A Tribute to deceased Miss Universe contestants

“It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things.” - Lemony Snicket, Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid.

Death of a Beauty Queen - Brazil's Mariana Bridi Costa

Just seeing at the pictures of this beauty queen from Brazil, I can say that she's very vibrant, sweet, poised, strong and confident. She has long legs that makes her so sexy. She has a captivating smile and gorgeous eyes.

But those legs were amputated. Not only the legs but the beauty queen has gone. She died fighting to survive.

She was Mariana Bridi Costa. She made headlines around the world last month for contracting a seemingly ordinary urinary tract infection. The bacteria spread quickly and inexorably through her body, proving to be extremely drug resistant. In a desperate bid to save her life, doctors amputated her hands and feet. But by last week of January, she was dead.

One month ago, 20-year-old beauty queen Mariana was living the dream of many young Brazilian women, trading her striking good looks for a modeling career that promised to lift her family out of poverty.

It is very frustrating to hear her stories especially if she was doing all means to uplift the status of her life. She was very strong in her last days on earth and really fought the battle so hard to keep on living. I am sure many of us were inspired.

I am sharing you an article written by one of her mentors in the beauty pageants, Henrique Fontes. This was written during the time Mariana was fighting so hard.

Spend a little time to read this.

I can say that in these three years producing the Miss World Brazil pageant, without a doubt, Mariana Bridi Costa, the young beauty queen who made headlines all over the world for having her hands and feet amputated in the last few days, and is now fighting to survive, has one of the most inspiring stories among all the girls who have competed in our pageant.

In 2006, when after years Brazil had an exclusive contest to select its representative for Miss World, and another for Miss Brazil Universe, Mariana found us in the internet and asked how she could participate in the pageant. She sent a few amateur photos taken at home, and said she would do whatever she could in order to participate in the national pageant.

With a couple of days for Miss Brazil World’s kick-out, on July 2006, Mariana informed us that she was ready to compete, and asked if it would be ok for her to be a day late, since she would spend nearly a whole day on a bus traveling from Vitória to Curitiba. How could we say no?

Mariana had no fancy wardrobe, no plastic surgeries, no coaching, but there she was, fulfilling her dream. She had tremendous will, lots of charisma, and, of course, she looked stunning.

Ms. Bridi passed unnoticed the days preceding Miss Brazil’s final event, but when the game began, Mariana truly shone. She made it to the top 24, then to the top 10, and finally, for many people’s surprise, there she was, among the 5 finalists. The spontaneous and courageous country girl who represented the city of Guarapari, was one of the 5 most beautiful young women in her country.

She finished as 3rd runner-up in the competition won by Jane Borges. Mariana left several favorites behind and was very happy with her accomplishment. When she returned home, she was welcomed as a true winner in her town.

A few months later, we decided to send her to the Face of the Universe competition, a new pageant held in Ghana. Again, Mariana did quite well, finishing was 3rd runner-up and winning the best national costume award. Mariana was proud to say that she had the 4th most beautiful face in the world.

In 2007, the very talented pageant coach and state license-holder Alexandre Araújo invited Mariana to return to Miss World Brazil. This time she was fully sponsored, got proper coaching, and entered the contest as a front-runner. As Miss Sergipe World, Mariana did not disappoint her fans, and was, once again, a runner-up.

This time we sent her to Miss Bikini International, in China, which I had the opportunity to attend as well. Mariana won the ‘Best in Swimsuit’ award, and finished the competition in 6th place. Honestly speaking, as her national director, I was very mad with Miss Bikini’s results. She was clearly the favorite to win the title, or at least should’ve been in the top 3.

I remember that she left the backstage and came towards me in tears. I hugged her when she said: “Sorry Henrique, I didn’t win!”. My God, that broke my heart! I replied immediately that it was not her fault, and told her that she had been perfect on stage (and she did, indeed!). Then I joked: “Those judges might’ve been on drugs, don’t worry, you did really well and we are very proud of you”.

The next day we spent some 6 hours at the Shanghai’s airport, and we got a chance to talk a lot. Mariana is the kind of girl who says what she thinks, who’s not afraid of dreaming, and most importantly, of going after her dreams. She wanted to be a famous model and a journalist one day, and at that time, I knew nothing could stop that girl (God, I wish I was right…).

One thing I admire in Mariana is that fact that she does not take things for granted in her life. Still at the airport, she told me that visiting China and Hong Kong had been a dream come true for her. “How could I possibly do it if not for participating in the Miss Brazil pageant?”. She was surprised to see how modern and beautiful China was.

Those of us who follow beauty pageants from a close distance, know that this is not the rule. Several girls do nothing but complaining about waking up early, the ‘exotic food’, the fact that they are homesick, and the list goes on. Then, if they don’t do well, they complain about the judges, the organization, the winners! When it’s all over, they can barely say much about the country they visited, the new cultured they encountered, the people they had the opportunity to meet.

It’s great to see beauty contestants who are able to appreciate every bit of their experiences. Mariana certainly is one of them.

What is happening to her now has no logical explanation. Perhaps it’s part of her karma, or of the plans God has for her, nevertheless, it’s absolutely terrifying. She’s been bravely resisting death, and we couldn’t expect any less from her.

Several contestants who competed with her in 2006 and 2007 have been writing or calling us in complete shock and disbelief. If Mariana survives, they all want to put together a fashion show to raise funds to help her family buying mechanical hands and feet for Mari, so that she could continue on living with more comfort and autonomy.

Two weeks ago doctors gave Mariana 24 hours. She’s been resisting and beating the odds, just like she did in that Miss Brazil 2006, in Curitiba.

Whatever happens, Mariana is a true example of determination, persistence, and love for life. I hope her story inspires those who complain about so little, or who sit around waiting for things to happen.

Mariana has all our love and admiration, and the whole planet praying and rooting for her.

Death of Two Beauty Queens - Maria Bujor and Jessica Schillings

Years ago, there were two sweet, young, energetic and ambitious beauty queens who tried to win our hearts when they paraded on national television during their respective pageants. We were in loved with them and most of us were surely smitten by their charisma.

Maria Bujor represented Moldova at the first ever Miss Leisure World in China last year while Jessica Schillings of USA competed in Miss Earth 2003.

Today, both youthful and gorgeous ladies are now wasted beauties. I'm not saying they never made their countries proud but they are now gone. Both ladies were involved in a car accident that took their lives.

Bujor died on 09 January 2009 in a fatal car accident in Romania. She was named Miss Elegance during the Miss Leisure World in 2008 in China.

The accident was happened in Ruginoasa, in the northeastern region of Romania. Police reports stated that the 23 year-old beauty queen was driving on the road covered with snow when the fatal accident happened.

“She has not adapted to speed of the wet road and into a right curve, lost control of the vehicle, a skid and scattered off the roads, meaning at the opposite of walking,” said to the newspaper by spokesperson for the Police.

On the other hand, Jessica, then 19, Miss USA International 2003 and a competitor at Miss Earth, died Nov. 27, 2003, in Palm Springs, California, after a one-vehicle road accident. She lived in nearby Palm Desert and was a former Miss Teen Palm Springs and Miss Teen California International. Her death fell on the day Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, and that holiday brings some of the heaviest travel of the year. Highway fatalities are, unfortunately, numerous.

You may rest in peace two lovely ladies.

Death of a Beauty Queen: Miss International 1991 Agniezska Kotlarska

She is Agnieszka Kotlarska, a beauty queen who was given a second life after she backed out from flying a plane that crashed and killed all the people on board but only to surrender her second life two months later after when she was stabbed to death by a stalker.

Agnieszka is the first Polish winner of the Miss international beauty pageants in 1991. She went on to pursue a modeling career in New York for the likes of Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, before returning to Poland to settle in Maślice.

Agnieszka was stabbed to death by a stalker in August 27, 1996. The attack also injured her husband, Jarosław Świątek.

Here is a report of the incident by Maciej Mich, Wrocław - Małgorzata Bąkowska

A Tragic Obsession

Police have arrested an alleged stalker for the murder of 1991's Miss Poland.

Jerzy L. has confessed to killing former 1991 Miss Poland and Miss International, Agnieszka Kotlarska, after stalking her for more than five years.

On Aug. 27, police allege, he approached Kotlarska as she was getting into a car with her husband, Jarosław Świątek, and daughter. Świątek jumped out of the car, the men began to scuffle, and Jerzy L. produced a hunting knife from his knapsack. Kotlarska jumped out of the car when she saw Jerzy L. stab her husband's leg. Jerzy L. has confessed that he then stabbed her four times in the chest. Kotlarska died in the hospital.

After the stabbing, police officers found Jerzy L. in his home. He immediately confessed to killing Kotlarska, saying he was mad with jealousy that the girl of his dreams had married someone else and had "ruined his life." He also told police he always carried the hunting knife and never intended to use it to commit a crime. He faces a sentence ranging from eight years in prison to the death penalty.

Jerzy L. first saw Kotlarska in 1990, when she was modeling. He tried to get a date with her, but she refused. Jerzy L. was persistent: He got her address and phone number and continued pursuing her.

After she won the Miss Poland title in 1991 and married, Kotlarska left for the United States and a career as a fashion model. She modeled for designers including Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein under the name "Aga." Her photographs appeared in Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Playboy.

After three years in the United States, Kotlarska returned to Poland with her husband and daughter to live in a single-family house in the Wrocław district of Maślice. She began appearing in television commercials, and had two film roles pending. Jerzy L. learned Kotlarska's new address and phone number after see her husband's name in one of many press interviews. Allegedly, he started calling again, asking in vain for a meeting, and prowled around her house, hoping to catch a glimpse of her.

Jerzy L. is 36 and a graduate of the Wrocław University of Technology. He works as a computer programmer in a bank. He lives with his parents; his mother says that he was only interested in jogging and computers.

Two months ago, Kotlarska barely escaped death by deciding at the last minute not to fly on TWA Flight 900, which crashed with no survivors off Long Island, New York. Kotlarska's photographer was among the victims.

Kotlarska is the third Polish beauty queen to die in tragic circumstances. In 1957, just after the finals of the Miss Polonia contest, the first runner-up, Krystyna Żyła, fell out of a window at Warsaw's Grand Hotel. In 1994, Magdalena Jaworska, 1984's Miss Polonia, was electrocuted in her own apartment, after dropping a hairdryer into the water while bathing.

Death of a Beauty Queen: Miss Sweden Hellevi Rombin

She is really stunning. Beauty superiority is written all over her face. The woman in the picture is Hellevi Rombin, the first Swedish winner of the Miss Universe pageant and the second Scandinavian winner after Finland's Armi Kuusela.

But where is she now? Does anyone know?

Hellevi Rombin Schine is gone, but as long as beauty is celebrated, her legacy will be remembered.

That is her tomb now.

Hellevi Rombin died in a plane crash in June 19, 1996 (Many are actually writing she died in June 20, 1996). She was on board a privately owned aircraft piloted by her 32 year-old son. She and her son died together with her second husband, US former senator David Schine in Los Angeles in Southern California.

Her death was overshadowed by that of her husband, who was a successful and controversial man, but pageant fans remembered her as Sweden's Hellevi Rombin, Miss Universe 1955.

She was 64. Her husband was 69 and their son, Berndt, was 35.

Let's take a look about her short background before and after winning the crown in 1955.

The second Scandinavian delegate to win the title, Hellevi was a very athletic individual. After her reign as Miss Universe, she went on with a movie career in Hollywood and eventually married a movie produced.

Hellevi Rombin was an extraordinary athlete as well as a stunning woman. She was the Swedish national decathlon champion before being crowned Miss Sweden. Photographs of her as Miss Universe are still striking for the warmth they seem to exude. In some, she appears almost angelic, reminiscent of her fellow Swede Ingrid Bergman playing Joan of Arc.

Ms. Rombin married Schine in 1957, and they had six children. He was at the center of the great McCarthy controversy of the 1950s, allied with Sen. Joseph McCarthy and lawyer Roy Cohn in political warfare that eventually destroyed McCarthy's career. Schine then went on to success in the motion picture business, serving as executive producer of "The French Connection" in 1971. (Cohn, coincidentally, later became a confidant of the young Donald Trump.)

Below is the complete list of the courts of Hellevi:

1st runner-up Maribel Arrieta EL SALVADOR
2nd runner-up Maureen Hingert CEYLON
3rd runner-up Margut Nunke GERMANY
4th runner-up Keiko Takahashi JAPAN

SEMI-FINALISTS

Hilda Isabel Sarli Gorrindo ARGENTINA
Nicole De Mayer BELGIUM
Emilia Barreto Correa Lima BRAZILl
Cathy Diggles CANADA
Margaret Rowe ENGLAND
Maria del Rosario Molina Chacon GUATEMALA
Pastera Pagan Valenzuela HONDURAS
Solveig Borstad NORWAY
Carlene King Johnson USA
Carmen Susana Duijm Zubillaga VENEZUELA

Venezuela's Carmen Zubillaga, a semi-finalist, went on to win the Miss World 1955 crown later on in the year. This is also one of the few years we saw Sri Lanka, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Belgium as strong competitiors.

Death of a Beauty Queen : Miss Philippines Ma. Rosario Silayan

Is it my eyes or one of the gowns turn green and then blue alternately? But this picture is taken on the same time.

The pictures you have just seen above are the Top 5 of the Miss Universe 1980 in Seoul, South Korea. There were 69 contestants at that time from all over the world. Miss USA Shawn Weatherly snatched the crown leaving Miss Scotland Linda Gallagher, Miss New Zealand Delyse Nottle, Miss Philippines Ma. Rosario Chat Rivera Silayan and Miss Sweden Eva Brigitta Anderson as the 1st to 4th runners up respectively.

Now, the one wearing green or blue gown was Miss Philippines Ma. Rosario Rivera Silayan. Can someone uncover the real color of the gown?

Though Miss USA won that year's crown, it was Miss Philippines who snatched the heart of the audience and of the world. But this is also the coming of the end days of the Philippines as the force to reckon with in the world of beauty pageants. The years prior to this pageant, the world seen how the Philippines tried to revolutionize the pageantry with never-before-seen gowns. This is the time Miss Philippines introduced this kind of gown better known as the mermaid gown.

This is a creation of a famous Filipino designer, Renee Salud. The gown proved to be a hit.

During that pageant, Chat Silayan was a crowd favorite. The crowd even sang a song for her. And do you know that song? It was a Happy Birthday song. Yes, Miss Philippines was celebrating her 20th birthday at that time. But today, it is very sad, Chat Silayan had joined now our Creator. She died of a cancer.

This is my second blog entry about a death of former contestants of any pageant known to us. Do you remember when I wrote about Miss India 1996 Nafisa Joseph suicide? Expect me to bring to you every now and then stories of beauty queens who have left our world for eternity.

"Death of a Beauty Queen" will be the title I gonna use for every entry about the death of any beauty queens.

Let's read an article written for us by Ricky Lo of the Philippine Star about the passing of Ma. Rosario Rivera Silayan.

CHAT SILAYAN SLIPS QUIETLY INTO THE NIGHT

MANILA, APRIL 25, 2006 (STAR) FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo - She closed her eyes Saturday night and she never opened them again.

That’s how Michael "Mike" Bailon described how his wife Chat Silayan, 1980 Bb. Pilipinas-Universe, slipped quietly into the night. She was declared dead at past seven o’clock Sunday (April 23) at the St. Luke’s Medical Center where she had been confined for almost three months during which Chat waged an unflinching battle against colon cancer with stoic determination. Like Rio Diaz, also a beauty queen (1977 Mutya ng Pilipinas) before she joined showbiz, Chat lost the battle but won the war. She was 46.

"She was lucid until she closed her eyes for the last time," Mike told Funfare during an interview at the Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park, Makati City, yesterday afternoon. Chat’s body, lying in a sealed white casket, was brought there at six o’clock yesterday morning. "We were talking and, as usual, she was calling me Mikey as was her wont when she was making lambing. Then, we prayed together. After a while, she closed her eyes and that was it."

Chat’s battle with the Big C started in April 2004 when she underwent surgery on her colon, one foot of which was cut. For a while, Chat felt relief, only for the pain to recur a year later. Her doctors told her she had only one year to live.

"Actually," recalled Mike, a member, like Chat, of the Alabang New Life Center since December 1992 when they got married, "Chat began to be bothered by a pain in her lower back as early as l999. She thought it was due to a slipped disc which was closely monitored by the doctor. The pain went away but it came back in 2004 when she was diagnosed to have colon cancer, first stage. A year later, she was opened up again but the cancer had moved to her ovary, fourth stage. Then, it spread to her liver and other organs."

At first, according to Mike, Chat asked the usual question cancer-stricken patients usually do, "Why me?" But through the long months that she suffered, she became resigned to her fate – you know, Lord, Thy will be done!

She had been on liquid diet since January this year, often taking Gerber.

Ma. Rosario Silayan in real life (the daughter of the late theater-movie actor Vic Silayan), Chat became an overnight star when she won as Bb. Pilipinas-Universe in 1980, the same year she represented the country in the Miss Universe Pageant in South Korea, finishing third runner-up to Miss USA Shawn Weatherly. It was a memorable gift for Chat who was celebrating her 20th birthday that day (July 8).

Noted "beauty expert" Felix Manuel, "The host, Bob Barker, asked the audience to sing happy birthday to Chat who became an instant favorite when she thanked the crowd in Korean."

She joined showbiz soon after. After only a few years, she went to the US to take up acting lessons.

"She was a good person and a good friend," said Melanie Marquez, 1979 Bb. Pilipinas-International and that same year’s Miss Intrernational, Chat’s bosom buddy who was also in the States at that time pursuing a modeling career. "When I was in L.A., she asked her friend to take care of me. When she went naman to San Francisco, I asked my friend to take care of her," added Melanie who was among the first to rush to St. Luke’s Medical Center the night Chat died.

Besides Mike, Chat is survived by her three children, Victor, 17 (from her relationship with an Italian director); and Timothy, 12, and Michaela, 11 (with Mike).

(Her remains lie in state at the Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park, Makati City, at the same chapel where Rio Diaz’s cremated remains lay. She’ll be buried at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City on Saturday, April 29.)

Miss India Nafisa Joseph Commits Suicide

I remember watching the Miss Universe pageant in 1997in Miami, Florida when India almost didn't make it to the semi-finals. That year, Miss India Nafisa Joseph barely missed the cut by a small margin over Miss Philippines Abbegale Williamson Arenas (Abbegale went on to win the Miss Photogenic award) by a fracture .01. Nafisa was the 10th placer in the preliminary with an 8.96 average score while Abbegail was the 11th placer with an 8.95 average score. That was indeed a nerve-wracking moment in the history of Miss Universe.

Nafisa was so beautiful that night. She was like an angel and had a very captivating set of eyes that actually impressed the host, George Hamilton. That was 11 years ago and Nafisa Joseph had long ago joined our creator.

Yes, Nafisa apparently committed suicide leaving no suicide note.

Nafisa Joseph was born on 28 March 1978 in Bangalore, India. She won Femina Miss India in 1997. She had series of physical problems including of an epilepsy but her failed relationships made her decide to commit suicide. Nafiza Joseph was a talented and socially committed person, she must have suffered a momentary emotional trauma that made her take her own life. Considering the life of service that lay ahead of her, her death is a loss that cannot be rationalised.

She killed herself over a dispute with her boyfriend in 29 July 2004. She wasnt successful in relationships. I guess she gave up trying to make it work.

Nafisa Joseph hanged herself in her Versova, Mumbai home. Exactly why she did this is of course not clear but speculation involves the status of her impending marriage. Allegedly, her potential mother-in-law asked her "Do you know they (Gautam - his boyfriend- and his "ex" wife) are not yet divorced?" They were to be married on 7 August 2004 but it had to be called off.

Prior to this, Nafisa had two earlier relationships whom she experienced the same trauma. She was supposed to marry the guys, wedding were set off, but it had to be called off because of infidelity. The first is Sameer Malhotra of Bangalore and the second is Sameer Soni, an actor in Mumbai. Gautam Khanduga is the last man who brought Nafisa to breakdown.

Joseph had worked as a model and had been involved in activities related to animal rights. She was a true lover of animals. She had campaigned for many animal welfare society. Welfare of Stray Dogs and PETA were among such societies. She also had a deep interest in writing. She wrote a column 'Nafisa for Animals' for Times of India. Every girl has a dream of getting married to a person she like. Nafisa too had this dream. She was in relationship with a business with whom she was about to get married. But all of a sudden Nafisa got to know that the businessmen is already married. This incident shaked Nafisa from inside. She fell into a great depression tha lead her to kill herself.

She was 25 years old.

She locked her mother and a friend into an adjacent room in her Bombay flat. She then sent her maid outside the apartment. The maid got worried so she had to call the help of the watchman of the building. Since the watchman can't opened the door Nafisa locked, he made his way through the ceiling of the hallway where he got inside to open the main door. They then opened the room where her mother and friend was held "hostage". When they opened the room of the beauty queen, she was found hung from a ceiling fan gasping for air.

She was immediately rushed to the hospital but apparently she died while they were on way. She was pronounced dead on arrival at 10 pm on the 29th of July 2004.

"Our preliminary investigations show that she committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan in her apartment," a senior police official told Reuters news agency.

Here are pictures of Nafisa Joseph before she was cremated.