The beautiful Nazareth Cascante Madrigal recently earned the crown of Miss Costa Rica, and she is already gathering fans around the world. The lovely Miss Cascante, who is from Alajuela, is leading a poll on the website of Radio Programas del Peru (RPP), a major South American television, radio and online broadcaster that has a strong alliance with Movistar in the Andean nation.

The online platform of RPP encourages users to vote on lists and topics of varied interests. The RPP.com.pe community has been voting on their favorites to win the Miss Universe crown over the last few years, and on more than one occasion they have been able to predict winners and other contestants that are selected as runner-ups. Miss Costa Rica is currently number one on the list, and she has thus far gathered 154,400 points. She is far outpacing all other beauty queens on the poll. Miss Guatemala is number two with 79,180 points, followed by Miss Venezuela, who is a perennial candidate in Miss Universe and many other international beauty pageants.

While most of  the top ten beauties on the RPP poll are Latin American contestants, there are quite a few who represent Eastern European nations; to wit: Miss Kosovo, Miss Poland, Miss Bosnia and Herzegovina, Miss Russia, Miss Serbia, and Miss Lithuania.

In the meantime, Miss Costa Rica is preparing for the Miss Universe pageant, which this year will be hosted at a venue to be announced by the organizing committee. Miss Cascante’s official Facebook Timeline is seeking input from Ticos as to their opinion on certain actions that she should take when she represents Costa Rica. An ongoing survey on her Timeline asked fans how they think she should wear her hair. The majority are leaning towards cascading wavy hair.

The 2012 Miss Universe will probably be remembered as the first time transgendered contestants are allowed to participate. The event will be broadcast on American broadcasters NBC and Telemundo, along with their international affiliates. This will also be the first time that the pageant is broadcast on Xbox Live.