JAKARTA - The world has just felt the euphoria of Miss Universe 2020. Miss Universe 2020 should be held at the end of 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this event has been postponed until May 2021.
This is the third time in history that the competition has been held after the calendar year ended. Similar incidents have occurred at the Miss Universe 2014 and Miss Universe 2016 titles, both of which were held in January the following year.
Various countries sent delegations to show skills. Women who are delegated must meet B3 elements (brain, beauty, and behavior). It means not just beautiful. The delegation must be knowledgeable and have a good personality.
Therefore, ideally there are not just any women who can represent a country. Initially, beauty pageants or beauty pageants were indeed competitions that focused on judging and ranking the contestants' physical strengths.
But over time, competitions develop to assess the personality, intelligence, talents and abilities of the contestants. These things are measured through a number of indicators, including how the contestants answer the jury's questions on various subjects of the problem.
There are the top four beauty pageants that are prestigious in the world; Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International, and Miss Earth. And Miss World is the oldest beauty pageant, which was first held in 1951.
Miss World
Quoting History Today, the initiator of the Miss World event was Eric Morley, an Army captain during the war. Morley was also known as an entertainment entrepreneur with extraordinary shrewdness.
Before being given the name Miss World, the contest was called the Festival of Britain. The contest is meant to be a one-time event in the form of a bikini contest. This event was popular with the press and was nicknamed "Miss World" by the media.
This contest is for the promotion of bikinis. At that time, the first winner of the contest, Kerstin "Kiki" Hakansson from Sweden, was crowned wearing only a bikini, something that then added to the controversy.
Events that were meant to be only for once in a lifetime were turned into annual events. The following year the Miss Universe pageant was announced in the United States (US). Morley was disturbed and persuaded his boss to return to hold Miss World.
Since then Miss World has become an annual contest. Julia, Morley's wife who was a former beauty queen joined him to organize the pageant. The contestants' morale and courtesy are also maintained. Miss World attracts television audiences in almost every country in the US and the world.
This generates a large amount of money for charity. To counter accusations that the show was the equivalent of the Morley family's "selling women," then featured a question-and-answer session to get to know the participants' intellectuals. Morley himself likes to appear every year to announce the results, which are announced in lowest to highest order.
Miss Universe
The second beauty contest is Miss Universe. The name "Miss Universe" was actually first used by the International Pageant of Pulchritude in 1926. This contest was held every year until 1935.
However, due to the Great Depression and other events prior to World War II, the event was suspended due to the devastation. Meanwhile, Miss Universe, which is currently held frequently, was founded in 1952 by Pacific Knitting Mills, a clothing company based in California and producer of Catalina Swimwear.
The company sponsored the Miss America pageant until 1951. At that time the winner, Yolande Betbeze, refused to pose for publicity in one of their swimsuits. In 1952, Pacific Knitting Mills hosted the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, co-sponsoring for decades.
At that time, only 30 contestants were fighting for the crown and the first winner was Armi Kuusela from Finland. Any country can compete in Miss Universe, all they need to do is pay a fee to the organization for franchise rights.
However, this is partly the reason why some smaller countries do not participate. They can't afford to pay. Usually the selection of a country's delegation involves a state local contest, where local winners compete in a national contest, but there are some countries who vote by internal selection.
For example, from 2000 to 2004, the Australian delegation was selected by a modeling agency. In Indonesia, the delegates who will compete in Miss Universe are the winners of Puteri Indonesia. Miss Universe is the most watched beauty pageant in the world. It is known that the estimated audience is more than 500 million viewers in more than 190 regions.
Miss International
Citing the official website of Miss International, this event was first held in Long Beach, California, USA in 1960. Held in Long Beach until 1967, the Miss International title was then moved to Japan from 1968 to 1970.
In 1971, the contest was held again in Long Beach, but since then every year Miss International was held in Japan until 2003. Since 2004, the contest has been held in China or Japan. The winner of the first Miss International crown was Stella Araneta from Colombia.
This contest is also called 'Miss International Beauty.' Miss International's advocacy is to reach a world where women can live with positivity, inner strength and individuality.
Miss International's slogans are "the correct understanding of Japan in the international community" and "the realization of world peace through mutual understanding." In 2017, the Indonesian delegation to Miss International, Kevin Lilliana, won the crown.
In the contest, Kevin Lilliana also won a special award, namely 'Miss Best Dresser.' Kevin wore a national costume with the theme "Mbok Jamu Gendong and the Ancient Secret Potion" which was inspired by traditional Indonesian herbal medicine. Kevin's achievement marked Indonesia's first victory in one of the world's top four beauty pageants.
Miss Earth
Miss Earth is a beauty pageant with environmental themes, which channels the beauty pageant entertainment industry as an effective tool for promoting environmental awareness. Because many people admire and aspire to be beauty queens, the founder of Miss Earth, Carousel Productions, Inc., believes beauty pageant winners to be good and effective advocates for a worthwhile cause.
To bring this vision to life, Carousel Productions Inc. organized and launched Miss Earth in 2001. Miss Earth beauty pageant which has the main reason candidates and winners actively promote and are involved in environmental conservation and protection.
To quote the Miss Earth website, In addition to the strong emphasis on environmental protection programs, Miss Earth aims to showcase and promote various tourist destinations. Every year, more than 80 delegates from all over the world compete for beauty and knowledge on environmental issues.
The Miss Earth winners will become ambassadors for environmental protection campaigns around the world. The Miss Earth Foundation also works closely with participating environmental departments and state ministries, various private and corporate sectors, and the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF).
Manhunt International
Although there are many beauty pageants that are held for women, there are actually similar contests aimed at men. One of the most prestigious men's contests in the world is Manhunt International.
Manhunt International arranges attendees to have outdoor activities, thrilling events, public presentations, talent search routines, and even opportunities to meet and impress women. Manhunt International was first held in 1993.
This contest is unique, namely the panel of judges who are all women from all walks of life. Judging is said to be a form of women who value the qualities of men. Along with the times, in 2001 the regulations changed to include several male judges.
It also gives men the opportunity to voice their views on what makes the best male models. The Manhunt competition is held in two rounds, preliminary and final.
During the preliminary round, contestants can be judged on national costumes, swimwear, evening wear and fashion. The contestant with the highest score will be named as the last 16 finalists, where the judges determine the winner and runner up.
During the final contest, several other awards were also given apart from the final title of Manhunt International: Best in National Costume, Best Runway Model, Mister Photogenic, Mister Friendship, Mister Personality, Mister Physique and Mister Popularity - which were chosen by the public through social media.
The other types after the award are Best Runway Model, Best Commercial Model and Best Fashion Model. Other contests that are no less prestigious are Mister International and Mister World.
Miss International Queen
In addition, there is a beauty contest for transgender people, namely Miss International Queen. Miss International Queen is the world's largest beauty pageant for transgender women from various parts of the world. This contest was founded in 2004.
Citing IBTimes, this contest is a registered trademark of a Thai company, Tiffany's Show Pattaya Co., Ltd. Miss International Queen is held annually in Pattaya City, Thailand.
The mission of this contest aims to achieve LGBTQ and Transgender awareness and equality in society and the workforce. All monetary profit from this event goes to the Royal Charity AIDS Foundation of Thailand.
In 2018, the Indonesian delegation to Miss International Queen, Dinda Syarief, won the award for the best national costume. At that time, Dinda Syarif wore an all-red dress inspired by the Cirebonan mask dance.
The costume is the work of designer Violeta Krein. Although not as euphoric as beauty pageants for women, contests for men and transgender people also have the same message, that every human being has their own advantages.
Whoever wins, will inspire many people to be their best and unique. Which contest the community likes the most, maybe it depends on individual tastes.
* Read other information about INTERNATIONAL NEWS or read other interesting writings from Putri Ainur Islam.
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