Miss Slovenia 2015, Mateja Kociper, has handed over the crown to a 26-year-old student of laboratory dental prosthetics and oral hygiene from Ljubljana.

“I’m overjoyed. I didn’t expect to win. The competition was strong, but I’m happy I got to meet the other girls and a number of people who could help me with new opportunities,” said Maja Taradi, the new Miss Slovenia, just before the official announcement of results.

Taradi had participated in several charity events in the past, which was what eventually brought her to Slovenia’s top beauty contest. “I worked at some charity event where I met the pageant organiser, who explained to me what the pageant contest is like, and I decided to apply,” described the new miss.

Months of preparations presented her as well as the other girls with the chance to gather new experience. “What I improved most is how to communicate with the public and how to perform,” admits Taradi, adding she had had less leisure time to spend with her friends, which she usually enjoys very much.

However, winning the national competition is merely a stepping stone to what is yet to come in December – the Miss World Pageant in Washington, D.C. According to Taradi, this won’t be her first trip across the Atlantic. When asked about which attribute she plans to use in trying to convince international experts and audiences, the new miss said she would need to discuss this with the organiser of the contest, Jelka Verk. “I’m hoping I can present Slovenia in the best way possible. Perhaps through a charity event,” adds Taradi.

Miss Slovenia’s 2nd runner-up is Ana Kondič, while Alena Musić has been chosen the new miss’s “first reserve option” and is happy for her friend Taradi. “It means a lot to me that I’ve won the title of Miss Personality. But I’m also very happy for Maja, with whom I’ve got along best during preparations, and I think we’ll work together wonderfully,” pointed out Musić. If the scenario from 2010 – when the then miss Sandra Adam returned from the Miss World competition prematurely – repeated itself, Musić assures the organiser can count on her. “I hope I’ll be ready if it came down to this. But I think it won’t – I’ll stand by Maja’s side one hundred per cent. I’ll support her and help her,” the 1st runner-up adds with determination.

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