Shilpa Singh at the Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas on Thursday. (AFP)

The morning chill could not deter around 500 residents of Bishnupur Diha from remaining glued to a giant screen projecting Shilpa Singh’s chances to break the 12-year Indian jinx at the Miss Universe contest in Las Vegas.

Though the Samastipur beauty could only manage to sail through the semis, the residents of her native village were heart-broken but not disappointed. They cheered for Shilpa as they watched the live coverage of the contest from 6.30am to 8.30am on Thursday,

Lara Dutta had last grabbed the honour in 2000.

As soon as Singh managed to become one of the 16 semi-finalists out of the 89 contestants from around the world, the people stood up to witness history being made. The joy was palpable. They whistled, shouted and clapped. Their enthusiasm was enough to beat the morning chill as the temperature remained at 9.2ºC. All they expected for her was the diamond-studded crown.

Bishnupur Diha village head Brajendra Kumar Singh Murari said: “The villagers were ecstatic to see the live telecast of the Miss Universe contest (organised at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, Las Vegas). I learnt that the event would be telecast live on Zee Café. I arranged a projector for mass viewing.”

“People were so keen on watching their village girl taking part in the event that they started reaching my house as early as 4.30am. They kept praying for her victory despite the bone-chilling cold. After she lost the battle, the residents were heartbroken. At the same time they were proud that she belonged to this village and she could give a tough fight to the other contestants.”

Singh entered the semi-finals riding on the votes garnered in an online polling.

“She sailed the boat against the tide. She did well. It was a close-margin loss,” Salab Singh, her brother, told The Telegraph from Pune.