The Miss Earth
Miss Earth opened the Big4 pageant
season on 04 November. Winning the title was Karen Ibasco of the Philippines.
It spurs controversy since this is the 4th Miss Earth crown for the Philippines
only in a span of 4 years.
Let us splice how Miss Earth picks its
winner.
The preliminary was held in various date
and include the following:
Figure and Form - where candidates are
judged based on their body fitness. A white veil covers their head so as not to
distract the judges in judging their physical form. This event was open to the
public for viewing and there was even a live feed at Facebook.
Intelligence - which is equivalent to
interview is where the candidates thrown question on different topics about
environmental issue. The session was also opened to the public.
Facial Beauty - is where candidates
presented themselves to a panel of judges without any make up on their face.
As all the categories for preliminary
pageant was open to the public, transparency wise, Miss Earth cannot be judge
of bias.
During the finals night, the Top 16
candidates were called who aced each of the above categories. It is obvious
that Miss Thailand was included in each of the category which confirms the
hotpick of every pageant page that she might clinch the crown.
It is already known that once the Top 16
was chosen, all the scores are back to zero and each of the girls should climb
their way to the Top 4.
The Top 16 was randomly selected and
once they are selected in their evening gown, they have approximately 15
seconds to make an impression thus they have to be prepared once they are
called. The swimsuit was more relaxed since the candidates are already assured
of their spot.
Since they were already judged based on
physical beauty, test for “presence of mind” comes next. And I labeled this as
“presence of mind” because most of the comments that I’ve read equates
“intelligence” to a quiz bee competition.
The Top 8 were picked based on their
performance on the evening gown and swimsuit competitions and their scores were
once again reset. The 8 semifinalist were given a “hashtag” to which they need
to give their interpretation. But of course, the answer needs to be related to
the advocacy of Miss Earth or based on pertinent issues.
From their answers from the “hashtag”
questions, the Top 4 was picked. The Top 4 was only given one question, “Who or
what do you think is the biggest enemy of Mother Earth and why?” Karen’s answer
was,
“I believe that the real problem in this
world is not climate change. The real problem is US because of our ignorance
and apathy. What we have to do is to start changing our ways, to start
recalibrating our minds and redirecting our steps because, together, as a
global community, our micro–efforts will have macro–effect to help save our
home, our planet.”
It is obvious that Karen was the one who
gave the most specific answer without any loopholes to it.
The one who gave the official result to
the host is a representative of SGV (Sycip, Gorres and Velayo) who happens to
be the official tabulator of the pageant.
Here is my analysis,
All the preliminary event of the
competition was made public thus it would be obvious as to who underperformed
and given preferential treatment during the finals night. The Top 16 were well
justified.
The Miss Earth organizer is very
objective with the selection of the candidate. The previous performance of a
candidate in a specific segment of the competition doesn’t have any bearing
with the next segment of the competition. If a candidate was already judged in
the evening gown and swimsuit, don’t expect it to have a bearing on the
question and answer part.
A lot of memes sprouted at Instagram
mocking and or questioning the type of beauty that Karen possesses. She was not
the ideal prototype by which netizen is expecting. But the thing they forgot to
look at was the local competition. At Miss Earth Philippines, there are a lot
of “prototypes” the way netizen expects from a beauty queen but they didn’t
win. And Miss Earth made it clear from the start that they are not looking for
the most beautiful or the most intelligent; both are just a token if the
candidate possesses it.
Having said this, Miss Earth is looking
for a candidate who has a “vision” to execute its advocacy, someone who is more
straight–forward, someone who doesn’t “sugar coat” its language. And after the
recall of Miss South Africa, compliance with the minimum height requirement is
required.
Some avenue for improvement:
I suggest that they use a pink veil next
time as there were clamor that it looks as if there is a funeral. And if the
veil is intended to cover up to the tip of the nose, the veil has to reach to
that part of the face.
Maximize the guest artist. The
performance of the guest artist can be pre–recorded if she will also seat as
one of the judges. Or if it is a live performance, it can be integrated in one
of the segment of the competition like evening gown or swimsuit.
At least three days prior to the finals
night, the stage should already be prepared. A nail is still visible in the
background on one of the pillars on stage when the host was in front of it.
This will also allow pre– recording of the guest artist to have it as filler
for the next segment of the competition or for tabulation purposes.
Formalize the preliminary competition.
Instead of holding it in a hotel, they can hold it in the stage itself to be
used for the finals night, that way, the candidates would be able to have an
actual feel of the stage itself and be able to calculate the steps they will
strut.
I like the random call for the Top 16
semi–finalist where they will go straight to strut their evening gown; however,
the area by which they will showcase themselves becomes limited because of the
presence of the other candidate. Since the stage is large enough, they should
have at least put a two meter gap at the center where the called semi–finalist
can descend on stage.
The interior of the stage has
tremendously improved. The use of LED TV have an astound effect on the
aesthetic value of the stage. They could just have added a suspension to cover
the borders of the LED TV just to dampen its look from a cinematic theater.
In pre–judging the figure and form
segment, instead of issuing a two piece swimsuit, they can issue instead a biker
short and midriff sports bra to give it a more professional look. And instead
of a pasarela, they should be required to stand in front of the judges and let
them face to the left and right with hands lifted to the side. Their front view
look would be the typical akimbo and foot on L–position.
They just need to change the rule
regarding deliberation as to who will get the Miss Air and Miss Earth title.
According to one of the interview with Lorraine, the accounting firm (SGV), if
there is no tie or inconsistency, will decide who will be the winner. This
time, they just need to create a four man panel who will decide as to who gets
the Miss Earth and Miss Air title by vote. That 4–man panel should be composed
of two from Carousel Production and the Chairman and Vice–chairman of the panel
of judges.
The organization’s list of itinerary is tight
borderline suffocating because according to the organizers they receive a lot
of invitation from local government and sponsors thus the pre–pageant is one
month. They have to reduce this to at least three weeks only and perhaps start
to refuse to other invitation. Nevertheless, if you will check the timeline of
majority of the candidates at instagram, it is very evident that they indeed
enjoyed their activities and the memories they have experienced is like a once
in a lifetime opportunity.
The Miss Earth organization should
continue integrating the environmental seminar that they are advocating as well
as the school tour they are executing as part of the pageant. And if there will
be group activities from the seminar, better do it in the hotel function room.
Here is a summary of the arguments of
the netizen regarding Karen’s victory:
1. That Miss Earth is catered for Philippines only
Again, by
reviewing the performance of Karen, it is evident that she deserves the crown.
And in each segment of the competition, their performance is always back to
zero. This happens at Miss Universe beauty pageant when Carolina Izshak aced
the swimsuit, evening gown and interview portion but failed to clinch the
title.
2. That the Philippines can’t send a pure Filipina (like Karen) because
she is ugly and will not measure up to other races
By watching
the local pageant, you will notice that there are “hafu” who are prototype of a
conventional beauty queen but they didn’t win. By this time, National Directors
from different countries should already be aware that Miss Earth is very
“mission–oriented.” They are looking for a candidate who is very much committed
in executing its advocacy, someone who has vast knowledge on environmental
issue and not someone who would just use the title for personal benefit or as
stepping stone for a career in the entertainment industry.
3. That Karen already know the question beforehand
Again, by
reviewing her performance in the local pageant, it is evident that she did her
homework. She didn’t stick to what was already obvious or existing but rather
what can be done further thus she was able to aced the final Q&A. Could
Juliana Franco gave a more convincing answer, she might have clinch the crown.
4. That National Directors should ask for discount on franchise fee since
as if they are paying to serve the interest of a Filipina beauty queen.
The franchise
fee is not a one size fits all (i.e. it varies from one country to the other).
The advocacy of Miss Earth is solid and for National Directors who are really
committed in executing its advocacy, they would be able to find enough sponsors
to fund their activities and would not let go of their franchise just because
their candidate didn’t win. Franchise fee are calibrated based on supply and
demand and is mandatory before one can join the pageant.
The Miss International
Second to hold the pageant season is
Miss International which was held on 14 November in Tokyo Japan. Kevin Liliana
of Indonesia won the title.
Mariel de Leon of the Philippines failed
to enter the Top 15. Rumors has it of the so called “Mikimoto curse” which
spells that if a country won in the previous year, it will not win the
following year. But these are just mere coincidence. Truth be told, a back to
back stint is very much possible if National Directors would only stick to the
advocacy of the pageant and the type of winner that Miss International is
looking for.
Filipino pageant fans thought that
Mariel’s non–inclusion to the Top 15 is attributed to her styling, her weight
or her training. All of this has nothing to do with it. I feel sorry that
Mariel was not included at the Top 15 but I also feel vindicated. In one of the
pageant forum during the Binibining Pilipinas selection, I mentioned that
Mariel should be sent to Miss Intercontinental instead. While I find her very
beautiful, her personality is a mismatch for Miss International. Others who are
worthy of a Miss International Philippines title in the 2017 pageant are Gail
Tobes and Charmaine Elima. None of these girls won a title.
The pre–pageant activities of Miss
International are designed to showcase the character of the candidates. These
include a visit to Panasonic headquarters, Ikebana session, Sakura calligraphy,
paper making activities, tea pot session, school visits with Japanese students.
If the mindset of the fans and national directors that Miss International is
looking for someone who look good in pasarela or who has the most charming
face, they will end as clapper each year. The Japanese are not very
superficial. Some of the candidates who did well in both the evening gown and
swimsuit during the coronation night include Canada, Colombia, India, Hawaii
and Philippines. None of them made it to the Top 15.
It is obvious that the final speech of
Kevin Liliana is the most convincing of all thus when the four runners up were
called, it is of no wonder that the crown indeed belong to her. However, back
in the Philippines there is a different side of the story. One of the training
camp (Kagandahang Flores) who were responsible for the successful victory of
former Miss International (like Precious Lara Quigaman in 2005 and Bea Rose
Santiago in 2013) acknowledged that Kevin was trained in the Philippines and
congratulated her publicly through their instagram page. On her instagram page,
Kevin Liliana thanked the people who supported her on her journey; her training
camp was not mentioned on the acknowledgement. In pageant forums, some netizen
mentioned that there is no need for her to do so since anyway these training
camps are “paid” to do that job. But isn’t it that universities or colleges are
also “training” grounds for future professionals and in this institutions,
students also “pay” their fees and those who don’t are the so called “scholar”
and after graduation, we are forever “grateful” if not “indebted” to our Alma
Mater for what we are today. Whatever the repercussion of this action, only the
future held the answer.
The Miss World
On 18th November, Manushi Chhillar
of India was crowned Miss World. This is the 6th time that India won
the title and the last one was in the year 2000.
Just in the previous edition of Miss
World, it is “mesmerizing” as to how they arrived with the winner in the
competition. The following is a walk–through on the pre–selection process:
1. The Top 40 were selected based on the following criteria:
a. Twenty (20) candidates from the “Head to Head” challenge
This is the
first time it was introduced in the pageant. Candidates are grouped into 20
groups. The group assignment were done by draw lot were each group has six
members. Each group was given questions to answer and netizen could vote for
their candidate of choice. The tricky part is, it’s as if it is no longer the
content of the answer that matters but rather who has strong fan base who would
garner the most vote.
b. Fifteen (15) candidates picked by the judges
One of the
judges was Arnold Vegafria who was the National Director of Miss World
Philippines who just left two days prior the coronation night. And if there
were fifteen candidates to be chosen, on what merit or qualification were they
chosen to be there? When and where did the selection took place?
c. Five (5) candidates from the Fast Track challenges (Sports, Talent,
BWAP, Multimedia and Top Model)
As each of
this activity was actually performed then the result is obvious and no need to
be questioned.
During the finals night, the Top 40 were
selected as described above.
After a commercial break, it was trimmed
down to Top 15 without any round of competition taking place. My hunch is that
this Top 15 are the same candidates on the Top 15 on judges pick. If that is
the case, then why is there a need to announce a Top 40?
After another commercial break, the Top
15 were further trimmed down to Top 5 without any round of competition taking
place. This Top 5 were given a random question to answer.
Most pageant forum describes Miss World
as an “unpredictable pageant” since candidates on “hot pick” doesn’t
necessarily end up as winner but it is the absence of a tabulator (accounting
firm) and a confusing selection process that makes it unpredictable. It is also
by this format that makes it “subjective” or “moody” so to speak.
If I were a National Director paying a
franchise fee and would like to send the best candidate to win, I wouldn’t be
able to select the best one based on what the organization is looking for
because there isn’t any parameter to serve as reference; it would purely be by
luck or a “hit or miss.” Likewise, you wouldn’t be able to evaluate what went
wrong with the previous candidate in order to improve the next time around.
On the point of view of pageant fans or
netizen, for as long as the winner fits their definition of “beautiful” then
she’s good to go.
The thing here is, the survival of
beauty pageant is dependent on the mission it was created for or as a
complement to a specific brand. Miss World current mission is embedded to its
“Beauty with a Purpose” tagline. It is not tied up to any brand. While the
current winner was able to justify the “Beauty with a Purpose” mission through
her advocacy, were the runners up aligned to that mission as well?
There are a dozen of beauty pageant which
became defunct because it is not headed to a specific direction thus
sponsorship also declines. There are those who are feeling the pinch already as
evident on the type of production they are presenting. On the other hand, there
are pageants that tremendously leap because the mission by whom it was created
became sustainable.
With “reality show” (e.g., ANTM, AsTM)
being present in every country in search for the next “it” girl, beauty pageant
is no longer a stepping stone for stardom. Beauty queens already evolved from
being glamazons to “empowered ladies” with a mission to fulfil.
The Miss Universe
On 26 November, the 66th
edition of Miss Universe kicks off in Las Vegas, Nevada and Demi Leigh Nel –
Peters of South Africa bags the crown.
Reading through pageant forums, here are
some of the clamors regarding the recent event:
1. Non–televised preliminary event and location
It has been a
yearly tradition of Miss Universe to televise the preliminary pageant which
includes the evening gown and swimsuit portion. The preliminary did took place
however, it was held at the Mezzanine of Planet Hollywood which is a very small
area and incapable of holding large audience. Likewise, during the competition,
recording devices were prohibited.
2. Grouping by continent
For the first
time in its history, selection of candidates was grouped according to
continent:
4 candidates
from Asia / Africa / Oceania
4 candidates
from Europe
4 candidates
from North / Central and South America / Caribbean
4 candidates
from “Wild card” selection
It is unknown
as to why the methodology was changed but by theoretical concept, it’s more of
a “diversification” strategy. It’s like
giving an opportunity to continents whose placement has been weak in recent
years such as Africa and Europe. Despite the fact that it has been done, only
one candidate from Africa and Europe entered the Top 10 and as expected Asia
and South America emerged strong.
3. Return to the Phoenix crown
The Phoenix
crown was first used in 2002 and then replaced by the DIC crown. There has been
a breach of contract from the maker of the DIC crown thus the Phoenix crown
returned.
4. Shortened pre–pageant activities
The usual
Miss Universe pageant is a three week activity which include gift auction, tour
around the city, charity, etc. The gift auction was omitted as part of the pre–pageant
activity. There was just one charity event which is the visit to “Smile Train.”
The fan impression was that the pageant was held just to be able to crown a new
queen and not as a momentous event. Also, only selected candidates took part on
the Yamamay swimsuit photoshoot giving an impression of favoritism to some of
the candidate.
Rachel Peters of the Philippines
finished at the Top 10. Those who made it through the Top 5 share one thing in
common and that their introductory video is mostly composed of an advocacy:
Jamaica – deaf education
Colombia – Bullying
Thailand – teenage pregnancy
Venezuela – gender equality
South Africa – martial arts education;
project named “unbreakable”
During the live telecast, Steve Harvey
asked one of the judges the following question:
Steve Harvey: What are you looking for?
Ross Matthews: I’m looking for a woman
who is confident, right? Who has a good heart and wants to do a good MISSION
with the crown.
With that answer, you know what they are looking for
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