THE MISS UNIVERSE SAGA – THE PHILIPPINE EXPERIENCE (SERIES 4 OF 5)

2001 – 2010 THE YEARS OF STRUGGLE

by Rolando Rafael

THE CEREBRAL CHOICES: The most common denominator of this period is that majority of choices are cerebral candidates. This can be seen in 2001 (Andam), 2002 (Agustin), 2005 (Cabrera), 2006 (Ramos), 2007 (Licaros) and 2009 (Manalo). Among these winners of the Bb. Pilipinas Universe title, 3 are from UP (Andam, Ramos and Licaros), 1 from University of Asia and Pacific (Cabrera), 1 from AMA Computer University (Agustin) and 1 from Assumption College (Manalo). These candidates are known to be the intelligent types and that their selection was practically based from the experience that we almost made it in 1999 and that we lost because our candidate bombed out in the question and answer portion.

THE VENEZUELAN EXPERIMENT: Also during this decade, after the debacle in 2000 where our candidate was not sent to any training program because she was said to be the perfect candidate. We have to lick our wounds as we realize that we have gone full circle. Our winner in 2001 was sent to Venezuela but with less encouraging results. So in 2002, there was a sudden turnaround and another experiment was hatched – the Colombian experiment.

THE COLOMBIAN EXPERIMENT:  There seem to be a big question when the Philippine franchise holder for Miss Universe shifted her gears and took her winners for Colombian training only after 2 tries. First it was Mirriam Quiambao who almost made it and second was Zorayda Ruth Andam who was only triumphant as a first runner-up in the National Costume category. After Zorayda, succeeding candidates were sent to Colombia (Karen, Carla, Maricar, Giona, Lia, Anna Teresa, Jennifer and Pamela) for training. There were questions asked? Why Colombia? Why not pursue Venezuela instead? Reasons like, Venezuelan training is very expensive and that Filipina winners are not ready for the surgical enhancement programs of Venezuela. Although eventually, Venezuela stopped training foreign girls when Amelia Vega, Miss Dominican Republic who trained under Osmel Souza won Miss Universe in 2003. Then why Colombia? Colombia has not produced a winner for so long and that their golden period was not 1992-1994 did not produce a winner. While Venezuela was churning out runner-ups and title holders and is competing with the United States in terms of the number of winners. What was the common denominator for Karen, Carla, Maricar, Giona, Lia and Anna Teresa as a result of their Colombian preparation? They were cooked! Karen was cooked just enough. Carla was neither here nor there. Maricar lost her radiance and zest. Giona looked like she’s in a daze and had always a bad hair day. Lia was practically “mulattized” (pardon the term – it was derived from the word mulatto!). This period was labeled by a blogger (Bragitto) as TRIPLE C – Colombia, Cumbia and Cubao. Colombia where the training was held and Alfredo Barraza helped in the training and dressing the girls. It is alleged that he dresses the girls with poorly designed and made gowns and styles them very badly so that the Colombian candidates will shine over our candidates. Cumbia refers to those gowns and dresses worn by the candidates from the dress boutique of the Aranetas where there is nothing fashionable about it and lastly Cubao refers to BPCI and Madam Stella Araneta and her staff who are said to be caught in a time warp.  Pamela was again sent to Colombia but this time, there was no “mulattization” done. She was said to have undergone some slimming sessions and pasarela training. And again, the dreadful 3 C’s were very apparent and pageant fans were roaring when they saw her in an uninspired gift wrapper concept gown.

THE RIGHT BUT CONTROVERSIAL CHOICE: The year 2010 selected Maria Venus Raj, a Filipino-Indian beauty who was disqualified after discrepancies in her public pronouncements and what was written her birth certificate surfaced. It was the very first time the “pageantlandia” went up in arms and gave her a resounding support and thus, the first time the organization was nudged from their earlier decision. Venus was not sent to Colombia. A local team trained her.  Venus Raj went on to charm the people in Las Vegas even getting some comments from Osmel Souza of Venezuela that the Philippines sent a strong girl this time. The pageant fans went gaga over this girl most especially when she was chosen to be in the Top 5. After her debacle however in the question and answer portion, she was again back into the bashing board but Venus practically closed the decade with hope and more hope and probably more changes.  

FEBRUARY 2012 EDITORIAL: RED ON A ROLL

This is our February issue and we call this issue, RED ON A ROLL. The color red is the strongest color among the basic colors. It conjures different feelings and emotions. It can either mean love or war. It could either mean cupid or the devil. It means hot...It is flaming. It stimulates and sometimes seethes a person into anger. Red symbolizes excitement, energy, speed, strength, danger, passion, and aggression.

For this issue, we will talk all about red. Our front cover is Eva Ekvall a Venezuelan beauty queen that aroused the feelings of everyone in the pageant world in relation to her fight against the dreaded big “C” – that of breast cancer. Although October is supposed to be the Breast Cancer Month, we have included in our issue the topic on Breast Self-Examination in relation to our article about Eva. We have raised the RED ALARM S AND ALERTS against breast cancer in this article.

Our resident fashion reviewer will talk about ladies who competed in red gowns in their international beauty pageants and she has lots to say about them. Another contributor will talk about men in his article Brawn and Beauty and a lot more.

February is not just a heart month. It is a hot, fiery and exciting month. I hope we grabbed your attention and take you into action in our aim for excellence.

INSIGHTS: BEAUTY FROM WITHIN

By Dominador Agbayani

It is such a surprise to hear a lot candidates during the Question and Answer portion when egged to answer to the question, “what edge do you have over other candidates for you to win this contest?” The candidates often answer, “I have beauty from within” without even trying to expound on their answers.

As one of the greatest philosophers of all time, Confucius has said: “Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.” We have different standards of beauty and it is not only based on physical characteristics and but something insightful and much deeper. In other words, the likeability of a person is shaped by our experiences, perceptions and the dictates of our upbringing. To quote further what Ruffa Gutierrez, Miss Philippines-World 1993 when she was asked how would she tell a girl suffering from low self-esteem to feel good about herself? She answered: "I would tell her to believe in herself because it is not only physical beauty that is important but also inner beauty. Just like what the Little Prince said, 'the essential things are invisible to the naked eye.' Definitely, character and personality are more important than physical beauty."

Miss Philippines World 1993, Ruffa Gutierrez during the final question and answer portion at Miss World 1993.

Definitely, everyone would want to become physically attractive. And definitely, the first basis in getting attracted to someone is through physical attraction. But eventually, in somebody’s search for someone really beautiful, they are gauged on their personality and reactions to certain situations to eventually ferret out the candidates’ beauty from within. Thus in the final analysis, the lady or woman who has the most beautiful face does not end up winning the plum because she was measured less in terms of her beauty from within.

Take for example, the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant, the girls are initially judged according to their beauty and physical attributes. They are measured according to their ability to carry themselves in bikini or in  bathing suits  as well as show elan in their evening gowns. But further, they are trimmed to the semi-finalists in their ability to respond to questions that would bring out how personable they are. They are not really judged based on how intelligent they are but how ready and witty they acquit themselves in bringing out the best in them during the interviews. In the recent Miss World Competition, the candidates participated in different events and they were rated based on their performances in those events. The candidates’ capability to espouse the agenda of the organization had the most bearing on who should win it all. On the other hand the Miss Earth Beauty Pageant is in search of someone who is not only beautiful but someone who can champion the cause of environmental preservation and protection.

Left to right: Miss Universe 1973 from the Philippines, Margarita Moran; Miss Universe 1994 from India, Sushmita Sen and Miss Universe 2002 from Russia, Oxana Fedorova (dethroned).

In the recent years, we notice that pageants go through a cycle. In the past, organizations look for pretty, intelligent and witty women. The 1990’s is the era where distortion of what is beautiful came about. The term “enhanced beauty” came to fore and many nations resorted to advances in cosmetic surgery and dermatology just to achieve the perfect beauty. Venezuela topped the list in creating such beauty and many nations followed suit. But if you notice the recent choices in most international pageants, the fresh, the seemingly untouched and natural beauties are beginning to be noticed again in the international arena. There is not steadfast rule therefore of what perfect beauty should be.

A beauty in one era may not be a beauty in someone else’s time. Beauty contests are still relevant and we cannot avoid it, physical attributes of a participant would still be the primary criterion in choosing the winner. The so-called beauty from within still remains to be the method in segregating the chaff from the grains.