Regardless of what individuals may think of beauty pageants and their relevance today, the fact is that they continue to be big events commanding huge viewerships and intense media attention. We had the Miss Universe pageant on 16 December 2018 which was much of the same but also a bit of the new. Here are some highlights of Miss Universe 2018.
Miss India Nehal Chudasama was one of 94 women from as many countries vying for the crown. However, she failed to make it to the top 20.
The opening statement is a new segment in this pageant, where each contestant has a short message that they give to the world.
The contestants from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Curacao, Great Britain, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Jamaica, Nepal, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Thailand, US, Venezuela and Vietnam made it to the top 20.
Just a few days before the competition, a video of Miss USA had gone viral. In the video she speaks disparagingly and mockingly about the contestants from Cambodia and Vietnam who don’t speak any English according to her. While many pointed out that this was an international competition and English speaking was not a requirement, others were simply happy that she didn’t advance in the competition.
Tamaryn Green from South Africa, Catriona Gray from Philippines, Manita Devkota from Nepal, H'Hen Nie of Vietnam and Sophida Kanchanarin of Thailand were the five who made it to the top five.
This is the final question that swayed the judges in favour of Miss Philippines.
This was an obvious reference to her stunning red dress, which was meant to symbolise a Mayon volcano in Albay. Gray was the only one of the top contestants in a red dress; the rest were in muted silver.
Miss South Africa was the gracious runner up; wishing the winner well and thanking her fellow country people for their support.
Miss Spain Angela Ponce had everyone’s respect for becoming the first trans woman to become a part of the pageant. The pageant reversed the old policy that barred trans women from competing.
Though she didn’t get into the semifinals of the competition, she made a massive impact just by being there. She walked the ramp and symbolically took off her Spain sash to indicate that she was representative of all women from everywhere; not just her own country. In a competition that does little for women except to continue to objectify them (it is incredible that these pageants claim to be about personality but still have a swimsuit round), this was certainly significant.
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