Amelia Vega Polanco (born 7 November 1984) is a Dominican model, actress, author, singer and beauty queen. At the age of 18, she won the

Miss Universe 2003 Miss Universe 2003, the 52nd Miss Universe pageant, was held on June 3, 2003 at the Figali Convention Center in Panama City, Panama. Amelia Vega of the Dominican Republic was crowned by Justine Pasek of Panama as her successor at the end of the ...

pageant, becoming the first ever

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall St ...

from the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

, as well as the youngest winner since 1994.Miss Dominican Republic was crowned Miss Universe 2003
pageant.com (3 June 2003) She is married to

Al Horford Alfred Joel Horford Reynoso (born June 3, 1986) is a Dominican professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Big Al", Horford is a five-time NBA All-Star and is the highest paid L ...

Miss Universe

After winning the

Miss Dominican Republic Miss Dominican Republic (Spanish: ''Miss República Dominicana'') is a national beauty pageant in the Dominican Republic. History Amelia Vega, Miss Universe 2003 winner. Miss Dominican Republic Organization has been in operation since 1927 ...

title, Vega represented the Dominican Republic in the

pageant held in

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is loca ...

on 3 June 2003. She became the first delegate from this country to win the title. At the time she was the youngest woman since 1994 to win Miss Universe and, as of 2022, is the tallest winner, standing at 6'2".

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 iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

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 Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

, Dominican Republic "where she opened the concert for Marc Anthony And Chayanne in front of a crowd of 50,000 people".

Personal life

On 24 December 2011, Vega married Dominican NBA player

, after two years of dating. They have four children together and are expecting their fifth child. Vega is niece-in-law of the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

–winning singer

Juan Luis Guerra Juan Luis Guerra Seijas (born June 7, 1957) is a Dominican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. He has sold 30 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists. Throughout his career, he has wo ...

. She attended and graduated from Barbizon Modeling and Acting School in Santo Domingo. Vega is the sixth generation of women in her family who bears '' Amelia'' either as their first name or middle name. Vega's parents are second cousins-twice removed and both are descended from Cuban-born brothers José Nicolás Vega y Pichardo and José Rafael Vega y Pichardo; her ancestry is 53/64 Dominican, 3/64 Cuban and 1/8 (or 8/64) Lebanese. Vega's ancestry can be traced back to the English King,

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

, and the Castilian King

Alfonso X Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Ger ...

through her Cuban ancestors.Descendientes de un Conquistador: Los Vega
Part 2/2

Filmography

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

Notes

References

External links

Official website
* *

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vega, Amelia 1984 births Dominican Republic beauty pageant winners 21st-century Dominican Republic women singers Dominican Republic people of Spanish descent Dominican Republic people of Galician descent Living people Members of the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International Miss Dominican Republic Miss Universe 2003 contestants Miss Universe winners People from Santiago de los Caballeros White Dominicans