Alice Panikian
Toronto 43° 39' 12.53" N, 79° 23' 2.16" W Arts Model Journalism Person
Alice Panikian (born May 23, 1985 in Sofia, Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian-born Canadian model who was crowned Miss Universe Canada on March 21, 2006. She attended William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute in Toronto, and graduated in 2003.
At 6'0" (1.83 m)<ref>http://www.alicepanikian.com/biography/index.html Official website bio</ref> she is not only the tallest major national titleholder in Canadian history, but also had earned a significant amount of attention from the world press as one of the strongest candidates to succeed to then-reigning Miss Universe, Natalie Glebova, also from Canada. As no country has ever won the title back-to-back (later achieved by Dayana Mendoza and Stefanía Fernández in 2009, both of them from Venezuela), Panikian had a significant historical hurdle to jump despite many pundits who argue that she was an even stronger candidate than her predecessor. Alice did not become Miss Universe 2006 (that honour went to Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico), but she did finish in 6th place. Alice enjoys writing short stories, and her hobbies include volleyball and yoga.
Panikian is of Bulgarian and Armenian ancestry, which comes through her paternal grandfather and accounts for her Armenian surname. She came to Canada with her parents when she was five years old. Panikian studied at York University and majored in English and Communications. She studied broadcast journalism and resides in Toronto, Ontario and aspires to be a journalist or a TV show host.
Before becoming Miss Universe Canada, Alice represented Canada at the 2006 Reinado Internacional del Café or International Queen of Coffee pageant, held in Manizales, Colombia on January 9, where she became the first Canadian winner in the history of the pageant.
She also took the "Miss Photogenic" and "Best in Swimsuit" awards at the Miss Universe Canada Pageant.<ref>"Alice Panikian, New Miss Universe Canada 2006", Women Diary, March 31, 2006</ref>
Panikian was supposed to represent Canada and compete at Miss International 2007 held in Tokyo, Japan, but due to schedule conflicts in college, she did not compete. Justine Stewart took her place.