An Apology to Vo Hoang Yen

I would like to correct my previous post on Vo Hoang Yen, one of Asia's strongest candidates for this year's Miss Universe pageant in the Bahamas. I have written about a blog which I claimed she updates personally.

A big thanks to the admin behind vohoangyen.blogspot.com who made remarks on this entry. The said blog is not owned by the beauty queen who is so far Vietnam's strongest candidate to the Miss Universe. The said article was written by Nina herself, a fan of Vo Hoang Yen.

To Vo Hoang, if you are reading this blog, I apologize. To the writers of the said blog, you have a fantastic blog.

Tenzin Choezom Wins Miss Tibet 2009

Tibetan beauties walked the ramp on the final round of the 'Miss Tibet 2009' beauty pageant in Dharamsala. Twenty years old, Tenzin Choezom from Dharamsala, was announced winner of the beauty pageant.

On the last day, contestants were judged in four rounds including introduction, evening gown, traditional costume and question round.

Hundreds of Tibetans assembled at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts to witness the contest and encourage the participants.

All the participants showcased their talent at the pageant and finally the judges announced Tenzin as the winner.

She was crowned at the end of the contest and was awarded the prize money of One lakh rupees.

"I would like to tell all Tibetan youngsters that please come on the stage and show your talent, wit and beauty, especially Tibetan girls because they are always hiding their talents," said Tenzin.

Eighteen-year-old, Ngawang Choying from Darjeeling became the first runner-up and was presented with 50,000 rupees and twenty-four-year-old Dolkar from Dehradun became the second runner-up and was awarded with 25,000 rupees.

The eighth edition of Miss Tibet-2009 beauty pageant began here on Friday, with just four participants. According to the director of the event, initially there were seven applicants but later on three withdrew due to personal reasons.

Dolkar, Ngawang Choying, Tenzin Choezom and Yeshi Lhamo from Bir in Himachal Pradesh were the four participants.

The three-day contest began with the swimsuit round on the first day followed by other intellectual and allied rounds.

On the second day participants were seen espousing the Tibetan cause in their talk round followed by a talent round.

Miss Tibet 2009 kicks off with swimsuit round

Dharamsala, June 5 - First phase of a three-day Miss Tibet beauty pageant competition kickstarted with a swimsuit round at a resort here this afternoon.

The competition started with four contestants Dolkar, 24, from Dehra Dun; Ngawang Choying, 18, from Darjeeling; Tenzin Choezom, 20, from Dharamsala and Yeshi Lhamo, 24, from Bir, performing a ramp show in skimpy swimwear around a mini swimming pool of Asian Health Resort here.

The participants contested for 10 points judged by five jury members for their figure, skin, posture and poise.

A handful of public enthusiasts willing to spare 200 rupees for a not more than 30-minute show turned up to watch, what has been described by many in the exile Tibetan community as, the “most daring” part of the beauty pageant.

A strong media presence, including documentary filmmakers, however, dominated the scene of today’s competition round.

Scores from six more competition rounds in the next two days will add up to decide the final crowning of this year’s Tibetan beauty on the grand finale night on Sunday at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA).

The Presentation and talent rounds will be held Saturday at TIPA.

Lobsang's Miss Tibet pageant is small but has been fairly controversial too. Since it was first started by Lobsang Wangyal Productions in 2002, the exile Tibetan community has reacted with quiet mixed feelings and attitude.

Not surprisingly, the contest has also irritated the Chinese, whose troops began occupying Tibet in 1949. In the past winners of Miss Tibet were forced to withdraw from international beauty pageants after objections from the Chinese government. This has given Miss Tibet its much needed media attention and with it its share of success on the international stage.

At times, however, the pageant struggled itself to survive witnessing only a single participant.

Nevertheless, Lobsang has remained adamant with a pledge to take his one-man show to greater heights all along the way.

“My Miss Tibet show is already eight years old now,” Lobsang delights over the successive continuation of his pageant.

And this year, he has added one more flavour to his show- Dinner with Miss Tibet.

“It is going to be more interesting this time,” Lobsang says of his newly conceived idea, which he says will help him to cash in little more funds for his production unit.

“There is lottery tickets on sale and one winner will be drawn from the lots for an exclusive dinner with winner of this year’s Miss Tibet title. The lottery ticket is priced at Rupees fifty. And the winner can bring along one companion,” Lobsang explains.

“And it is going to be a grand dinner with Miss Tibet 2009 at Mcllo Restaurant & Bar,” Lobsang confirms.

Rachel Kum, Miss Singapore, Lashes Back on her Detractors

With the flak Rachael Kum, Miss Singapore-Universe 2009, is getting from rabid fans, the beauty queen was not able to hold her composure when she lashed them back with a very strong article she posted on her blog on May 18. The title of the blog entry is "Why So Angry?"

Obviously, she is referring to her detractors who are busy visiting pageant forums and blogs to spread their words of disappointment.

This only shows that Rachel is a human. She is definitely affected by all the controversies generated by her winning the right to represent her country to the Miss Universe 2009 pageant in the Bahamas on August 23.

She even accompanied her article with a picture of a devil, with horns of course, which she thinks symbolize these people who are so angry with her.

Below is her blog entry:

It soon becomes a joke when you realise how some people can get insanely jealous of others when they see them succeed in life that they spend so much of their spare time rallying others to slander the ones they despise so much. Why so angry ah?

Apparently these haters are the same people who devoted their lives to slander me for something I have never done to hurt them in any way. I hope one day this becomes the highlight of their child hood where they can share such stories of their past time with their children.

Mom : "Dear son, back in my younger days I have created accounts and forums to slam people I have never met before just for fun!"

Son : "Wow Mom, good on ya! I'm so proud of you!"

So anyways, this is what I can analyse about the feelings of a jealous person...

Hate: To really hate something or someone, you must first throw off any and all remnants or attributes of love. Hate have gone beyond the simple little wordings of "I hate you" to the plateau of "I despise any and every thing about you". To reach this stage of sin's evilness, you must let it fester within your heart, within your soul, until it reaches the point of control over your words and actions.

Bias: What can describe this self bred dart of the devil? What makes a person decide to become biased over something or someone? Did they get advanced at the workplace when we believed we should have got the promotion? Did the lady wear a more expensive piece of clothing to church? Maybe the preacher shook hands with the person next to you, but for some reason he did not shake your hand. Bias is like a plague that spreads all over us until it blinds us to the truth.

Stupidity: I am not talking about a lack of smarts or even being an educated genius. I am referring to being stupid with decisions and choices we all make that we know are not right. The ones where we reap no beneficial significance. By our stupid actions because of our stupid decisions someone else and including ourselves are ravished over the ravine of reckoning.

Insolence: How many time are we insolent to someone else and don't even know it, or if we do, we tend to let it go. Let us never forget that words are sharper than darts, and the infliction of them on others leave lasting wounds. We may not see the scars on the faces, arms, hands, legs, bodies of those we insult, but they are there believe you me. When these wounds fester and spread within the bloodline of the soul, they one day come out, and when they do it is usually not pretty.

Bitterness: Instead of forgiving and forgetting, someone has hurt us to the point that we cannot do either, and so the episode that planted the seed of bitterness starts to grow, and smothers out our rationale and ability to think straight. It can change us until our souls become wrinkled, aged with bitter thoughts, and die away without ever being the real soul they was supposed to be.

Envy: What is the difference in envy and coveting? Can we be envious of something or someone else without coveting? I say not. Whenever we become envious over the possessions, the wives, the husbands, the children, the homes, the cars, all people and possessions or others we covet them. The bible tells us if we covet our neighbor's wife with our heart, we are as guilty as being with her. I say if we covet the other possessions of others, including others, we are as guilty as doing the deed we are thinking of. From within the heart the actions proceed.

Jealousy: Why is it we let jealousy within us expand upon those around us? What do we have or do not have to be jealous about? We are so afraid that someone else is going to be richer, going to have a better life, going to have all the "goings" that I will lack. Like the rich man who said he would eat, drink, and be merry, because his barns were overflowing, and he said he would build more barns to fill. Then that very night the Lord told him his life here was over.

Rage: Rage goes beyond anger, it entails the loosing of the mind either temporarily or for a sustained period. Rage blocks out rationality, it quenches the flow of decision making, and it results in us being out of our minds, out of control, and to the point of hurting ourselves or someone else.

Seriously, to accuse others with no concrete evidence will just make you look like an idiot. Being an idiot generally involves a certain amount of arrogance, or at least ignorance of one's lack of expertise, and a stubborn insistence on proceeding anyway. When intelligent people approach something new that they don't know anything about, they do so with appropriate humility and follow the directions of those who know what they are talking about. As they grow more confident, they start to take their own initiatives. It's funny how that hanging out with Dawn and having our pictures taken together seems inevitable to have me strung along to the subject matter of plastic surgery and made me her overnight best friend. If I remember vaguely, the reason why people created a hate fan site for her is because they want to expose her. Why would someone wish to expose someone? That will only happen that if someone loathes another terribly. Like someone did an unforgivable mistake. Like your husband is sleeping with your best friend's mom. Did i go overboard?

Has one ever thought of masseter botox which causes your face shape to shrink? How about the art of makeup where you highlight the part of your lid to create the banana eyeshadow effect so that it enhances the deep set of your eyes? How about the new trend of using wide eyed contact lenses and eyelash extensions to enhance the shape of your eyes? If anyone would like to challenge me about plastic surgery on my face, please make sure money is involve. :-)

The world is progressing with technology and Singapore is definitely not a third world country, so let us all get with the program! Hmmm...maybe i've finally found myself a talent with the art of makeup!

So instead of sitting behind the computer all day long to rally support for their own ideologies, I can only hope that they can learn to do something more constructive with their lives like contributing to the good of society rather than finding jokes to entertain their small community who finds joy and satisfaction at the expense of hurting others. I can only pity.

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts."-Bertrand Russell

"The only causes of regret are laziness,
outbursts of temper, hurting
others, prejudice, jealousy and envy."

Miss Tibet 2009 Starts Tomorrow

Four Tibetan beauties would sashay along the stage in the 'Miss Tibet-2009' beauty pageant that would begin here from June 5.

The participants namely Dolkar from Dehradun, Ngawang Choying from Darjeeling, Tenzin Choezom from Dharamsala and Yeshi Lhamo from Bir in Himachal Pradesh would compete in the beauty contest.

The contestants, presently in Dharamsala, are being provided training in Yoga, dance, make-up and personality development.

They will also be provided orientation on Tibetan history, language, philosophy, current affairs, the human rights and environment situation in Tibet as well.

The Director of Miss Tibet pageant, Lobsang Wangyal told reporters that the 100 thousand Tibetans living in India belong to conservative society and hence the lesser number of participants in the event.

"Tibetan society is very conservative society. So it is not easy for young women to come forward and be themselves. They are always afraid of what and who will say behind them, the name taking... all this. So they cannot take such things and they face such things," said Lobsang Wangyal, Director, Miss Tibet-2009 Beauty Pageant.

Tenzin Choezom, the 20-year-old participant said that she wants to be inspiration for other Tibetan women.

" I want to be an example for the youth that if I can participate in this competition then they (other Tibetans) can also participate in this competition," she added.

The three-day competition would begin with swim suit round followed by intellectual rounds on their art of articulation and allied other talents.rowning and presentation of the prize money of one lakh rupees to the winner would be held during finale on June 7.

Evening gown, traditional costume and interview would also be held on the last day.

The first runner-up will be presented with 50,000 rupees while the second runner-up and would be given 25,000 rupees.

The fourth contestant will receive a token prize of 5,000 rupees.

Lobsang Wangyal Productions started the pageant in 2002 when a majority of the four short-listed girls backed out facing flak from community leaders.onetheless, the pageant has survived through the years, at times witnessing only a single participant.

The pageant has had its share of successes and failures on the international stage due to objections by Beijing.

Ife Bethel Sears Resigns as Miss Earth Bahamas 2009

Controversy continues to storm Miss Bahamas Organization as news broke out yesterday that Ife Bethel-Sears resigned as Miss Earth Bahamas 2009. She was the first runner up at the Miss Bahamas 2009 pageant where Kiara Sherman emerged as the victor or the over-all winner.

Humor has it that the reason why she relinquished her crown is because she is not happy with her placement from the very start. According to some pageant observers, she really wanted the title of Miss Bahamas or nothing. And, because more and more Bahamians are expressing their disappointments over the selection of Kiara as the over-all winner, Ife saw this opportunity to jump in to the bandwagon. This is her own way of protesting of what she believes as unfair judgment.

Well, as a pageant observer, this act from a beauty queen who did not get the top prize shows lack of sportsmanship. Ife is definitely bitter. In my own standard, this attitude from Ife does not make her a real beauty queen. So, it is just right that she resigned because I personally believe she can't perform the duties of a beauty queen. She is not a role model.

Thus, I am praising her decision of stepping down from her throne. Clap! Clap! Clap!

Bethel-Sears is the daughter of the former Minister of Education and Attorney General of the Bahamas Alfred Sears. This might be one of the factors why she was brave enough to resign. I am just speculating.

There is no development yet on who will replace her.

Illuminata James Wins Miss Tanzania 2009

Illuminata James, 23, from Mwanza, beat 19 other ladies to become Tanzania's representative to the Miss Universe 2009 pageant to be held in Nassau, Bahamas on August 23.

She took home Sh 3 million, one-year French course at the Alliance Francaise, cosmetics worth Sh 500,000 and Samsung Omnia cellphone. The coronation was held at the newly-opened Mlimani City Conference Centre.

Someone from the audience also gave her $1,000.

Declared as First Runner-Up is Hidaya Maeda, 23. She will be competing at the Miss International 2009 pageant to be held in Japan and China later this year.

The Second Runner-Up is a 22-year old Evelyn Almasi.

One contestant, Joyce Musyani, had to withdraw from the pageant upon learning the death of her uncle. This incident brought down the number of candidates from 20 to 19.

Tanzania stormed world pageants with Flaviana Matata and Meriam Odemba who made strong performance at the 2006 Miss Universe and 2008 Miss Earth respectively.

Odemba was adjudged First Runner-Up while Matata was a semi-finalist.

Miss Singapore "Scandal" - Rachael Kum's Racy Pictures

Rachael Kum, Miss Singapore 2009 and her country's representative to the Miss Universe 2009 pageant to be held in the Bahamas is facing hard time with fans who are not happy on her for winning the crown.

Mostly Singaporean fans, as I have seen on different forums and discussions, are really very vocal about their sentiments on the beauty queen. They say that Rachael should not have won because of her questionable integrity.

Well, this is only a statement I have read from the forums and not my own judgment. I believe that comments from other fans can't fully support the claim that Rachael is not a good role model.

But there are some "racy" pictures of Rachael showing her naughty moments that "might" support the sentiments of the fans. These are actually sent to us and when we checked Rachael Kum's blog, these said pictures are actually posted in her pages.

I leave the judgment to our readers - that's you.

The first picture shows Rachael standing beside a penis mascot and she's making gestures as if she's biting the head.

In the second picture, look at the bottom left corner, Rachael is with another woman in a position suggesting homosexuality.

Lastly, the third picture shows Rachael wearing a costume while a "doll" is in front of her as if she is getting an oral sex.

Is Rachael Kum a lesbian? I don't know that. How about you? What can you say?

Controversies at the Miss Bahamas 2009 pageant

There's a hot discussion on the recently concluded Miss Bahamas 2009 pageant in beauty pageant forums and blogs especially the controversies involving candidates and the selection of the winners.

Obviously, many fans have been disappointed.

Another controversy on the pageant which I failed to highlight in my first blog entry, fans noticed that the answers of the winners are all rehearsed except for Amanda Appleyard who was the only one who gave the most honest answer to the final question. Amanda was crowned Miss Bahamas International.

Since the whole world is watching Bahamas (Due to the fact that it is in this beautiful island where the Miss Universe 2009 pageant will be taking place) let's try to know more about the 22-year old Enna Thomas who stands 5'8".

Enna is the candidate who walked out at the middle of the pageant when her name was not called for the semi-final round. She was an earlier favourite and got two special awards. Despite these awards, she failed to advance.

In fact, one poster commented in my blog that Enna actually won SIX special awards. Take note of that, it is six and NOT two. According to the anonymous poster, "when the pageant organizer realized thats Miss Thomas was no longer in the building, they did not announce the other 4 awards."

Maybe someone from Bahamas can confirm this since I still don't have any idea on this.

Anyways, I found out a very interesting interview of Enna by Miss Bahamas Organization. I am just sharing this in order for us, non-Bahamas residents, to know something about the beautiful lady who walked out from the pageant.

1. WHY DID YOU JOIN THE MISS BAHAMAS UNIVERSE COMPETITION?

It has always been my dream to become Miss Bahamas; I decided to join the 2009 Miss Bahamas Universe competition because of the international media attention that this pageant is receiving, as the host for the 2009 Miss Universe pageant. This media attention will give me an opportunity to reach thousands of individuals as I share my platform “Save the Children”.

2. IF YOU WERE TO BECOME MISS BAHAMAS 2009, WHAT WOULD BE THE FIRST THING THAT YOU WOULD DO?

The first thing I would have to do is thank God, the judges, my sponsors, my family and friends for their support and congratulate all of the contestants because we are all winners at the end of the day.

3. WHAT IS THE MOST UNIQUE OR UNUSUAL THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU IN YOUR LIFE?

In 2005, three weeks after starting my sophomore semester at the University of New Orleans I witnessed firsthand the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Fortunately, I evacuated to Baton Rouge three days before the storm hit. I spent the next few days watching the destruction of New Orleans and I knew right away that I wanted to do something to help. I immediately signed up to volunteer at a local shelter for refugees from New Orleans. I helped displaced families with meals, homework, and social support but I felt like this wasn’t enough. So, in January 2006 just two months after the city opened back up I moved back to New Orleans to help rebuild and revitalize the city. I spent my weekends gutting out homes and attending many community events.

This experience has taught me that in life there are going to be obstacles in life that may slow us down but you do not have to let any obstacle stop you from pursuing your dreams. Immediately after the storm I resumed my semester at L.S.U in Baton Rouge and returned to the University of New Orleans when it re-opened the following January. I completed my Bachelors in Management in the Fall of 2007, a semester early.

4. DO YOU THINK THE SWIMSUIT CONTEST AT BEAUTY PAGEANTS DEGRADES WOMEN?

I personally don't find the swimsuit contest at beauty pageants degrading but I feel like whether or not the swimsuit contest degrades women depends on the individual. If a women is not comfortable and confident with her body then yes when she puts on a swimsuit she may feel degraded, but for those ladies who are comfortable and confident with who they are physically, the swimsuit contest can empower them as they display their confidence.

5. GIVE AN IDEA OF WHAT YOUR NATIONAL COSTUME WILL BE AND WHAT DOES IT REPRESENT?

My costume will be Enchanting! It represents a mythical element of one of our Bahamian islands and captures the essence of what attracts so many to our shores.

6. WHAT ARE THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO AS MISS BAHAMAS 2009?

Firstly, I would like to reach out to the youth in our community. It is important for them to know that we are all our brothers and sisters keepers, and serving each other increases our national self worth. While pursuing my Masters Degree in Business Administration in New Orleans, I have been tutoring children in the city whose parents are incarcerated. Being there for them while their parents are serving time shows them that they live in a community where they are loved and cared for and teaches them that loving and serving each other is the key to happiness.

Secondly, I would like to help preserve our natural environment. From the ecologically pristine turtle nesting grounds in Curtis Creek, Mayaguana to the magnificent barrier reef in Andros, The Bahamas has an array of natural beauties that need to be protected so that they can be enjoyed for generations to come.

Thirdly, one of the three things that I would like to do is see that the government conducts a referendum on legalizing gambling in The Bahamas.

7. IF YOU HAD TO RESIDE ON ONE OF THE FAMILY ISLANDS IN THE BAHAMAS, WHICH WOULD IT BE AND WHY.

If I had to reside on one of the family islands in The Bahamas it would have to be Cat Island. Proclaimed to be one of the most beautiful islands of the Bahamas, Cat Island has everything that I am looking for in a family island! The Rake n Scrape Festivals would keep me entertained, the golden sand beaches and unspoiled turquoise waters would keep me relaxed, and my trips to the Hermitage would keep me fit as I would have to travel up 63 meters up Mt. Alvernia the highest point in our nation to get to the top of this Sacred monastery and that’s why I choose Cat Island!

8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR AND WHY?

My favorite color is definitely black because it represents strength and power and is stronger and more powerful than any other color. Black is also mysterious and is associated with the unknown like the Black Holes of Andros.

9. TELL VIEWERS A LITTLE ABOUT THE BAHAMAS AND WHY YOU LOVE IT SO!

There is no place on earth like The Bahamas - an archipelago of natural beautiful islands with the friendliest most beautiful people. Each island has its own unique culture, topography, ecology, personality, and history. From marvel of the Glass Window Bridge in Eleuthera to the spectacular rolling hills of Cat Island the Bahamas is awe-inspiring and diverse and a place to be loved.

Miss Vietnam Vo Hoang Yen is not offended by Ines Ligron's Comment

Wow, the comments made by Ines Ligron, Japan's national director for Miss Universe Organization, in her blog about some of the candidates for the Miss Universe 2009 in Bahamas and was FIRST reported in our blog is now generating "controversy" because of fans around the world who were offended.

In my entry dated 20 May 2009, I relayed what Ines has said about Miss Vietnam. "Võ Hoàng Yến is indeed special, but she need to seriously start to look more sophisticated. I saw many pictures of her and she looks like a beautiful Miss Tiffany to me sometimes. She is a beautiful girl but she needs urgent styling. I wish her the best because I want Asian girls to do great. Methinks. Meilleurs voeux le Vietnam!"

But Vietnam's Vo Hoang Yen is not really offended when Ines compared her to a beautiful Miss Tiffany Universe, a pageant for transsexuals.

In an interview with the Yen by Vietnam Net, the beauty queen said that she was not upset by Ligron’s comment because the comment was correct and frank, and not easy to recognize.

“There are some photos of me on the Internet in which I was captured at angles that make me look quite husky. I will learn from them for my next photo shows,” Yen said.

About Ligron’s suggestion of building her own style, Yen said: “I’ll try to develop my image as a supermodel, but not so cold. I’ll smile more and be more cheerful.”

The Performance Art Agency under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism hasn’t received an invitation letter from the Miss Universe 2009 organising board so it hasn’t approved Hoang Yen’s participation. However, Yen is preparing for the event by taking a training course at John Roberts Powers School.

Serdült Orsolya Wins A Királynő or Miss Hungary 2009

A 21-year old student was crowned A Királynő or Miss Hungary 2009 in a glittering event in Budapest in May 21st. Serdült Orsolya or also known as Orsi bested other contestants to have the right to represent this Eastern European country to the Miss World 2009 pageant to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa and in London, UK on December.

Orsi stands 1.75 meters.

Like the usual scenario in beauty pageants, another crowd favourite ended only as first runner-up. 21-year old half-Jamaican, Zsuzsa Budai, was crowned Miss Hungary Universe. She will be going to the Bahamas to compete for the Miss Universe 2009.

Budai is known model in her country who stands 1.81 meters. She will try to give Hungary its first Miss Universe win.

Crowned as Miss Hungary Earth is 18-year old Korinna Kocsis. She will be competing at the Miss Earth 2009 in Manila, Philippines.

Serdult Orsolya as Miss Hungary World 2009

Zsuzsa Budai as Miss Hungary Universe 2009

Korinna Kocsis as Miss Hungary Earth 2009

Claudia Arce Wins Miss Bolivia 2009

As early as this time, Bolivia has already a representative for Miss Universe...not for the 2009 pageant in Bahamas this coming August 23 but for the next pageant in 2010 in a host country which is not known yet.

Claudia Arce of Chuquisaca is the winner of Miss Bolivia 2009 that was held in the Gran Mariscal Theatre of Sucre. She became the first confirmed delegate of any country in the world to the Miss Universe 2010 pageant. The 18-year old new Bolivian beauty queen stands 1.73 meter. She has over one year to prepare for her international pageant. She is also an Industrial Engineering student.

The pageant also marked the 30th year anniversary of Gloria Limpias as the organizer.

In case you are curious, Bolivia's representative to the Miss Universe 2009 in the Bahamas is Miss Cochabamba, Dominique Peltier.

Arce's court includes First Runner-Up Miss Bicentenario Flavia Foianini who is going to Miss World 2009 in Johannesburg, South Africa and London, UK. Foianini was the crowd favourite.

Second Runner-Up is Miss Santa Cruz Ximena Vargas. She will be representing Bolivia to the Miss International 2009 to be held in Japan and China.

Miss Litoral Paola Flores was declared as Third Runner-Up. She will be competing at the Miss American Continent in Ecuador.

Present in the pageant who assisted in the crowning of the beauty queens are the Top 2 winners of Miss Universe 2008, Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela and Taliana Vargas of Colombia. Mendoza is Miss Universe 2008 while Vargas is her runner up.

"Miss Vietnam Võ Hoàng Yến is like a beautiful Miss Tiffany" - Ines Ligron

Just hours ago, I made a blog entry about Ines Ligron's honest opinion on Miss India Universe Ekta Chaudhary. She called the beauty queen as someone "who can't speak and a little immature" based on a video the National Director of Japan had watched on Youtube.

Ines is the most interesting and most vocal among all the pageant directors in the world. She is very transparent but very sincere and sweet. She is actually my most favourite. If there was a Miss Universe contest for all the national directors, this Frenchwoman could have been definitely the clear runaway winner.

She's also a very good source of beauty pageant news and gossips. Anything that comes out from her mouth makes headlines. That's the reason why I love her aside from being an excellent pageant coach who has high taste for fashion.

I continue updating you on Ines' thoughts on any beauty queens or beauty pageants for that matter. Thus, let's continue.  She is not actually frugal in her thoughts about Misses Vietnam, Colombia, Turkey and Venezuela. Let's hear it from her.

On Miss Vietnam - Võ Hoàng Yến is indeed special, but she need to seriously start to look more sophisticated. I saw many pictures of her and she looks like a beautiful Miss Tiffany to me sometimes. She is a beautiful girl but she needs urgent styling. I wish her the best because I want Asian girls to do great. Methinks. Meilleurs voeux le Vietnam!

On Miss Colombia - Michelle Rouillard is special, a pretty face with an angel-aura and a killer body!

Ines agreed on a fan who commented that Miss Colombia's background as a Colombo-French makes her unique. She has a strong personality and amazing look. She is herself and doesn't look like anyone.

On Miss Turkey - According to Ines, Ebru Sam did not include Miss Turkey because to her, she is just a little girl, not a woman yet. But she added that of course she can be wrong.

On Miss Ukraine - Kristina Koz-Gotlib is gorgeous but her hair is too 70’s.

On Miss Venezuela - Estefania Fernandez has such a pretty face when she wears no make-up. She likes her very much. Venezuela has a killer body again!

A Dethroned Miss California? Announcement Planned for Monday

Will Carrie Prejean lose her crown to Miss California runner-up Tami Farrell? Speculation has been brewing for days, and on Monday, her fate will be announced.

According to E! News, the co-directors of the Miss California USA pageant, Keith Lewis and Shanna Moakler, will be holding a press conference on Monday to announce their decision on gay marriage-opposing, semi-nude title holder Carrie Prejean.

Officials are in talks with the 21-year-old beauty queen's reps to determine whether she should keep the coveted tiara due to possible contract violations.

Carrie Prejean has been a lightning rod for controversy since she lost out - she was first runner-up - to Kristen Dalton at the Miss USA Pageant April 19.

First, there were her public appearances with same-sex marriage opponents, then sexy topless and underwear pics she took as a teen and did not disclose.

Many believe that her anti-gay marriage stance, revealed after judge Perez Hilton asked about it during the finals, cost Prejean the Miss USA title.

Either way, she's still Miss California - unless contest owner Donald Trump decides to strip her of that crown. Ultimately, the decision rests with him alone.

Carrie's father, Will, predicts she will keep her crown. He also said that Sarah Palin and the gay community are both on her side, though, so who knows.

If there's a precedent for this sort of thing, it may have been set in 2006 when Miss USA Tara Conner was not stripped of her crown by Trump despite alcohol, drug and girl-on-girl action photos that leaked to the Internets.

However, one indicator of which way Trump & Co. are leaning this time around could be that Tami Farrell, the first runner-up in the Miss California pageant, will be on hand at Monday's press conference. So stay tuned.

Saudi Arabia Prepares for ‘Miss Beautiful Morals’ Pageant

Although we still say and hear that true beauty comes from within, few – if any – are the beauty pageants that crown their winners on anything but great looks and model-like abilities. In Saudi Arabia, the “Miss Beautiful Morals” beauty pageant has just reached its second year and, as the organizers are happy to announce, the number of contestants has doubled.

Speaking with Times Online, pageant founder Khadra al-Mubarak says that “Miss Beautiful Morals” is meant to show the world that western pageants have got it all wrong from the start, with the emphasis they place on looks and abilities that, in the end, say close to nothing about how that person really is like. “Miss Morals,” for instance, is not about outside beauty, since contestants hardly show their face, but about what makes a woman truly beautiful – such as is, say, her love, respect and appreciation for her parents.

“The idea of the pageant is to measure the contestants’ commitment to Islamic morals... It’s an alternative to the calls for decadence in the other beauty contests that only take into account a woman’s body and looks. The winner won’t necessarily be pretty. We care about the beauty of the soul and the morals.” the pageant founder says for the publication.

The competition starts on Saturday and will see the approximately 200 contestants spending the following 10 days “attending classes and being quizzed on themes including ‘Discovering your inner strength,’ ‘The making of leaders’ and ‘Mum, paradise is at your feet’.” the Daily Mail says. All contestants will also spend a day with their mothers, under the strict supervision of pageant judges, who will then rate their love and respect for them. The winner, who will be crowned “Miss Beautiful Morals,” will walk away with $2,600 and several other prizes, while the first two runnerups will get $1,300 each.

Since the contest is not televised and no men are allowed to participate, women will be allowed to uncover their faces during the 10-day period. Although it may seem like nothing, the “Miss Beautiful Morals” competition is extremely important, being the first (and only, so far) competition of the kind in Saudi Arabia, as the Mail points out.

“There are no such displays in ultra-strict Saudi Arabia, where until Miss Beautiful Morals was inaugurated last year, the only pageants were for goats, sheep, camels and other animals, aimed at encouraging livestock breeding. This year’s event kicks off Saturday in the mainly Shiite Muslim town of Safwa, and mostly draws local Shiite contestants. But it’s open to anyone – and this year, 15 Sunni Muslims are participating, al-Mubarak said.” the publication informs.

Miss Egypt slapped Miss Universe 2007, Riyo Mori

Miss Universe 2008 is gaining lots of controversies.

In her blog blog, Ines Ligron, the National Director of Japan wrote an incident about Miss Egypt, Yara Naoum (with picture at left) slapping outgoing Miss Universe 2007 Riyo Mori of Japan.

Mori accidentally stepped on the gown of Yara while they were preparing backsatge for the opening number. According to Ligron, Miss Egypt apologized after realizing it was Mori who got the slap.

These are the exact words of Ines: "Miss Egypt is a real pain in the neck; she slapped Riyo backstage when by mistake she stepped on her dress. Then she was horrified when she realized she just had slapped Miss Universe! LOL She was saying –“I am sorry I did not know that it was you!!”… Riyo told her: “it is okay, but you should not do that anyway to anyone, this is not really nice”. She was mortified."

Ines went on to say that Yara was also confronted by her roommate, Miss Canada Samantha Tajik, to stop smoking in their room.

Here is the words again from the blog of Ines: "Also she shares the room with is Canada and she smokes cigarettes after cigarettes and Miss Canada asked her kindly to pls go outside when she wishes to smoke. She turned around and said: “why? This is MY room?!” Nice girl indeed! Sometimes I wonder why this kind of girl bothers to come here…. "

Ines' blog generated much buzz in almost all discussion boards with some namecalling Miss Egypt.

On the other hand, Youssef Spahi, the National Director of Egypt, denounced what was written in the blog in an  Egyptian discussion board.

Below is the statement copied from the said website.

"The real story behind the gossip:

Miss Egypt Organization (Face To Face) is shocked by the article recently posted on Ines Ligron's blog concerning Miss Egypt Yara Naoum.The National Director, Mr. Youssef Spahi contacted Ms. Naoum immediately after the story appeared on the web and she denied all the allegations. 

We highly suspected that this actually happened because we are constantly in contact with Miss Universe Organization and they wouldn't accept such a behavior from any contestant towards the others, not to mention towards Miss Universe!

In her latest e-mail with Mr. Spahi, Annette Cammer thanked him for sending "such a wonderful girl". Miss Egypt Organization highly suspects the genuienity of the story coming from a source that already spread suspicious rumors about other delegates. We also highly suspect that these are Ms. Ligron’s words as Mr. Spahi personally knows her and knows this is not the attitude of a National Director who already produced a Miss Universe.

So what actually happened?

Regarding the incident with Miss Universe 2007, Riyo Mori, Ms. Noum assured us that this did not happen during the preliminary competition or in the backstage as the article suggests, it happened on the day of the gala dinner almost a week ago! 

“While all the girls were standing in lines outside their rooms getting ready to go down to the gala dinner, Miss Russia stepped on my dress by mistake and I couldn’t turn around, I just kept saying: My dress, my dress! And I leaned on someone behind me trying not to fall on the ground and to my shock that someone turned out to be Riyo Mori! We laughed it out and I apologized to her, of course I didn’t slap her or anyone else, this is not my attitude, absolutely ridiculous! I met Riyo again during the preliminaries and apologized once again, even though knowing I did nothing wrong, but out of courtesy to a Miss Universe titleholder and she was very nice to me and told me to take care because a lot of this will happen in the backstage”

According to this we highly suspect it is Ms. Ligron who wrote the article because although the story bares some truth it wouldn’t come from someone in her position and who is constantly in contact with Ms. Mori, unless that Ms. Ligron is no longer allowed to spend that much time with Riyo as her director or as a friend! 

The second incident with Miss Canada also bares some truth and lots of lies. 

According to the Miss Universe Organization’s Rules and Regulations, contestants should specify if they are smokers or non-smokers before they get to the host country, and Ms. Naoum specified in her application that she is a smoker and so the organizers accommodated her with Miss Canada, who is also a smoker, however she did not specify that in her application. It is also in the Organization’s rules that smoking contestants must not smoke outside their rooms!

“There was no problem with Miss Canada about smoking; she is also a smoker despite not mentioning that in her application! I always smoke in the bathroom only and I’m not a heavy smoker as well, but Miss Canada was not in the mood one day and she told the supervisor who later found cigarettes with Miss Canada herself and the whole thing came to an end, you can ask her yourself, we are good friends after all. It is normal to have such feelings out of stress and I understand what happened, believe me, there are lots of things that happen in the backstage!” said Ms. Naoum.

Again the correct story highly conflicts with what actually happened. It is just funny to read what the blog said about the whole situation.

“Miss Canada asked her kindly to pls go outside when she wishes to smoke. She turned around and said: “why? This is MY room?!” It makes you wonder if Ms. Ligron was actually with them in the room? The organizers are now planning to send a letter to Miss Universe Organization to investigate the incident and as Mr. Spahi was not able to go to Vietnam this year for personal reasons, MUO should not allow such a behavior to occur especially from a respectable National Director.

“I have been training the Egyptian representatives for ten years now, and as far as I know, our girls are known to be some of the most charming girls both on and back stage and there is no way that I would send a girl with such an attitude to Miss Universe even if I think she could win it all simply because she is representing my organization, name and country” said Mr. Spahi."

Ines Ligron's blog is actually generating lots of readers since last year since she is actually one of the few who is reporting behind-the-scene incidents which could not be found in most of the discussion boards.

We'll talk about her more next time.