PICTURE OF THE WEEK
Italy is known for many beautiful things, from its countryside to its splendid works of art. But perhaps the most celebrated would be the beauty of its women. This week marks the culmination of the year long search for a new Miss Italia, who will selected on September 5. To mark this occasion, we share with you a photo of Italy's most famous beauty contestant, the extraordinary Sophia Loren.
While Sophia did not win the competitions she entered, we
all ended up the winners. Her brief foray into the world of pageants would be the stepping stone to her film career.
During this week's faculty meeting here at Beauty School, the subject of who is the most successful or most famous Beauty Contestant of all time came up.
Halle Berry's recent successes certainly had the table abuzz; Vanessa Williams' name came up, but had to be discounted since Miss America is NOT a beauty pageant but a scholarship program. Other names bandied about included Brazil's Martha Rocha, Venezuela's Irene Saez, and Denmark's Helena Christensen to name but a few.
It seemed that coming to an agreement on who we would confer this title to was almost an impossiblity. We decided to table the discussion until a further date and move on with the agenda.
Next up, how to mark the Miss Italia Pageant? Before we could
even begin that conversation it became crystal clear that the person we were looking for was right there on our agenda. The words Miss Italia jumped off the agenda...and in unison...everyone present yelled out the name "Sophia"!
So to mark the 60th anniversary of the Miss Italia Pageant and to confer the title of the most famous Beauty Pageant Contestant of all time, we ask you to follow this link as Sophia Loren enters the lofty heights of the Pantheon.
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