I had previously blogged about how I wanted to become Miss Universe when I was 9 years old. 16 years after that crazy summer of ’94, I admit to having lost all interest in the pageant. Interestingly enough, Harold, a friend from the company that handles Miss Universe public relations, badgered me for several years to join the competition (he stopped when I turned 25).

The Miss Universe pageant is no longer the big international that it used to be; in fact, pageants as a whole had been on the downturn since the late ’90s. Of course, it’s still a huge hit with some sectors (a friend called it the “gay community’s World Cup”), but you don’t see as many children practicing Q&A portions and waving demurely at an invisible camera anymore.

Even television shows are indicative of that. In my day (wow, I sound really old), noontime shows hosted Little Miss Philippines pageant, and it was actually an honor to win those darned things—one of my batchmates from Miriam did, and she eventually became student council president in high school. Aiza Seguerra launched her career as a child star after winning the tilt. Nowadays, children on TV wear midriff tops and gyrate with dancers, so maybe the fall of pageants was a bad thing, after all.

Pageant of the bizzare: Aiza Seguerra in Eat Bulaga

I have to admit she has a great body

On a related note, I’m glad that the Philippines placed in the Miss Universe pageant again, but I’m unhappy with Venus Raj’s answer. The Q&A portion went something like this:

William Baldwin: “What is one big mistake that you’ve made in your life and what did you do to make it right?”

Venus Raj: “You know what sir, in my 22 years of existence I can say that there is nothing major major, I mean, problem that I have done in my life. Because I am very confident with my family, with the love that they are giving to me. So, thank you so much that I am here, thank you thank you so much.”

Venus Raj: No "major, major" problems. Major major = bonggang bongga

I guess it’s why they call it a beauty pageant. Historically, Miss Universe answers have rarely been brilliant (Sushmita Sen’s answer was still traditional, but at least it was well-stated), so what can we expect? Organizers insist that the pageant is all about modern women celebrating beauty and brains, but very few successful, educated women nowadays will agree to walking around in a swimsuit as judges rate them for their proportions and poise.

The Miss U candidates are also arguably young and have less knowledge of the world to back up their answers, but I think these women, who all aspire to be role models, can and should still do a lot better than give an unsubstantial answer disguised by a megawatt smile and a lot of “thank yous.”

(Day 12, 30-Day Blog Challenge)