPUBLIC - Tatana KUCHAROVA

Continental winners:

Ghana is the last of the four Fast Track winners to be announced for the Miss World 2006 Final. She has received the Beauty With A Purpose Award presented by Dame Kelly Holmes at the Miss World 2006 Final for her sterling work raising awareness and changing attitudes towards the impact of iodine deficiency and Guinea Worm.

Lamisi Mbillah, a 23-year-old student from Ghana, impressed the judges with her tireless commitment to charitable works up and down the country, and a focus on carrying out a number of social programmes as ambassador for the eradication of Guinea Worm from her community. She submitted examples of her efforts to educate people in the towns and villages, her media campaigning, and her compassion with the afflicted.

Mrs Julia Morley, who initiated the Beauty With A Purpose Award specifically to recognise efforts of charity and good deeds, said: "The standard of work submitted by this year's contestants was overwhelming. There were people who have worked with children, with the sick, and with the elderly in their communities. Ghana stood out for the tremendous work she had sone for so many people across her country. She is a very deserved winner of this award.

The day started with 80 competing contestants taking part in a heart pumping aerobics warm up session, stretching, dancing and kicking in time with the music.

On the shore of lake Oswin in the brilliant morning sunshine the contestants battled through the knockout stages to determine which four contestants from each continent will represent them in this afternoon’s finals and compete for the fast track place to the Miss World Final.

The girls were put through their paces with a series of tests, which included: steps, star jumps, burpees, sit-ups and press-ups.

The atmosphere was electric with the girls gave it their all. The 24 girls that made it through to the finals were:

Africa: Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Namibia
Americas: Mexico, Canada, USA and Guatemala
Asia Pacific: Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Mongolia
Caribbean: Martinique, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico and Cayman Islands
Northern Europe: Latvia, Russia, Finland and Kazakhstan
Southern Europe: Montenegro, Hungary, Slovakia and Italy

The Miss World Sportswomen Finals took place in front of huge crowds of more than 800 local children and over 50 international press. The anticipation and excitement in the crowd was fever pitched as the girls warmed up for the first event of three. Kitted out in the Miss World sports wear, the girls looked ready to take each other on for the coveted fast track place to the final in Warsaw.

The afternoon started with the cycling event, which was a gruelling long distance sprint in front of the gathering support. The girls then moved on to the long jump with all remaining contestants lining the runway before the girls launched themselves into the sand pit where the press captured the excitement.

The 100m came next with each continent running in their own lane. The noise level as the girls sprinted down the track with over 100 girls on one side and 800 school children on the other was deafening, willing the competitors on, giving them that extra boost.

All three events really pushed the Miss World contestants to the limit, where sporting prowess and a competitive edge would win the day. The team events were fiercely competitive with Northern Europe in third place, Caribbean in second and first place went to the Americas. The winning team were awarded beautiful bouquets of red flowers and received a delighted applause while standing triumphantly on top of the podium.

The individual event results were the following: cycling was won by a very impressive Canada, the long jump by Puerto Rico and the 100m sprint by Latvia.

The winner of the Miss World Sportswomen and a fast track place to the finals went to Canada with Puerto Rico in second and Latvia in third.

1st place Canada said ‘I am so excited to have won and to be here. Sports especially track and field has been a big part of my life. The Americas team did an amazing job today winning gold in the team event and being such great sports. Thank you to all the school kids that came down to watch, the support was amazing’

2nd place Puerto Rico said ‘With so many girls competing I am very happy to be in second place. Sport is from the heart and it is so important in life to be competitive in a natural sporting environment. All the girls have been great to one another through this competition.

3rd place Latvia said ‘I am very happy to be third although of course it would have been better to be first, I would have loved to guarantee Latvia a place in the finals as we have never got that far before but there will be other chances’

The girls proudly climbed the podium for the medal ceremony where the Mayor of Gizycko awarded them with medals and an ornamental stain glass souvenir.

In front of a live audience at Wroclaw’s 19th century baroque Opera House, Northern Ireland convincingly won the Miss World Talent Show, securing a coveted place in the Miss World 2006 Final.

Northern Ireland’s classical training paid dividends on the night, as she blew away the audience and fellow contestants with her haunting interpretation of the traditional Irish song ‘She Moves Through The Fair’.

The Belfast Philharmonic Society singer thought she was doing really well making it to the top 10, which included a magician show from Croatia, storytelling from Barbados, traditional dance from India and Mongolia, modern ballet from Italy, Estonia and Portugal, a poem from Liberia, and a traditional song from Zimbabwe.

Little did she know that it was her performance the jury had impressed most, when Zimbabwe and Italy were announced in third and second place respectively.

Afterwards, Northern Ireland commented that she was stunned and that it all felt like a dream: “It will take a few days to sink in, I am sure. I am very happy and proud to represent the people of Northern Ireland and to get so far. I never dreamt that I would be one of the top 16 finalists in Miss World. This is just incredible.”

Filmed live and to be broadcast around the world to millions, the talent show had the usual intoxicating mix of dance and singing. But there were also some more unusual and exceptional talents to ensure the atmosphere inside the stunning Opera House was humming with excitement: traditional Turkish water painting, Thai sword dancing, a Northern Indian love song performed through traditional dance, a poem written by Liberia herself, and Chinese Beijing opera.

The show was opened by Mexico, who in a cowboy outfit, complete with Stetson and sparkling boots immediately got the crowd going with an upbeat dance performance.

The evening promised to be a roller coaster of emotions as Zimbabwe took to the stage in a traditional coat of animal skin to perform her traditional song, to the cheers of the African contestants. She was not the only African to perform a traditional song, as later Tanzania moved everyone in the Opera House with her beautiful tribal love song.

Carnival was a popular theme in the traditional dance sections, with quite a few of the American and Caribbean acts including Argentina, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago took to the stage in colourful feathers to swing to the beat of Brazilian carnival music.

Mongolia wore a striking green silk dress when performing her traditional Mongolian dance, while Korea too wore a colourful silk dress with matching head gear when she took to the stage for her traditional fan dance.

Others wore stylish modern evening dresses to impress the jury. Martinique wore a blue cocktail dress with delicate blue lace while dancing to Latin music. Denmark stole the start of the show in a modern white dress singing an upbeat pop song, as did Kazakhstan in a short black dress with silver glitter.

Liberia silenced the audience with a poignant poem written by her about some of the issues facing Africa today, drawing attention to Aids, poverty and underdevelopment. Her sober white dress and leaves in her hair complemented the poem, which used the analogy of the tree of life to symbolise hope and unity of mankind.

Turkey showcased her talent in the traditional Turkish art of water painting. As she was applying special paint to water, she kept the audience in anticipation of what it would become. Towards the end of her demonstration she put a piece of paper on the surface of the water, so that it could soak up the colours drifting on the water. When she held the paper up to the audience an orange tulip appeared against a golden background.

Serbia shared with the audience her love for flamenco. Although she only recently took up the traditional dance art from Andalusia, Spain, her passion shone through as she gave an emotional performance.

Cyprus performed an impressive modern dance, that ended with the message ‘Share Your Heart’, while Estonia danced a modern ballet that had the crowd cheering on their feet. Netherlands did her country proud with her version of the song ‘Dreams’.

Crowds gathered along Sopot beach to get a glimpse of the contestants as they walked onto the catwalk one by one dressed in the new Miss World beachwear range, designed by former Miss World Wilnelia Forsyth.

As the sun warmed up the grounds of the Grand Hotel, the twenty short-listed girls from this week’s heats were joined by an additional five catwalk finalists - Bosnia Herzegovina, Georgia, Jamaica, Brazil, and Bolivia.

Miss Venezuela looked elated as her name was announced last as the winner. The finalists joined her in celebration of her fast track place to the final and the winner of Miss World Beachwear 2006.

Venezuela commented: “The standard this year is very high and I didn’t think I would go all the way. It is very exciting to win the beachwear competition. I am proud to represent the people of my country as the first of sixteen finalists in Warsaw on 30 September.”