A HOSTILE HOST AND REHASHED ANSWERS
(SERIES 2 OF 4)
By Rolando Rafael
From the very warm
reception that Miss Universe have experienced in Bangkok, Thailand in 1992, we are
greeted by an almost tumultuous booing in 1993 that started when Miss Mexico
was not announced as part of the 10 semifinalists. The loud booing was later on
particularly directed to Miss USA. I find Miss USA a very fine lady and very
conversant at that but I think she was jarred by the acrimonious reception
directed at her by the audience. It was said that the attitude was directed to
the country that she represents but I think, such occurrence was unpleasant,
unpalatable and distasteful for a host country to do that to their visitors.
Knowing that the reception of Mexicans to certain candidates like Miss USA is
deeply ingrained, the organization should take into consideration past
experiences in the place. A repeat of the pageant in 2007 resulted to the same
reaction with Miss USA Rachel Smith. As Miss Rachel Smith said, “I know that it
is not about me but with the heckling and boisterous derisions, it is very
difficult not to take it personally.”
As a result of these
reactions, we will never know if these reactions would be repeated if another
pageant will be held in Mexico. If it happened before, it would most likely
happen again. The Miss Universe Organization should take this into
consideration when choosing a place to host the Miss Universe. I always believe
that the pageant is a venue for camaraderie, hospitality and goodwill among
nations.
The Miss Universe 1993
went down in history that the number 8 in the semifinalists eventually reached
the top and was named and crowned as Miss Universe , Dayanara Torres of Puerto
Rico. Even during the Top 10 competitions she was always in the middle ground
but during the culmination portion, she snatched the possible crown from Miss
Venezuela who was almost perfect for the crown that night. We also do not know
if the crowd who was frustrated with the non-inclusion of their candidate
shifted their cheers on her swayed the judges’ decision to favor her in place
of Miss Colombia and Miss Venezuela.
The answers of the
three finalists to the one final question are doubly significant. There are
pararellisms that we can get from them. The final question given was: “ If you
would become Miss Universe, what is the
most single important thing that you would want to accomplish?
Miss Colombia, Paula
Bettancourt answered that her country is the land of the Amazonas and that it
is one of the last frontier in the world. There is therefore a need to do an
ecological campaign to preserve, protect and maintain the environment to give
the younger generations a better and healthier future.
“It is 1993 during this
time. It seems like the seeds for the concept of Miss Earth started during this
year and the idea maybe hatched from the answer of Miss Colombia. But seriously
speaking, Miss Colombia is proud of her country’s resources and that she is
sounding the call for people to look after the environment. We could see how
people in the audience appreciated her answer.”
Miss Venezuela Milka
Chulinas said that she will try to make people change their negative attitude
into a positive one so that we would have a better place to live in.
“Look at the
parallelism of the answer of Miss Colombia in 1992 with Miss Venezuela’s answer.
Miss Colombia was talking about orienting her people in the peaceful way so
that they could through the life of happiness. Miss Venezuela espoused that
people change their negative attitudes (warlike attitudes) into positive one
(peaceful coexistence). “
Miss Puerto Rico, Dayanara Torres responded that we should learn from the past and that we should implement it in
the present to create a better future and that she would focus on the children
because they are the future.
“In 1992 Michelle
Mclean of Namibia won the title of Miss Universe by telling everyone that she
would speak to the younger generation because they are the very foundation of
the future of the nation. Dayanara Torres of Puerto Rico said exactly what Miss
Universe 1992 said in a paraphrased version.”
It seemed that the
magic word during these two editions is the children of today being the
recipients of the future. Had Miss Colombia mouthed similar perorations she
might have clinched the title in 1993.
Note that India's presence in the Miss Universe arena is greatly being felt. In 1992, India's representative managed to get the 2nd runner-up position. This year, their candidate was in the Magic 10. What Madhu was trying to explain in terms of the language barrier might be true again for India's candidate for 1993. But it is another story in 1994 where Sushmita Sen proved to all sundry that India's time has come. She was crowned in Manila, Philippines as the 1994 Miss Universe. The Miss Universe story in 1994 is the topic of the third series.
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| India's representative to the Miss Universe 1993 made it to the Top 6 together with Venezuela, Australia, Colombia, Puerto Rico and USA |
Photo Credits:
www.elanecdotario.com
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