Excerpt from Mabuhay To Beauty: Profiles
of Beauties and Essays on Pageants
Miss Universe 2002 Oxana Fedorova
A WELCOME RETURN TO THE CLASSICS
Guy-Rex (who was tapped to handle the production of this pageant) is not the only comeback in this year’s pageant. Many beloved elements that pageant fans missed have made a welcome comeback, to wit:
1. “Say My Name”. After muzzling their voices in 1998, all the delegates finally get to introduce themselves again. Sure, it’s a simple mention of their name and their country (without any description), but it’s still a wonderful development – having them describe their country like “from the land of blah-blah-blah…” might seem too dated, too perky, and too time-consuming, hence it’s eschewed for simplicity.
2. Party-Vibe Opening Number. The opening sequence hearkens back to the pageants of the 1980s, where the delegates are in their costumes partying in the streets. Although this time they do not go up the stage like in those years, it’s still a welcome comeback.
3. Semifinalists’ Voices. Since the year 2000, we don’t have the opportunity to hear the semifinalists who did not make in the Top 5. I’m sure the Donald and company are adamant to retain the “looks-only” format of the semifinal round, but a satisfying compromise came when the non-competition “fashion walk” (initiated in 2000, cancelled in 2001, and revived again) now features vidclips of the semifinalists and the semifinalists introducing themselves in-depth. If you retain the looks-only semifinals format for years to come, retain this year’s semifinalist voice-overs, too.
4. Competent Hosting. Daisy Fuentes is a gem, even better than her stint in Namibia 1995. I hope we can see her in many more years. Phil Simms, well, he made a big boo-boo in the final question round (thanks to the initiative of the other finalists, who proceeded to walk to their earphones, he realized his boo-boo and fixed it), but in general he’s a more competent host than many male hosts that were hired at this event in previous years.
5. Focus on the Beauties, not the Entertainment. Finally, the focus is back where it belongs: the beautiful delegates of the pageant, not the extras. Trump & Co. has finally realized that the Miss Universe Pageant is about the delegates who competed in this pageant, not the extraneous elements like the intermission numbers (like Ricky Martin last year, for instance). Marc Anthony, though, gave a couple of great performances, and his live version of the hit “You Sang To Me” has a more palpable vibe than the original recording conveyed. I’ve heard rumors that he clashed with the organizers as he wanted to sing a song in Spanish. I think they should’ve let him, because it would give it a more Puerto Rican flavor.
6. Focus on the Beauties, Part 2. This is not related to the finals telecast, but I just have to send my compliments to the Miss Universe website, as it featured delegates’ interviews on video, and video captures of their presentation show. This is a big, big improvement over previous coverages, and I hope it would be maintained in subsequent years. The delegates have voices, have views that have to be heard, and it’s wonderful that we get the opportunity to hear them in depth, finally. Not many of us have the Quicktime Player required to view them, but I am willing to part with my income to spend time in an internet café with one and download all of them…
There are also some parallelisms I observed between this pageant with the 1989 Cancun pageant won by Holland’s Angela Visser, such as:
1. Commanding Lead. In both cases, the winner has a commanding lead over the rest of the competition. Angela led over her closest competitor by almost 0.5 points, while Oxana led by a commanding 0.7 points. The usual lead by the leader over her closest competitor was about 0.2 points or less.
2. Germany-by-way-of… In both cases, Germany made the semis. The German representative landed in 6th place, barely missing the Magic Five. And, the German representative was neither born nor raised in the country she represented. 1989’s Andrea Stelzer was originally from South Africa (and attempted to compete in Miss U 1985 as Miss South Africa, but was prevented to do so). This year’s Natascha Börger was originally from Venezuela.
3. Beauty in the Highest Extreme. Angela Visser was adjudged by Global Beauties as the Most Beautiful Miss Universe in the last 50 years. Apparently, with this year’s winner, that title seems to be under threat, as this year’s winner has a lot of pageant aficionados and non-pageant watchers enraptured by her beauty (I’m one of them).
VISIONS OF THE FAIREST MAIDENS
This year has featured a bevy of superbly stunning ladies of all shapes, sizes, and yes, colors. When I refer to the “fairest maidens”, I refer to their physical beauty, not their complexions. It’s inevitable that several stunners would be unfairly shut out, because there are simply too many of them this year. It definitely did happen this year.
Michael Jackson’s song “Black or White” seems to be a perfect theme for this year’s pageant. I admit that I am one of the instigators of the hype of “El Año de las Negras Latinas” and “El Año de las Bellezas Negras”. Simply because I am in awe with the stunning black delegates out there. And on top of that, there are more delegates of color this year than we had in the past, many of them coming from countries that are not necessarily known for having significant populations with colored people, or having crowned delegates of color before. They all deserve our respect and our high regard.
Of course the outcome turned out to be the opposite… there wasn’t a single dark-skinned delegate selected for the semifinals this year (the two Indians and one Chinese lady who made it are fair-skinned). Uh-oh, I can hear Survivor: Marquesas’ Sean Rector ranting about the outcome: “What?! No phyne black sistahs in there?! Why are they always puttin’ down the black race?!” In my opinion, perhaps bubbling under the Top 10 are the dark ladies. I can imagine an alternative Top 10 featuring delegates of color. Who shall I include in this “alternative” Top 10? Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Curacao, Ghana, Nigeria, Colombia, U S A, Cayman Islands, Honduras, and Kenya.
Now, with the outcome known, was the decision of the preliminary panel fair? Though personally, I wish that they include one or two (or maybe even three or four) delegates of color in the Top 10, I am actually very pleased with the official results – every one of the semifinalists deserve to belong there.
Of course, I should end this section of my review by noting that in most Miss Universe pageants, the prettiest, most physically stunning delegate rarely wins. This year is the rare exception. Indeed, the fairest maiden won.
MAIDENS IN WHITE
White is the dominant color in this year’s pageant, and I’m not even referring to the complexion of the delegates who made the cut. We of course know about the “White Party” (officially the “Make-A-Wish Fundraiser” ball) held earlier in the delegates’ stay. Then, the color of the gowns of the five finalists are white, plus Miss Cyprus. Only Miss Germany got away with a high score wearing a non-white gown (she wore pink, and garnered 4th place in this portion). So, what’s the color of the competition swimsuits: you guessed it, white. Oddly enough, in the semifinal swimsuit round, the non-finalists paraded in their black swimsuits. Oooh, Michael Jackson’s song is playing again: “It’s black / It’s white / It’s tough for you to get on (yeah-yeah-yeah)…”
One might wonder – Miss India wore a black gown this year (it resembles the famous Elie Saab worn by Halle Berry in this year’s Oscars, except that it has a satin shawl), and she got the lowest score among the semifinalists. Is it because the gown is colored black, is it because the final panel of judges are tired of gowns following Oscar patterns, or is it just all a mere coincidence? Discuss amongst yourselves.
DELEGATES REVIEWS
I’ve already mentioned about the high quality of this year’s batch. Before I proceed with my usual review of the semifinalists, I will give my citations on the non-finalists who received significant airtime during the telecast:
• Miss Kenya citing herself five times when asked who she thinks deserve to be in the finals. I’m sure she meant that in jest instead of saying that out of any form of egotism.
• Miss Bolivia wore a different gown in the finals other than that fiasco at the presentation show. I think she should have worn the gown on the telecast in the presentation show, as it would probably have improved her standing.
• Miss Ireland gave bubbly greetings to her folks back home. We Pinoys can relate to that sentiment.
• Miss Philippines, Miss Ecuador, Miss Netherlands, Miss US Virgin Islands, and Miss Jamaica graciously and happily previewing the new crown with Daisy Fuentes.
• Mz. Singapore, Namibia and Northern Marianas for their intelligent and lively discussion on the status of women in their countries. Miss Singapore of course stands out here – she’s a lawyer, you know.
• When the delegates are polled on who they thought was the most athletic, the answer is obvious: Miss USA.
• Last year’s Miss South Africa, Jo-Ann Strauss can now turn over her title as the Non-Semifinalist With The Most Airtime Award to: Miss USA, Shauntay Hinton. She gets interviewed twice, first in the panel discussion about their local pageants, and then about staying fit. In my opinion, comparisons to Halle Berry are justified not only because of her hairdo, but also because of her speaking voice. Definitely a great personality – it’s such a shame reports have it that she was so disappointed about not making the Top 10 that skipped the coronation ball and did not walk with the other losing delegates in the semifinal swimsuit and gown rounds.
• In contrast, apparently there is no one to succeed last year’s Miss Panama Ivette Cordovez for the Losing Delegate Desperate for Airtime Award, as we don’t see any losing delegate jumping about and bandying her sash before the cameras. This year’s batch seemed relatively well-behaved.
The selection of the Top 10 turned out to be surprising, yet superb, group. I got five of my choices in the actual Top 10, but if you extend my list to my 27 possible choices, my batting average is a very good 8/10. Not-so-flattering photographs in the presentation show made me overlook Miss Albania, and to a lesser extent Miss Cyprus. Miss Cyprus, though, was bubbling under in my book. I’m actually glad that USA and Puerto Rico gave way to these worthy choices. Definitely breaking the “Sash Factor” rule in this case.
It should also be noted that this year’s semis features the interesting competition between a powerhouse country, and a powerhouse surrogate. For this year, the powerhouses that made the cut are India and Venezuela, and the powerhouse surrogates are Canada and Germany respectively. Some interesting coincidences, such as:
1. The powerhouse and powerhouse surrogate are ranked consecutively: Venezuela is 5th and Germany is 6th; and India is 9th, and Canada held up the rear in 10th place.
2. The powerhouse country likewise outranks the powerhouse surrogate this year.
Featured Source: Miss Universe 2002 Review: A Return To The Classics: Visions Of The Fairest Maidens In White originally appeared on Mabuhay To Beauty: Profiles of Beauties and Essays on Pageants.
No comments:
Post a Comment