Olivia Culpo: Top Stories in RI in 2012

Olivia Culpo: Top Stories in RI in 2012

Olivia Culpo was already Rhode Island's sweetheart in June of 2012 when she became Miss USA. Then in December, in a blaze of media attention worldwide, Culpo took the Miss Universe title in front of more than a billion viewers on television and online. The cello-playing Bay View girl from Cranston went all the way, bringing Rhode Island's love and pride with her.

Within moments of Culpo's victory being announced live in Las Vegas, GoLocal had the news and Rhode Island was sharing it via Facebook and Twitter with unprecedented speed.

Veteran newsman Dave Layman's profile of Culpo's days at Bay View Academy went equally stratospheric, as fans loved getting details of Olivia's teen years in her home state. Finally, a slideshow of personal photos of Culpo shared by her family, by Bay View, by fashion designers like Andrea Valentini and by bloggers and other contributors, garnered thousands of views and hundreds of shares, as GoLocal had what the world did not yet have--a personal look at the new Miss Universe.

And there's no more deserving talented, smart and compassionate young beauty. Culpo has been generous with her time in Rhode Island during her Miss USA reign. She's been home with us for the holidays, and we can only hope her worldwide duties will bring her back to the Ocean State in this dizzying new year for our own Miss Universe.