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The Miss World Stint
By Giovanni Paolo J. Yazon The Philippines came this close to finally bagging the only beauty title it hasn’t won — the Miss World crown. Aided in part by the pageant’s revised rules that enable the public to select the winner by voting through text messaging and the Internet, Maria Karla Rabanal Bautista made it to the Top 5 of the competition held at the spectacular 3,000-seater Beauty Crown Theater in Sanya, China Saturday night. But Bautista, the last Filipina beauty queen to compete in an international beauty contest this year, did not make it to the Top Three. In the end, it was Miss Peru, Maria Julia Mantilla Garcia, an aspiring school teacher from the coastal town of Trujillo who walked away with the title. The Peruvian beauty bested 106 other beauties, including first and second runners-up Claudia Julissa Cruz Rodriguez, an 18-year-old high school student from the Dominican Republic, and Nancy Randall, a 24-year-old model from the United States. Garcia, dressed in a shimmering blue backless dress, burst into tears at the announcement, after winning the hearts of the audience saying the thing she would miss most about the competition was its host town, Sanya. “I don’t speak very good English. But the smiles of the people transcend language,” she said through an interpreter. They were selected based on the total number of telephone, SMS text and Internet votes sent in by viewers around the world from Nov. 24 to Dec. 4. Before this, Miss World was chosen by a panel of judges.
Miss Philippines, Maria Karla Bautista greets the audience. She said these words fluently in Mandarin, "How are you doing? I'm so happy to be here...." Karla delighted the locals and became an instant crowd-favorite. A clear favorite with the Chinese crowd, Bautista, a 20-year-old Cebuana taking up mass communication at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, placed fourth overall in the swimsuit preliminaries and was among the top 20 semifinalists for the talent competition where she wrote a poem on the spot and read it. She was also named “Queen of Asia and Oceana,” a minor title won by actress Sharmaine Ruffa Gutierrez in 1993; and Sherry Rose Byrne in 1986. Gutierrez was bestowed the title of Second Princess, while Byrne was a semifinalist. No Filipina has ever won the elusive crown. The closest the country has come to winning the title was in 1973, when Evangeline Luis Pascual emerged first runner-up, behind Miss USA, Marjorie Wallace. Pascual had the opportunity to take over as Miss World a few months later, after the organizers deemed Wallace unfit to reign, but the Filipina declined in favor of a budding movie career.  Mother’s dying wish In joining the Binibining Pilipinas contest, Bautista was fulfilling the last wish of her mother, who succumbed to cancer recently. In a message to her friends via the Internet, Bautista thanked Filipinos for voting for her. Ninety-seven percent of her votes came from the Philippines, the so-called texting capital of the world. Bautista struggled to maintain her poise when asked by hosts Troy McClain (of “The Apprentice”) and Angela Chow (former MTV Asia veejay): “What has been your favorite moment in this competition?” “The favorite moment that I had in this competition would be the time I had spent with the girls, particularly when we were in the bus, chatting and singing. In this contest I’ve learned the importance of friendship. With AP  
SANYA, China (AFP) - Miss World contestants united in defending the pageant's relevance and denied it degraded women. Most argued that strutting their stuff in front of more than two billion television viewers did not promote sexism, but instead helped the poor and drew attention to suffering in the world. "We are not here to show naked bodies. I think all of us are here to fight a cause, some for AIDS, some for abused women," said 23-year-old Miss Malaysia, Gloria Ting. Miss Philippines, Ma Karla Bautista, agreed. "We are not here just to show off beauty, but we're here also to show our purpose. The fact that we're showing off our bodies hasn't changed that," said the 20-year-old. "We're all coming together to share our culture and attributions, to let people know more about our countries, what we're working for. We are here for a cause," she said. For example, she said contestants learned a lot from a lecture given to them by a leading doctor about childbirth injuries among Ethiopian teenage girls who are married off by their families. Last year's winner Rosanna Davison of Ireland said Miss World's fame helped many ambitious and intelligent young women to promote their countries and advance their careers. "Yes, the girls are beautiful, and in some ways it helps them to become representatives and ambassadors of their countries," she said. "It's a wonderful thing to represent your country and it's a huge honour for any young girl ... it gives young women an opportunity to give an opinion on global issues," she said. AP 1/12/04      SANYA, CHINA - DECEMBER 1: Miss World 2004 contestants (L-R), Miss United States Nancy Randall, Miss Fiji Islands Aishwarya Sukhdeo, Miss Philippines Ma Karla Bautista, Miss South Africa Joan Kwena Ramagoshi, Miss Tanzania Faraja Kotta, Miss Puerto Rico Casandra Castro Holland and Miss Brazil Iara Maria Resende Azevdo Coelho pose for pictures after a news conference on December 1, 2004 in Sanya, a city of Hainan island in China. More than 100 contestants from around the world are in China for the annual Miss World competition finals to be held on Dec 4. This afternoon a group of Miss World contestants gathered in honour of World AIDS Day to discuss with the assembled media, the impact that HIV and AIDS has on the world today, specifically in relation to their own countries. BRAZIL, PUERTO RICO, PHILIPPINES, TANZANIA, FIJI ISLANDS, SOUTH AFRICA and UNITED STATES were amongst the Miss World contestants who met with the press contingent that included Chinese and International press. BRAZIL opened precedings where she spoke openly of the problems Brazil faced in dealing with the effects of HIV and AIDS but said she was encouraged 'by the programmes in schools that inform people about the dangers of HIV'. Preventing the spread of HIV was the most important part of the programme - education being the key. Indeed the theme that ran most clearly throughout the discussion was one of the need for education. PUERTO RICO spoke movingly of her own education and admitted that when she had been at school there had been no information about HIV and AIDS. She believed that 'all of society needs to work together - the government, families, and schools' to provide adequate education. 'Communication is very important'. PHILLIPINES stated that 'one of the advantages of being involved in Miss World is that you get to be an ambassador. You get the opportunity to talk about such issues as HIV and AIDS.' She summed up her thinking on the issue with what she called the three A's; Awareness (of HIV and AIDS), Acceptance (Not to stigmatise those who are infected), and Aid (not only to help those who are HIV +, but aid to help educate). The next contestant to speak was TANZANIA, who reiterated how she believed that the Miss World pledge of Beauty With A Purpose is an ideal vehicle to help promote such issues. In particular she informed the audience of the problems endemic to Sub Saharan Africa. She spoke of education being 'essential for the future of Africa', and was particularly keen to stress the plight of women in Africa. She directly appealled to the listening press that 'you can never be too small to make a decision (to help)'. The next speaker was qualified doctor FIJI ISLANDS who talked of the problems her home country had with the virus. She was keen to point out that HIV is indiscriminate in who it effects. 'Anybody, of any sex, any race, any age and either sex can be affected' and that is why it is key that everybody should be educated about the dangers. SOUTH AFRICA made the point that HIV doesn't only 'infect a lot of people, it also affects a lot of people'. Spreading the message of safe sex was, she believed, essential. U.S.A finished the conference by revealing the shocking statistics researched by the World Aids Day (www.worldaidsday.org). She told the stunned audience that every minute five people in the world die of AIDS related illnesses. Meaning that it is now the third biggest killer in the world. She spoke of it being a global emergency, that it was 'the defining moral issue of our day' and that education was the fundamental issue to be addressed. World AIDS Day is now in its 17th year. The aim of World AIDS Day is to bring to people's attention the worldwide challenges and consequences of the epidemic in order to create change. Please visit www.worldaidsday.org for further details. (courtesy Miss World Website)  Out of the 90+ beauties who auditioned for the Talent Competition (one of Miss World's Fast-Track events) only 20 were chosen to perform for the Talent Portion Final round. Talents ranged from ventriloquism and mime to yoga, poetry, singing, piano playing and a self defence demonstration. The audience at the Universal Hotel, the Official Theatre of the 54th Miss World, sat stunned as Antigua sang her heart out to take the crown in the Talent Contest and be fast-tracked to the Final. In addition, she will receive 25 bonus points towards her total points tally, making her one of the hot favourites to win the tournament. Miss China gave a hypnotic performance of sword-wielding tai chi to clinch second place in the event, with Miss Barbados making it a double for the islands with her original modern dance dramatisation entitled Beauty Comes to Earth, where beauty becomes earthbound woman, discovers the poetry of her limbs and is compelled to dance. The other finalists were beauties from Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Botswana, Brazil, Chinese Taipei, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Fiji, Italy, Korea, Philippines, Russia, Spain, Thailand & Trinidad and Tobago. Karla Bautista delivered a self-composed poem.   The Miss World girls added a touch of glamour and beauty to Sanya as they paraded on the white sand in the hotly contested Beach Beauty Final, today. In sweltering heat of more than 32 degrees, the girls were the envy of all as they faced the judges in swimsuits designed by former Miss World Wilnelia Forsyth.  United States took the coveted laurels, coming out on top from the ten finalists (listed below). With Australia coming second, Trinidad & Tobago, the Philippines 4th & Dominican Republic 5th. The beachwear final marks the start of the public vote and shows the competition for Miss World 2004 is truly underway. Miss United States will now be fast tracked to the finals and has earned an extra 25 points. Although there were ten finalists and only one overall winner, all the girls looked a million dollars in their swimsuits, which made it all the more difficult for the judging panel to make their decision. The rest of the ten finalists in Miss World 2004 Beach Beauty Section were Misses Ecuador, Mexico, Brazil, Paraguay & Bolivia Wilnelia Forsyth, Miss World in 1975 and wife of TV personality Bruce Forsyth, has come full circle as a Miss World. Now 29 years on the contestants in today’s beach wear competition are now wearing her swimsuits which she herself has designed. The swimsuits are a fusion of European style, and Caribbean colours, which in itself is symbolic of her Puerto Rican background, and her European lifestyle. |
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