HispanicBusiness

Dayana Mendoza, the reigning Miss Universe from Venezuela, will crown her successor during the 2009 Miss Universe competition in the Bahamas on Aug. 23.

On Tuesday she launched a publicity gambit by appearing on the Howard Stern Show. On the show, she appeared prepared for the Stern treatment, eagerly answering his trademark tawdry questions about anal sex and defecating, according to the Examiner.com. She also took the opportunity to tout the charity work she's done to help those suffering from AIDS.

Co-hosting the Aug. 23 pageant will be Billy Bush, co-anchor of "Access Hollywood" and a member of the prominent Bush family, and Claudia Jordan of "Celebrity Apprentice" and "Deal or No Deal."

The event on Atlantis, Paradise Island will feature performances from Flo Rita, Heidi Montag, David Guetta and Kelly Rowland, UPI reports.

As for Mendoza, she has had quite a year. As the winner of the 2008 pageant, she was awarded a year's stay at an upscale New York City apartment, a $100,000 scholarship for a two-year course at New York Film Academy and open access to fashion houses and beauty parlors.

Like many beauty queens, she also has been the subject of some controversy. In March she traveled to Guantanamo Bay, where she was given a tour of the prison grounds. In her blog, she seemed to commend the conditions of the controversial compound, saying Guantanamo "was such a relaxing place, so calm and beautiful."

This sparked widespread ridicule, and even drew a rebuke from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. She later withdrew the entry from her blog.

Mendoza is also the survivor of a Venezuelan kidnapping.