2018 ‘Miss Universe Puerto Rico’ Pageant to air on WAPA America and Television Dominicana

The 2018 ‘Miss Universe Puerto Rico’ pageant, which will take place at San Juan’s renowned ‘Centro de Bellas Artes’ on Thursday, September 20, at 8pm ET/5pm PT, will air live in the U.S. exclusively on WAPA America and Television Dominicana, as well as in Puerto Rico on WAPA Television. All three networks are subsidiaries of Hemisphere Media Group, Inc., which owns exclusive rights to the Miss Universe Puerto Rico franchise.

Twenty-nine contestants will compete for the 2018 Miss Universe Puerto Rico title and the chance to represent Puerto Rico in the 67th edition of Miss Universe in Thailand this December. With five Miss Universe crowns, Puerto Rico has produced the third-largest number of Miss Universe winners of any country in the world.

Thursday’s event will be hosted by Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2005 Cynthia Olavarría, alongside well-known television personality Jaime Mayol, and will feature musical performances by Mau & Ricky—sons of renowned musician Ricardo Montaner—as well as Argentine group Los Hermanos Cepeda and Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Calma Carmona.

Actor-model Julian Gil and former model Caridad Fernández will be among the ten judges on the panel. Former Miss Universe and current pageant director Denise Quiñones will also participate in the event.

Audiences can enjoy special programming leading up to the pageant and get a sneak-peak at the event preparation throughout the day on WAPA-TV and WAPA America. At 6pm ET, the network’s original program “Lo Se Todo” will present a special pageant-themed edition, followed by a pre-event count-down hosted by WAPA talent at 7pm ET. After the pageant, viewers will meet the new Queen in an exclusive original program, “Que Viva la Reina” (“Long Live the Queen”), at 11pm ET.

The celebrated event will be managed and executed by WAPA Television, which has had broadcast rights to the pageant since 2015.