Natalia Nikolaeva received the crown of Miss Russia Universe 2005 at a beauty pageant which took place on April 16 and will now represent Russia at the Miss Universe 2005 contest to be held in Bangkok next week.

As the contest was fully interactive, Natalia has been chosen by 22% of the voters who voiced their opinion via SMS, the Internet and television voting. The winner was declared on TV at the end of popular TV show Soldiers. By the way, Russia is the only country with online beauty contests.

New Miss Russia is 18 years old and 1.73 m (5'8") tall. She has been working as a model for 8 years and has a vast experience of taking part in contests: she won her first title, Prima of Don (her native town name is Rostov-on-Don), when she was 16. Also, she is currently studying journalism in Rostov State University and writes for several magazines and newspapers, giving advice to beginners in modeling business.