Amelia Vega

Amelia Vega Horford[1] (née Vega Polanco; born 7 November 1984) is a Dominican model, actress, author, singer, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe 2003. After winning the Miss Universe title, she became the first ever Dominican entrant to become Miss Universe. At the age of 18, she was the youngest winner to be crowned Miss Universe since 1994.[2]

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Vega and the second or maternal family name is Polanco.
Amelia Vega
Vega in 2010
Born
Amelia Victoria Vega Polanco

(1984-11-07) 7 November 1984
Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
EducationBarbizon Modeling and Acting School
Occupation
  • Model
  • actress
  • author
  • singer
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
TitleMiss Santiago 2002
Miss Dominican Republic 2002
Miss Universe 2003
Spouse(s)
Al Horford (m. 2011)
Children3
Beauty pageant titleholder
Hair colorBrown
Eye colorBrown
Major
competition(s)		Miss Dominican Republic 2002
(Winner)
Miss Universe 2003
(Winner)
Websitewww.ameliavega.com

Early life

Vega is the daughter of Otto Miguel Vega Rasuk, a doctor, and Patricia Victoria Polanco Álvarez, a licensed pilot and beauty pageant titleholder who also represented the Dominican Republic in Miss World 1980. Both of her parents are from the city of Santiago de los Caballeros. Her father is son of the lawyer, professor, and vice-rector of the University of Santo Domingo Miguel Ángel Vega Acevedo, who was brother of writer and college professor Vanessa Vega de Bonnelly.

Miss Universe

The competition

After winning the Miss Dominican Republic title, Vega represented the Dominican Republic in the Miss Universe 2003 pageant held in Panama City on 3 June 2003. She became the first delegate from this country to win the title.[3][4]

Amelia Vega was crowned in 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.

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). Vega is the third among Miss Universe winners who also won the National Costume competition. Thailand's Porntip Nakhirunkanok won the award in 1988 and eventually won the crown then, Wendy Fitzwilliam of Trinidad & Tobago also won the Best National Costume and went on to win the 1998 Miss Universe crown. At the time she was the youngest woman since 1994 to win Miss Universe[2] (until Zuleyka Rivera in 2006).

Post-crowning

After moving to an apartment in New York as part of her overall prize package as the new Miss Universe titleholder, Vega visited over 30 countries around the world including: Dominican Republic, Germany, Switzerland, Ecuador, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Thailand, Vietnam, Russia, and numerous trips around the United States. Vega 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, Vega co-hosted the Festival Presidente de Música Latina.

Career

Vega has appeared on the cover of several magazines, from her country's local Mujer Unica and Oh! Magazine, up to internationally known Cosmopolitan, Caras, InStyle, Vanidades, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, and Selecta. She also has been the lead image for campaigns made by the beauty cosmetics company Cover Girl, for the past 4 years.

Vega debuted as a singer with her uncle Juan Luis Guerra in Madison Square Garden and American Airline's Arena. After her reign as Miss Universe came to an end, Vega worked as the host of the reality show Voces de América, that aired on the Telemundo network. She also hosted several editions of "Festival Presidente" where more than 60,000 people attended, Later she hosted "Suegras", a reality show broadcast in the US and Latin America. Her film debut was in 2005, co-starring in the film The Lost City directed by Andy García. She had a special in Homie Spumoni, a motion picture starring Donald Faison and Whoopi Goldberg, among others and was scheduled and released in summer 2008.

In 2010 she became the host of the Mexican reality show "Segunda Oportunidad" with the Chilean Rafael Araneda

She also performed the video of "Mi corazoncito" of Dominican bachata music group Aventura.

Music

After recording her first demo at 15 years old and starting her artistic career on musicals in her hometown at the same age, Amelia's first single "Pasa Un Segundito" was released by iTunes on 26 April 2010. It became a top Latin song in just two days. A couple months later she surprises with her environmental song Smog. She announced on her Twitter account that her complete album "Agua Dulce" will be released on 30 August 2011, first on iTunes. She began promoting her music in Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Panama, Dominican Republic "where she opened the concert for Marc Anthony And Chayanne in front of a crowd of 50,000 people".[5][6]

Business

Vega owns two boutiques in Miami, named "Essence By Amelia Vega"

Book

Vega is on the cover of the only book the Miss Universe Organization has published, which is called Universal Beauty.

Personal life

On 24 December 2011, Vega married Dominican NBA player Al Horford, after two years of dating.[7] On 23 February 2015, Vega gave birth to their first child, a son named Ean Horford Vega.[8] The couple had their second child on 27 November 2016, this time a daughter Alía Horford Vega. [9][10] The couple introduced their third child, a girl, on 11 July 2018, with a post and picture on Ms. Vega's instagram account.[11]

Vega is niece-in-law of the Grammy Award–winning singer Juan Luis Guerra and wife of NBA player Al Horford. Additionally, Amelia attended and graduated from Barbizon Modeling and Acting School in Santo Domingo.[12] Her father was son of the lawyer, professor, and vice-rector of the University of Santo Domingo Miguel Ángel Vega Acevedo, who was brother of writer and college professor Vanessa Vega de Bonnelly. Amelia Vega's grandfather was son of Miguel Ángel Vega Hernández, and grandson of José Nicolás Vega Pichardo, a Cuban immigrant from Santiago de Cuba who arrived to the Dominican Republic in the 1860s with his parents, José Rafael Vega Bravo and Margarita Crescencia Pichardo Contreras, and his brother José Rafael Vega Pichardo, whose ancestry can be traced back to the English King, William the Conqueror, and the Castilian King Alfonso X.[13][14][15][16][17]

Filmography
  • Homie Spumoni (2006) .... Amelia Vega as (Chanice)
  • The Lost City (2005) .... Minerva Eros

Charity work

She works with several charity foundations, including Go Red For Women, Inisiatica Ser (Breast Cancer) Global Health Council, Cable Positive, amfAR, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and God's Love We Deliver.

References
  1. "Amelia Vega Horford (@ameliavega) • Fotos y vídeos de Instagram". Instagram. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017. Amelia Vega Horford: My life is imperfectly perfect! Thank you GOD for today! 🙌🏼Ean + Alia's mom Singer – Miss Universe 03. Married to @al_horford
  2. Miss Dominican Republic was crowned Miss Universe 2003. pageant.com (3 June 2003)
  3. Amelia Vega Biography Archived 2 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "EL UNIVERSO : Noticias del Ecuador y del mundo". Especiales.eluniverso.com. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  5. "iTunes Music – Pasa un Segundito – Single by Amelia Vega". iTunes Store. 23 April 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  6. "iTunes Music – Smog – Single by Amelia Vega". iTunes Store. 9 February 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  7. "Amelia Vega se casa con Al Horford – Hoy Digital". Hoy.com.do. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  8. Former Miss Universe Amelia Vega, NBA Player Al Horford Welcome Baby Boy!. Latintimes.com (23 February 2015). Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  9. Murphy, Mark (28 November 2016). "Al Horford to miss tonight's Celtics game for birth of second child". Boston Herald. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  10. King, Jay (28 November 2016). "CSNNE's Michael Felger believes Al Horford should have suited up for Boston Celtics despite birth of child". MassLive.com. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  11. Yang, Nicole (12 July 2018). "Al Horford, Amelia Vega welcome newborn daughter". Boston Globe. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  12. "Barbizon Modeling and Acting School Alumni". barbizonmodeling.com.
  13. "Bio". ameliavega.net. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  14. (in Spanish) Familia Dominicana Con Ancestros Reales: Los Vega Part 1/4
  15. (in Spanish) Familia Dominicana Con Ancestros Reales: Los Vega Part 2/4
  16. (in Spanish) Familia Dominicana Con Ancestros Reales: Los Vega Part 4/4
  17. (in Spanish) Descendientes de un Conquistador: Los Vega Part 2/2
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Justine Pasek		 Miss Universe
2003		 Succeeded by
Jennifer Hawkins
Preceded by
Ruth Ocumárez		 Miss Dominican Republic
2003		 Succeeded by
Larimar Fiallo
Preceded by
Isaura Montás		 Miss Santiago
2003		 Succeeded by
Pamela Sued
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