If Only She Was There...

Miss Panama Carolina Dementiev's autographed photo for all Missosology.Org web visitors

She came to Panama at a young age. She was born in the then Soviet Union and her family name bears Slavic traces. Carolina Dementiev, when interviewed by Missosology a day after the preliminaries looks radiant and happy. At that moment it seems without doubt that she will be a strong contender for the crown. She could have been Panama’s best chance for a Miss Universe title since Justine Pasek in 2002. Carolina performed very well at the gown competition. She is one of the “twirlers” – delegates who twirled their skirts during the gown segment gaining attention. Carolina’s gown features clean white with silver embellishment with a generous slit in the front. It is one of the notable gowns that night. At swimsuit competition she also displayed confidence, walked elegantly and showed sexy poses.

Any beauty expert will never think that Carolina will not make it to the top 15. She was very strong in both the gown and swimsuit segments. In the last Missosology.Org’s Hot Picks, Carolina is in the 5th position. In the finals prediction’s list (which is perhaps the most accurate prediction ever made by a major pageant-related website this year having predicted the winner and the first runner-up) she is our second runner-up trailing behind Venezuela and Colombia. Interestingly, a pageant-related website known for its top-notch commentary Tom’s Page of Miss Universe Mania (http://www.tpmum.com) put her on the 5th position. The website expressed its disappointment by saying that “Also among the shocking exclusions was Panama who delivered in all categories and had a great gown presentation”. Popular website Globalbeauties.com posted in its final “pyramid” rankings that Carolina will be the first runner-up. The website’s “commentators” said that Carolina is “a gorgeous woman who many think could be the next Miss Universe.”

If Carolina did “deliver”, a strong Miss Universe contender, a shocking exclusion, a gorgeous woman, then why she wasn’t in the top 15? Any guess will be good but consider the roster of the actual Top 15; there is no doubt that Panama’s exclusion was simply unjustified. She was traded with some undeserving delegates and there is a gamut of reasons for that. Political? Or business perhaps?

The current format of Miss Universe makes everything mere speculations. A decade ago, preliminaries scores where shown to the public. In this format, people have no qualms if Miss Philippines 1994 or Miss USA 1996 made it to the top ten despite being the hosts. Or that Miss Mexico 1993 did not make it despite being the local girl. This year, we will never know how Miss Vietnam was scored. Add the fact that the Miss Universe Organization reserved the right to choose 5 delegates of their liking. These formats make Miss Universe more subjective rather than being objective. It makes more difficult for delegates to target specific skills needed to win the crown. In the end, the general public will be left asking on what it takes to be in the top 15.

Carolina Dementiev will go into history as one of the delegates that many thought will make a good Miss Universe but never made it to the top 15. While we can only say if only she was there, this phenomenon is but an annual occurrence.

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