Ariana Barouk (born November 5, 1982) is a Cuban-American actress, tv host, model, singer and beauty pageant titleholder who represented

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

in the seventh edition of the environmentally-oriented

Miss Earth 2007 Miss Earth 2007, the seventh edition of the Miss Earth pageant, was held on November 12, 2007 at the University of the Philippines Theater, on campus of the University of the Philippines Diliman in Quezon City, Philippines. 88 delegates compet ...

international

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

. She was the first Miss Cuba in several decades to compete in a major pageant.Grandslam Pageants
/ref>

Career

In 2007, she lived in the Philippines where she started a showbusiness career by appearing daily in the game show ''

Eat Bulaga! ''Eat !'' (; stylized as ''Eat... Bulaga!'') is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine television variety show broadcast by Radio Philippines Network, ABS-CBN, GMA Network and TV5 (Philippine TV network), TV5. Originally hosted by Tito S ...

'' She then hosted '' OGAGS'' on TV5 for over 2 1/2 years. She did many celebrity guest spots and co-hosted for TV stations such as

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

, GMA, QTV, on their TV shows. She also appeared in reality shows, opening numbers for ''

Wowowee ''Wowowee'' () was a Television in the Philippines, Philippine television variety show broadcast by ABS-CBN, Hosted by Willie Revillame, the show was aired from February 5, 2005 to February 4, 2006 replacing ''MTB (TV program), MTB'' (then name ...

'', and hosted local events and parties. She worked with

Dolphy Rodolfo Vera Quizon Sr. (July 25, 1928 – July 10, 2012), known professionally as Dolphy, was a Filipino comedian and actor. He is widely regarded as the country's "King of Comedy" for his comedic talent embodied by his long roster of works ...

and his sons

Epy Quizon Jeffrey Smith Quizon (born January 23, 1973), professionally known as Epy Quizon, is a Filipino actor, television host and the son of comedian Dolphy. Early life Born Jeffrey Smith Quizon on January 23, 1973. He is the youngest of four siblin ...

and

Vandolph Vandolph Lacsamana Quizon (born May 7, 1984) is a Filipino actor, comedian and politician. He has served as a councilor of Parañaque for the 1st district since 2016. Personal life He is the only son of comedian Dolphy with actress-politic ...

as a cast member "Lyla" of the weekly show ''

Pidol's Wonderland ''Istorifik: Pidol's Kuwentong Fantastik'' (formerly known as ''Pidol's Wonderland'') is a Philippine television fantasy comedy series broadcast by TV5. Directed by Enrico S. Quizon, it stars Dolphy. It aired on the network's Sunday evening lin ...

''. Barouk competed in

, which took place on November 11, 2007, at the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...

Theater in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, won by

Jessica Trisko Jessica Nicole Trisko Darden (née Trisko; born August 20, 1984) is a Canadian academic, activist, former model, and beauty queen. She is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Virginia Commonwealth University and Director of the Security a ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The delegates had a special tour in

Nha Trang Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh District. The city had ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. Eighty-eight delegates competed for the title, including Barouk, who represented Cuba. She was the first Cuban representative in any international pageant in many decades. Cuba was last represented in

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

in 1967 and in

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

in 1975; however, both delegates participated by appointment and neither were able to compete. 1959 was the last time a candidate was able to truly compete in Miss Universe. In the 2007 pageant, Barouk won the "Miss Eco-Tourism" special award, placed top in "Long Gown" and was among the top favorites to win the crown.MISS EARTH 2007 , Miss Cuba
/ref>
/ref> This made TAPE, Inc., producer of ''

Eat Bulaga ''Eat !'' (; stylized as ''Eat... Bulaga!'') is a Philippine television variety show broadcast by Radio Philippines Network, ABS-CBN, GMA Network and TV5. Originally hosted by Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, Joey de Leon, Chiqui Hollmann and Richie ...

'', noticed her and hired her as a co-host of the show. She stayed in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, to live and pursued a showbiz career, where she was then hired as host on '' OGAGS'' on

TV5 (Philippines) TV5 is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine free-to-air Television network, television and Radio network, radio network headquartered in Mandaluyong, with additional studios in Novaliches, Quezon City. TV5 serves as the flagship netwo ...

. One of her goals is to be an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and someday open her own PR firm and/or boutique.Grandslambeauties.Org - News

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barouk, Ariana 1982 births American people of Cuban descent American expatriates in the Philippines Cuban beauty pageant winners Cuban female models Living people Miss Earth 2007 contestants People from Hartford, Connecticut