SHE was clearly a head above the rest. In more ways than one.

Confidence. Poise. Intelligence.

Miss Valerie Lim had it all.

And of course, who can miss her striking 1.79m height?

With that, the 25-year-old behavioural therapist was crowned the latest Miss Singapore Universe at the Shangri-La Hotel last night.

Mr Bernard Lim, who was one of the nine judges, told The New Paper: "Whether it was confidence or posture, Valerie was definitely ahead of the rest.

"She exuded confidence through the night, right up to the question-and-answer segment. You could tell she was comfortable and not nervous.

"That means, she'll be able to hold court well."

Valerie's fluency of the language also made an impression with the judges, said Mr Lim, the chief executive officer of LifeBrandz Group, a local club operator.

The former popular deejay laughed, then added: "Language is very important. She spoke well, no broken English."

Ms Florence Lian, MediaCorp Radio's managing director, who is also among the panel of judges, admitted that the final round nailed it for Valerie.

She said: "Personally for me, I felt that it was very close between Valerie and Amanda (Leong)." Amanda, 18, a first-time pageant contestant, was named first runner-up. She also won Miss Crowning Glory.

Said Ms Lian: "Amanda was telegenic, photogenic and had stage presence too.

"But I liked how Valerie handled her question, showing that she was witty too."

Emcee for the night, Flying Dutchman Mark van Cuylenburg, asked: "Do you think being born a girl has its advantages over being born a boy?"

With a smile, Valerie pointed out: "I think it's quite obvious that me standing here, representing Miss Singapore Universe, shows that being a girl obviously has its advantages.

"If I'm a boy, I would not be contestant No. 10. I would not be here sitting with all of you."

She also took a moment to extend her appreciation to the pageant's creative team for "making our hair beautiful, our make-up fantastic, and our coach for teaching us how to walk".

Then, she added: "Oh, boys don't have the advantage of wearing a bikini (and) strutting on stage." The Flying Dutchman quipped: "At the top of your mind, what do you think is the biggest advantage that a girl has?"

Valerie paused for effect, flipped her hair, and said: "Doing this."

But for many of the guests in the Island Ballroom last night, it was Valerie's height that made them sit up.

Mr Mohd Noor Azan, 30, and his two female colleagues could be heard cheering for Valerie each time she appeared on stage.

He is the bodyguard to Her Highness Tunku Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, the daughter of the Sultan of Johor, who attended the event.

Mr Azan said: "Her height draws your attention to her right away. Add to that her confident smile, you have a winner."

Businessman Calvin Koh, 50, also rooted for Valerie because he felt that she had the X-factor.

Said Mr Koh: "She was clearly one of the hot favourites and when she won one of the four subsidiary titles, my table (of friends) knew that she's definitely hit a homerun."

Valerie also won the Miss Body Beautiful title.

She will represent Singapore in the Miss Universe 2011 International pageant which will be held at Sao Paulo, Brazil on Sept 21.

How ironic that it was only recently that she began to be proud of her height.

In an earlier interview with The New Paper, she recalled how tough it was "sticking out in the crowd when I was with my classmates then".

But after last night, Valerie could finally put that discomfort to bed.

Ecstatic over her win, she said: "Yes, I'm standing tall. Definitely."

The second tallest finalists were Shn Juay, 24, and Shahnaz Nazimuddeen, 19, both of whom are 1.76m tall.

She felt too that her experience of joining and winning Miss Earth Singapore in 2009 was instrumental in boosting her confidence.

She also made it to the top 16 (out of 90 contestants) at the international finals held in the Philippines.

Valerie said: "Staying calm and collected is very important - and that's something I reminded myself.

"Especially during the question-and-answer round."

She also revealed: "I have a tendency to speak too fast. So, instead of rushing to answer the question, I made it a point to be clear and concise."

This article was first published in The New Paper.