Miss Costa Rica 2011 Beauty Pageant Tonight

This weekend is a big weekend in Costa Rica with the inauguration of the new National Stadium and tonight's (Friday) Miss Costa Rica 2011 beauty pageant, which is will be occurring across from the street of the National Stadium, in the studios of Teletica.

The Miss Costa Rica is an annual event that selects Costa Rica's representative for the Miss Universe pageant since 1954. The current titleholder is Marva Wright from San José. She won the title in a nationally televised event on April 16, 2010.

Women between the ages of 18-27, each representing a province, compete to represent Costa Rica for one year and participate in the annual Miss Universe international competition. Until 2006, the 1st runner-up of Miss Costa Rica would usually go to Miss World and until 1994, the first runner-up, the winner or a finalist would go to Miss International.

Tonight the 10 finalists compete for the crown.

Costa Rica has participated in the Miss Universe pageant since 1954 and has sent 56 representatives in the pageant's 60-year history. The event has been broadcast by Teletica since 1960.

During the years a total of 20 Miss Costa Rica titles have been won by candidates from San José, 7 from Cartago, 7 from Guanacaste, 6 from Heredia, 6 from Limón, 4 from Puntarenas and 5 from Alajuela.


Read more from Inside Costa Rica!

Los Suenos Signature Billfish Series 2011

The eighth annual Los Sueños Signature Billfish Series begins Wednesday off Costa Rica, and the call of "Hookup!" will likely be heard often throughout the tournament.

The strictly catch-and-release competition, fished out of Los Sueños Resort and Marina in Playa Herradura, Costa Rica, takes place in two legs -- January 26-29 and March 2-5 -- and targets all species of marlin as well as Pacific sailfish. The event is sanctioned by both the World Billfish Seriesand the International Game Fish Assn.

Points will be awarded for each successful release -- 500 for marlin and 100 for Pacific sailfish -- with the top three boats per tournament awarded trophies and cash prizes based on overall points.

Registrants can still sign up for one or both legs of the series. The entry fee is $7,000 per boat per tournament or $10,000 per boat for both events.

Last year, 43 teams from the United States, Nicaragua and Russia entered the tournament and ended up releasing a total 1,014 billfish during the six days of competition.

Read original article from L.A. Times