The 47th Miss Universe Pageant has now come and gone and the stunning Wendy Fitzwilliam of Trinidad and Tobago has taken the title for her twin-island nation. In an effort to put a coda on our survey of the changes at the Miss Universe Pageant since 1960, it is time to assess what happened on May 12, 1998.
For several weeks prior to the pageant the Miss Universe Organization was touting the pageant as “Redefined for Today”. In press releases and other publications they pointed out that this year’s pageant would be “Dedicated to furthering the ideals and goals of women today.” Having seen the changes made at the Miss USA Pageant in March, many pageant watchers were quite nervous at the thought of any tinkering with tradition. So what did change? Not a whole lot - on the surface. And what with the Clairol Style award, all Beauty Schools students were surely relieved to see that one constant has not changed. The women of today’s Miss Universe Pageant still define themselves and are defined by others, in part, of course, by a truly gorgeous head of hair.
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In terms of looking at the surface changes to the pageant which could have had an impact on the final decision, there was nothing to worry about. If one compares the 1997 event with this year’s event, one can see all the nervous pre-pageant chatter was for naught.
There was no parade of nations of the contestants in their fabulous national costumes. This is always a spectacular part of the evening, and while it is fun to watch, we all know the costumes have nothing to do with the final outcome. What was missing with the elimination of this tradition was the opportunity to get some early sense of who these women were. Even if it is just a “Mabuhay” or a “Buon Giorno,” hearing the contestants speak made them stand out as individuals from the beginning and gave us a soupçon of their personality. Seeing as how the panel of celebrity judges had not seen the contestants before, one could count this change as a small one that could have impacted the outcome.
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Just as in years before, each of the ten finalists were interviewed on stage. With the 1998 pageant, the content of the interview changed. That is all. Each woman was asked to tell us about another contestant’s country. Despite the change in content, the reason for the interview - and its impact on their relative positions in the scoring - was still the same. The women were tested on their interview and speaking skills.
After the traditional three rounds of competition, the biggest change of the evening took place. Instead of six finalists, the field was narrowed to five. Impact? One less contestant for the judges to focus on.
The top five were once again interviewed - by a professional journalist this time. But still there was not much difference in the nature of the questions put to the finalists.
Soon five became three and they each faced a final question. No big, shocking news here. Overall, the “changes” so many had feared (and some had welcomed) really were rather anti-climatic.
As we stated at the end of “Plus Ça Change, Plus C’est La Même Chose,” one thing remains a constant. There will always be a new Miss Universe when the evening ends. We have to admit we were wrong. There appear to be two constants...a happy winner and, alas, a sore loser. This year it was Miss France, Sophie Thalmann, who called a press conference upon her return home. Unhappy with the outcome, Miss Thalmanm even went so far as to say ”The winner wasn’t particularly pretty for my taste.”
If one looks back over the years, one can see comments like this are nothing new. One year particularly sticks out in our minds. In 1982, Miss Italy, Cinzia Fiordiponti, gave a vitriolic press conference on her displeasure at being named second runner-up. Among other things she said, “...Miss Canada won fairly because she was a candidate with good qualifications...But I am not in agreement with second place going to Miss Guam. It is my opinion that Miss Guam did not merit second place - I did.”
So, you see, as we said, Plus Ça Change, Plus C’est La Même Chose. The changes at 1998 pageant were mostly cosmetic and did not affect the outcome.
That said, however, there was something going on - a little beneath the surface - during the pageant that was in fact about change, or the struggle to change. It was a subtle, almost imperceptible ambivalence over what it means to be Miss Universe today and what “the ideals and goals of women today” in the Miss Universe Pageant really are.
Is Miss Universe just a cultural ambassador and role model for children? Can she just be brainy? Can she just be sexy? Can she have it all? What exactly did “Redefined For Today” mean at this year’s pageant? There were mixed signals from start to finish.
On the one hand, there were clear tendencies to redefine how the women were perceived. The official pictures of the contestants were sexy, peek-a-boo shots, a clear move to try to make them into sex objects. Their official “biographies” were not posted on the Miss Universe website. Their personalities were not important. The women did not introduce themselves - and start to become individuals in the process - during the parade of nations. By doing all of these things, one focused utterly and completely on what they were and not on who they were and what they had to say. And host Jack Wagner constantly referred to the top ten semifinalists by the countries they were representing, not by their names.
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On the other hand, there were small efforts to do away with politically incorrect pageant props and help the women stand out more as individuals. The women did not wear their sashes during the parade of nations. And to top it off, for the first time ever, the top ten semifinalists didn’t wear their sashes during the swimsuit competition. Watch for this prop to disappear more and more. As we witnessed at the 1998 Miss USA Pageant, the isolation booth was also absent in Hawaii. And there was no throne this year. Just a crown and bouquet. Just like Miss America. Don’t count on seeing the new Miss Universe sit on her throne - on TV - ever again. Well, maybe in 2001, for nostalgia’s sake.
Even the prize package was redefined this year. In addition to the generic and tradition prizes like cosmetics, jewelry, shoes, and clothes, there were other prizes which clearly put the accent on the individual winner and more importantly, her goals in life after Miss Universe. These new prizes included a mentoring program to help the winner with her career aspirations, representation by the William Morris Agency (a top public talent agency), US$10,000 in scholarship money, and US$20,000 in Planet Hollywood stock.
As the Miss Universe Pageant approaches 2001, its 50th anniversary, we can expect more of this ambivalent attitude - who and what is Miss Universe exactly - and the changes this attitude brings to the pageant. Ambivalence can be a good thing. It can mean that you are soul-seaching, trying to figure things out, trying to adjust to new times and circumstances. Soul-searching is good, too, even for beauty pageants. lt can keep you healthy and resilient. And we all want the Miss Universe Pageant to see 100...and then some.
So keep changing, Miss Universe. Whatever that means.
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