2019 ‘Miss Universe Puerto Rico’ Pageant to Air on WAPA America

The 2019 ‘Miss Universe Puerto Rico’ pageant, which will take place at San Juan’s famed arts and culture hub, ‘El Centro de Bellas Artes’ on Thursday, June 13, at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. 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-eight contestants will compete for the 2019 Miss Universe Puerto Rico title and the chance to represent the “Island of Enchantment” on the world stage during the 68th edition of Miss Universe, to be held later this year. Puerto Rico is one of the most successful competitors of this premier International beauty contest; having won five times since 1970, the Island has produced the third-largest number of Miss Universe winners of any country in the world. Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2018, Kiara Ortega, placed in the top 5 of the Miss Universe 2018 competition.

Cynthia Olavarría, Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2005, will be hosting this Thursday’s event, alongside WAPA’s own Jaime Mayol. The evening will feature musical performances by the renowned Puerto Rican salsa band, El Gran Combo, as well as American singer/songwriter Jen Canela, and Puerto Rican reggae band Cultura Profética. Former Miss Universe, Denise Quiñones, will once again serve as pageant director.

Thursday’s competition will feature two interactive components that allow viewers at home to participate. The first—the “Direct Pass to the MUPR Semifinals” contest, sponsored by Dish Puerto Rico—allows fans to fast-track their favorite beauty contestant to the semi-final round by voting for her on Miss Universe Puerto Rico’s Facebook page. The second interactive component, dubbed “Twittermeter by Walgreens” will allow the online contest’s runner up to be saved from elimination through the Miss Universe Puerto Rico Twitter page.  

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 2:00 p.m. ET, the network will air a 2-hour long special edition of the wildly popular reality competition show, Guerreros, newly launched in Puerto Rico. Noticentro Edición Estelar will also air a 2-hour special edition from 4:00 p.m. ET – 6:00 p.m. PT. The network’s original program Lo Se Todo (“I Know Everything”) will present a special beauty-themed edition of the show, followed by a pre-event count-down hosted by Jorge Gelpí and Andrea Rivera at 7 p.m. ET. After the pageant, viewers will meet the newly-crowned winner in an exclusive original program, Que Viva la Reina (“Long Live the Queen”), at 11 p.m. ET, with hosts Normando Valentín and Tita Guerrero. Noticentro con la Reina (“Noticentro With the Queen”) will wrap up the evening’s programming at 11:30 p.m. ET.
The celebrated event will be managed and executed by WAPA Television, which has had broadcast rights to the pageant since 2015.