How I Save the World

I think the only credible international pageants are Miss Universe and Miss Earth. I find Miss International too boring to watch or its delayed telecast sadly unreasonable to look forward to. Watching it feels like being in a JS Prom where every delegate simply sashays in her evening gown (after parading in her national costume). The stage is dull and the production predictable: there’s no element of thrill. Almost always, though, their judging is tasteful. On the other hand, I think Miss World is too conservative, not to mention old school, although their stage is usually splendid. However, watching it live feels like watching a Grammy Awards Night (and I bet you know what I mean). It’s too dragging, much like the Miss International presentation. What’s worse with Miss World is that most of the time their results seem rigged for political purposes. Sometimes I don’t understand why Julia Morley has to sit amongst the judges every year, whilst in Miss Universe Donald Trump couldn’t care less about how his hired judges size up every delegate and come up with the winner at the end of the night. Of course, there are times when a winner seems to have been pre-conceived by both the organizers and the judges, but then again, Miss Universe is still obviously much more credible than the other two. Miss Universe production cum presentation has always been consistent with its sophisticated and glamorous, exciting and thrilling approach to both its audiences and televiewers. In a nutshell, the Miss Universe choreography is indisputably spectacular—from the opening number down to the winner’s crowning moment. Anyhow, as a Filipino, I can’t help taking pride in the fact that despite our economic condition here, we are still able to produce the second best international beauty pageant, the Miss Earth. Wouldn’t you be proud too this also… that despite how poor and pathetic we seem to other so-called first-world countries, we’re able to bring about such a high-end event, a gathering of the world’s most beautiful ladies vying for a title that comes with a responsibility to help make our world a better place to live in? If Miss Universe or Miss World are able to put up with a grand presentation of their official candidates, it’s because they’re being organized by two of the world’s most opulent or powerful countries (the U.S. and the U.K.). Of course, they have all the resources—ways and means— and they have connections with gigantic companies to back them up in the name of presentors, sponsors, benefactors, rah-rah-rah. What a shame on Japan for their lousy Miss International preparation. It didn’t hurt a bit when this year’s Miss World wasn’t seen telecast live in the Philippines. But it will definitely break our hearts if we Filipinos will stop supporting our very own Miss Earth or be deprived of watching Miss Universe pageant live on the boobtube.
– ARIEL ALLERA, laraduttallerariel@yahoo.com