"Take a look at these pictures," university rector Todor Radev told some instructors in the staff room. Displayed on the computer screen that he indicated were the photos of several young women. "Now, which of them do you think is the most beautiful?" At first they thought it was a dating site, or perhaps some kind of joke. Emil pointed to the second photo. "Daaattttt! Wrong," Radev said. "You should have picked her," explained Valyo pointing to the fifth picture, that of Maria Radeva.

Unlike the Miss America and Miss Universe pageants, not many people have heard of the Image Model Search contest, including those in Las Vegas, Nevada, the location of the venue. In Bulgaria virtually no one has. That was until October 27 2007, when the newspaper, Dobrouzhinska Tribuna featured an article about how Dobrich-born Maria Radeva had made it to the semi-finals.

In its third year, the Image Model Search contest differs from its more highly acclaimed counterparts in several ways, most notably its size, scope and premise. Another is that the organisers had opened the selection process in the run up to the finals to anyone who had access to a computer and internet.

On the website www.lvrj.com/poll viewers would have seen eight men and eight women during the first round of voting. These semi-finalists had previously been selected out of hundreds of other hopefuls from throughout Nevada.

Based on these images, and preferably an accompanying video interview with each contestant, armchair judges could then point and click on one male and one female candidate who they would most like to see advancing to the following week's voting, the person from each category with the least number of votes being eliminated.

On December 12, the surviving three men and three women faced off at Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas before of a panel of seven judges and admiring shoppers.

Via e-mail, Maria described how she and the other finalists paraded in various formal and casual wear on a runway. During the interview part, each contestant had to give his or her take on two issues, ranging from Kate Moss's cocaine scandal, to thinness in the fashion industry, to beauty versus brains. Their answers and its delivery helped the judges determine the "personality" and "marketability" aspects of the competition. "I answered the questions with a sense of humour," Maria says now.

At one point one of the judges, the singer Clint Holmes, accused Maria of being a "good liar", and trying to wheedle him. This was in reference to an article that had appeared the previous week in the Review-Journal about her having downloaded her favourite childhood song Playground of the Mind. "You were not even born when I released it in 1973," he said. On that note, Maria began an impromptu rendition of it. "Apparently that served as the clincher even though I was off-key," she explained.

Proclaimed the winner, Maria, along with Avi Dan-Goor, the first place male, received $1500  in cash and also gift certificates from a fashion boutique, beauty salon and jewellery store. Also included was a photo spread in Image and a contract with Best Agency, a modelling firm. But best of all, they are to have professional modelling assignments as representatives of Planet Hollywood Resort, which counts among its owners Hollywood film star and producer Bruce Willis.

In her victory speech, Maria thanked all those who had supported her, and stressed that despite all the hoopla, the competition was not, and should not be based solely on looks. "I may not have been the tallest or the slimmest on stage (she stand 173cm tall and weighs 52kg), but I succeeded in overcoming my anxieties and performed at my very best, letting my spirit shine through.

"Other judges were less modest. Bryan Schofield. a local TV personality said, "(Maria is) one of the few who can pull off both a young and mature look," while Susan Stapleton, Image editor said, "Again, Maria nails this shot. She holds the camera and shows the clothes."

Given her stellar performance, it may come as a surprise to many that as a youngster, Maria had not really been into fashion, singing or modelling. Radev described his daughter as a having had a normal childhood, playing and joking with her friends, never trying to be at the centre of attention or seeking publicity. She was, however, quite sensitive, and a good student.

To a large extent her parents let her do she wanted; and yet somehow guided her with an invisible hand towards academic excellence and a sound work ethic. "After a long day's work I would come home, then fall asleep in front of the TV," recalls Radev. "My children would then nudge my arm, and ask, `Daddy, why are you sleeping?'" At 16, when Maria first began working during the summer in Albena, she would pull 12-hour shifts at a hotel. When she got home she would plop onto the sofa in front of the television...and doze off. "I would then tap her arm and say, `Now you understand?'" Radev says.

Maria's journey to Las Vegas began not long after her graduation from the First German Language High School in Sofia in 2001. She had planned on continuing her education in Germany, when former governor of Nevada, Bob Miller and his wife Sandy, friends of the Radevs, offered to be a host family for Maria in Las Vegas. She accepted and enrolled in the University of Nevada, majoring in hotel administration.

During her first two years there, however, Maria experienced acute culture shock and homesickness. "She would always phone us and write letters, saying how she missed home and wanted to come back," Radev says. "And after resting here, she said she did not want to return to the States."

But that did not keep Maria from excelling in her studies, so much so that she obtained her bachelor's degree in just two-and-a-half years instead of the usual four. At the graduation ceremony, the dean honoured her as one of the three top students of her graduating class. Ironically, Maria could not join her schoolmates at a graduation party, which took place at a fancy club, since doing so would have violated state law (she was only 20). By this stage, she had also come to like Las Vegas, and now says: "It's the best place!"

As she still had a year and a half remaining on her student visa, Maria took a job in a travel agency and at the city municipality. Because of her involvement in the latter and her outstanding grades, she later received an assistantship to begin graduate study in public administration at the same university.

And a year ago, Maria began work as commercial and print model. This did not involve catwalks, but posing for products and services in advertisements, and lending her presence at ceremonies and official gatherings. She even filled in as an extra on Passions, a TV soap opera.

After obtaining her master's, Maria took a course in real estate and obtained her agent's licence (Las Vegas has one of the fasting growth rates in the United States). While doing all this several months ago, her modelling agent suggested that she enter the Image Model Search contest. "She was confident that I had what it takes to win," said Maria.

Back in Dobrich, many residents feel proud of "their daughter". "I'm not surprised Maria won," says Vanya Yotovska, a student. "Bulgarian women are so beautiful." Following his daughter's victory, Radev thanked everyone for their online votes, and especially the media for having publicised the event.