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Victoria Amelia Vega Polanco (born November 7, 1984 in Santiago de los Caballeros, Santiago, Dominican Republic), known simply as Amelia Vega, is a Dominican woman who won the Miss Universe contest held in Panama City, Panama on June 3, 2003, becoming the first Dominican woman ever to win the Miss Universe title.
She had been mentioned by many in the press as one of the favorite candidates to win the crown before the big event.
Amelia's father is a general medical practitioner with offices in New York City and Miami. Her mother, Patricia Polanco, was a previous national titleholder who represented the Dominican Republic at the 1980 Miss World pageant.
After winning the Miss Dominican Republic Universe title, Vega represented the Domincan Republic in the Miss Universe 2003 pageant held in Panama. She became the first titleholder from this country to win the title.
Vega was crowned by outgoing titleholder Justine Pasek of Panama. She wore a white evening gown during the competition, which featured strings of beads on the sleeves.
As Miss Universe 2003, Vega traveled extensively working with internationally recognized HIV/AIDS organizations including the Global Health Council, Cable Positive, amfAR, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and God's Love We Deliver. As a celebrity spokesperson, she was responsible for working with the international media to generate a better understanding and acceptance of AIDS/HIV epidemics and its prevention while helping to increase awareness, funding and resources for these key organizations.
After moving to an apartment in New York provided by Donald Trump which as part of her overall prize package as the new Miss Universe titleholder , Amelia visited many countries around the world including: Canada, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Thailand, and Vietnam. Amelia returned to her home country several times, and was awarded an honorary medal in the 2003 Pan American Games, held in Santo Domingo. Later that year, Amelia co-hosted the ''Festival Presidente de Música Latina'', a Latin American music concert lasting three days and held every two years in the Dominican Republic.
As Miss Universe, Vega represented the Miss Universe Organization. Her "sister" 2003 titleholders were Tami Farrell (Miss Teen USA, of Oregon) and Susie Castillo (Miss USA, of Massachusetts).
Amelia has appeared in the cover of several magazines, from her local country's Mujer Unica and Oh! Magazine, up to internationally known Cosmopolitan, Caras, and Vanidades. She also was the lead image for campaigns made by the beauty cosmetics company Cover Girl.
Amelia debuted as a singer during the Miss Dominican Republic 2004 pageant, where she crowned Larimar Fiallo as her national successor. The night of June 1, 2004, Amelia crowned Miss Universe 2004, Jennifer Hawkins from Australia.
After her reign as Miss Universe came to an end, Vega worked temporarally as the host of the reality show Voces de América, that aired on the Telemundo network. She also developed her acting skills on television and motion pictures. Amelia made her screen debut in 2005, co-starring in the film The Lost City directed by Andy Garcia. She will soon appear in Homie Spumoni, a motion picture starring Donald Faison and scheduled to be released in summer 2007.