[caption id="attachment_159328" align="aligncenter" width="347" caption="Red Dress: Watanabe Shiho"][/caption]

On June 8th, the 23 Japanese finalists for the �Miss Earth� contest were revealed, and among them was Watanabe Shiho (23), a former AKB48 member.

On July 3rd, Japan�s representative will be selected to attend the world contest in Thailand in December. Similar to AKB48�s �3rd Senbatsu General Election� on the 9th, Watanabe is looking towards being �selected� as Japan�s representative. She was a first generation AKB48 member along with girls like Maeda Atsuko and Takahashi Minami.

Watanabe appeared at the recital in a beautiful red dress. She commented, �I am a former AKB48 member and a reporter for �Ousama no Brunch�. I want to make the best use of my experiences up until now�. Out of 300 applicants, Watanabe was able to stand with 22 of her rivals and she was placed in the center; her appeal being her unique personal history.

�Miss Earth� is the 4th largest miss contest after �Miss Universe�, �Miss International�, and �Miss World�. Last year, 84 countries participated in the contest. Aside from looks, the girls are selected by global environmental protection knowledge and action. For the 11th time, this year applications were accepted starting in March. 80 women were then chosen to move on to the 2nd audition and from them the 23 finalists, between 18 and 26 years old, were chosen.

Watanabe was among 24 successful applicants in AKB48�s Opening Member Audition in 2005, which had a total of around 8,000 applicants. She also participated in AKB48�s debut song �Sakura no Hanabiratachi� in February 2006. She stayed in the group for about two years and graduated in October 2007. After graduation Watanabe became a reporter on TBS�s �Ousama no Brunch� and appeared in dramas such as �Bloody Monday�.

Source: Yomiuri