Taliana María Vargas Carrillo (born in Santa Marta) is Miss Colombia 2007 and Miss Universe first runner-up 2008. Vargas is a Colombian student of Journalism at the Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, Virginia.

Taliana is of Greek descent through her grandparents, and has Italian relatives. She speaks fluent Spanish, English, and Italian, as well as some Greek and Arabic.

Miss Universe 2008

Vargas placed in the Top 5 in the Miss Universe 2008 pageant held in Vietnam, eventually finishing as first runner-up to the winner, Miss Venezuela Dayana Mendoza, on July 14, 2008 (local time). Taliana was awarded the 3rd best body; while, Mexico took 1st. Taliana received the highest scores in both the evening gown and swimsuit competitions. She walked in her golden wavy gown to which judges awarded a 9.829, one of the highest scores in recent years. In swimsuit, she was awarded 9.433.

Afterwards, Taliana ended up being the 1st runner up and Dayana Mendoza, from Venezuela is the new Miss Universe.

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