Miss
Universe
1998,
Honolulu,
Hawaii,
USA
Overall Rate of the Pageant (A-)
The 1998 pageant was a one with a lot of expectations from myself and most of you, in part becasue it is the latest pageant. It was better than what I expected it to be. This year's pageant would have been an A pageant only if they had a good opening number and start. The first 10 minutes of the pageant was so painful to watch! What makes the Miss Universe Pageant so great, which are an electrifying opening number sung by the delegates, good choreography, and the parade of natioins, were missing! How could that happen? To see the delegates introduce herself and her country with pride and passion in her national costume and also with her accent is the ultimate.
What an awkward start they made? The announcer says the country and the delegate and she turns around gives a smile for 2 seconds? No offense to Betsy Johnson, who designed all of the 82 black dresses that the delegates wore, but why wear those instead of the beautiful national costumes which they probably brought in boxes? But the segment productions were great with great music. Applause for KC & JoJo for that great serenade during the evening gown segment.
The Miss Universe organization has stressed so much about this year they're newly defining women and the pageant. What is this? I don't think anything changed for good? They think they've done the pageant good, but I don't think so. The pageant production is really losing its ground. Pageants have been losing viewers over the 90s (Miss Universe Pageant 1998 did not even finish in the top 10 in the Nielsen t.v. ratings). This year was probably the best year in promoting the pageant, but the Miss Universe organization is still poor in promotion. They need to learn from the Miss America Organization. Honestly, which pageant is much more enjoyable to watch? The Miss Universe of course (definitely for me), but in the U.S., which pageant gets more viewers? The Miss America Pageant does! People don't know enough about the Miss Universe Pageant, when it's at or the level of excitement that this pagenat will offer, more than the Miss America Pageant.
Good:
I loved the Hawaii audience!! They were so supportive and filled with the Aloha spirit! I saw many news segment from Hawaiian local t.v. news and the community was so involved and everybody was excited the Miss Universe Pageant, an international event, was in their state. The support of the host city/country is really needed, something the MU pageant did not get enough in Miami 1997. I hope the pageant will bring positive influence to the slumping Hawaiian economy.
Talk about promoting the host nation or region. Hawaii's main focus was the use the opportunity to promote the islands and sure they did! I think they showed that Hawaii is not just filled with beaches and sands but far beyond it. Great job Hawaii!
Would have loved to see the little sisters singing "You Are My Star" but the great serenade by KC & JoJo was unforgettable.
I liked the show-casing of the Polynesian dancers. Really brough Hawaii to the world. The best dancer was definitely "Honey Girl", Brook Lee. I think she could have gotten involved more, but it was great to see her show off her talen which is hula dancing.
Jack Wagner, a newcomer, did really great! I've never seen or heard of him take on hosting, but he was solid and smooth.
Bad:
As mentioned before, a very poor opening. The opening song was nice, but not a great choice for the opener. It was too techno-beat and not enough Hawaiian. Tom Bahler, the former musical director who charmed us with Mabuhay, Viva La Noche, etc. was replaced by an another guy.
The pageant production staff was totally changed except for that costume guy, Pete Menefee. The production members are well-respected people with a lot of achievements, but I think the previous staff was perfectly fine. I'm complaining so much, b/c it's the production staff who make the pageant itself.
Why all of a sudden did they change the finalist group from 6 to 5. We pageant people here are suggesting that the semi group should be widen from 10 to 12, but what a shocker! Is it for time consumption or what? If CBS doesn't give the pageant 3 hours then it's really funny, b/c CBS doesn't have awesome shows and the pageant could really help! Besides, even national pageants run for 3 hours like Miss Venezuela and Miss Korea.
Okay, I have a great respect for ET's Julie Moran and I like Ali Landry, but when those two ladies are put together, we get talk machine. They could talk forever and ever. I know they were all excited, but they were excited a little too much, perhaps. They talked about weird stuff, like starting a packing academy and the subtleness of breast implants?? And why were their mouths moving during the evening gown competition? There was me so moved by KC & JoJo and when Miss South Africa was called I was going "so sweet" then all of a sudden I hear these two voices. First, I thought the microphones were turned on accidentally. They were too opinionative (like me- but I'm not talking!). There was Julie Moran saying that Trinidad & Tobago never won the title (she was wrong) and there was Ali Landry saying that Miss Puerto Rico's dress was a exact replica of Minorka Mercado's in 1994 (she didn't need to emphasize it). They could be good co-hosts, but they just need to control what they say.
They shoudn't have abolish the judge's question. It's not fair. In the judge's question, the delegate picks a card so it's the luck of the draw of who she picks, b/c some judges give difficult ones and some don't, but in an interview like that it's just not fair. I think Miss USA had a little bit of an disadvantage being American.
What happened to the isolation booth? I think they earphones are not a good choice. Did they have a low budget and couldn't afford a booth? The earphones could hurt the ears, b/c they have to be really loud and if it's not loud, picaboo~~, the other girls could hear it maybe. Miss P.R.'s ear was probably infected by the way she looked, making all the hand gestures.
The only blooper I could think of is of course the very noticeable incident, when Miss Ghana made a show after Miss T&T was announced the winner. What was she thinking? I think she was really excited and felt that she just had to be the first one to give a hug. She got caught on Miss Venezuela's dress and could have really landed on her face, but she got a grip on Miss T&T. What would reactions be if she did fall? I just wonder? Sorry for Veruska Ramirez. She was just announced second to best and this girl steps on your dress.
Why She Won... Miss Trinidad and Tobago, Wendy Fitzwilliam
I can't really give a good reason or factor on why Wendy won, but I guess there were little many factors that helped her to win. Wendy's victory was indeed not an easy one, but it came. Wendy was very lucky that she had the higher scores for the preliminary round than Veruska Ramirez, Miss Venezuela, because they were tied for the crown. I actually thought the policy was unfair, because the pageant emphasizes so much about previous scores being wiped off and starting from a clean slate. But what can be done? Wendy is the new Miss Universe.
Wendy was very consistent and solid all the way. She wasn't one of my favorite to win, but I think she makes a nice Miss Universe. She doesn't have the glamorous face like Veruska, but she has a lot of charisma. But really surprised me that she won is that she froze on the final question. She was stuck and just plain frozen. What about clean air? She was talking nonsense and probably was too nervous. In this part, I think it was unfair for her to win.
Why They Didn't Win...
Miss Venezuela- Veruska Tatiana Ramirez (1st Runner-Up)
Veruska, Veruska, I like this name, but also pleased with this year's representative from the pageant capital, Venezuela. But it was deja-vu Marena Bencomo. Well, what can I say, except that she was very unlucky. By votes, she's a Miss Universe as much as Wendy is!
I always kinda wonder who the next Miss Venezuela would be and how she looks like and her personality, because it's Venezuela. When I saw Veruska's picture as a contestant of Miss Venezuela I thought she really didn't have much chance. But what a difference could plastic surgery from the Miss Venezuelan Institution could make. She also matured very much. Veruska has that Miss Venezuela look. In a way, she's similar to Alicia Machado with the humor, outgoing personality and that stretchy smile and also in a way like Milka Chulina and Minorka Mercado with her tall stature and the the eye-brows that move like them.
She was great and solid. She gave the best answer amongst the top 3. She gave a very reasonable answer and the judge's didn't catch the mild humor. Some people say she didn't win partly b/c of the plastic surgery, but I don't think it was a huge factor. I the biggest reason is because probably she was too young and acted young. The 4 judges who picked Wendy probably fell for Wendy's maturity and probably thought Veruska is too young. If people think that 18 year olds can't handle the job of Miss Universe, they are wrong cos there have been 2 18 year old winner in the 90s.
I personally love Veruska and felt very sorry for her, because she seemed to be very nervous and felt a lot of pressure, because she is Miss Venezuela. We could just see the relieve in her face when she was the last one to be named to the top 5. She was almost crying when it came down to her and Wendy. She was a great representative despite!!
Miss Puerto Rico, Joyce Giraud (2nd-Runner Up)
Even before she arrived to Hawaii, there was so much talk about Joyce, so it was no surprise her doing well. Joyce is very photogenic. But I was disappointed by her performance, rather laughed.
I was surprised that she got very far despite the way she performed. Puerto Rico sent a great delegate, but no offense, she of course has brains- she did go to college and military school- but she made herself look less intelligent. From the beginning til the end her answers were so sweet and thoughtless. I know she wasn't coached to say this and that, but she made it look as if she was coached. Some of the answers were reasonable. Me and my friends were holding our stomachs laughing when she answered the last question. I can't believe that she was so over. "Women are the best!" This statement was something. But really caught me was that she said that we haven't and were always the same?? I'm a women and I totally disagree. I feel that Joyce felt the need that she had to give an answer quickly, so she didn't think enough before answering and therefore she gave the obvious answers.
Why They Didn't Reach As Far...
Miss Colombia- Silvia Fernanda Ortiz
Shoot that she didn't win! I put Silvia as the winner in many of the polls. I wanted her to win and actually thought she had a very big chance. She was also a big crowd favorite, b/c many Hawaiians interviewed picked her and were cheering for Miss Colombia to win. But I think she also had a bad day, appearance wise. Her eyes were swollen. That happened to Miss Slovak Rep., an another Silvia, in 1994.
Silvia reminded me of Carolina Gomez, Miss Colombia 1994. When they smile and especially from the side, they look very similar. I noticed it when Silvia took her top 10 spot and was smiling to someone toward the audience.
When she answered "Tu no."/"Not you." to Jose Diaz-Balart during the top5 interview, it kinda sounded rude, but she was trying to be funny. I thought she could have gotten some extra points for playing basketball, but she didn't. Also, her posture wasn't too good. She was leaning toward the table when she was answering, but it's not wrong, but it didn't look to good. I really liked her evening gown performance. She wore a very simple but beautiful dress but her make-up was fantastic. She went for the lighter make up and lipstick and made her look for classic also with the hairs-up.
Miss USA- Shawna Jebbia
Why They Didn't Reach As Far...
Miss Brazil- Michela Marchi
Yo, I love this Samba girl! Af first, I said she's not that pretty enough and why did she make the top 10, but my thoughts changed after her interview. "First, Mahalo and thank you." "English is my second language." I don't know why but she really cracked me up. She has great personality. I noticed her outgoing and in a way goofy personality after seeing her and Miss Venezuela dancing to the disco in Planet Hollywood. They were much fun, dancing and grooving! One time she was sitting down on the stairs eating M&Ms peanut-filled chocolate with Miss Bahamas and waiving hello. Her evening gown was okay and very mythical. Don't know why the 2 co-hosts criticized it so much.
Miss India- Lymaraina D'Souza
Maybe not one of the strongest delegate from India, but Lymaraina was impressive. She had a mix of beauty, poise, and intelligence. I think the way she performed, she definitely deserved a top 5 spot, but there were 5 others would did better than her. Her interview was fantastic, talking about the raising up of children. I think she deserved higher scores and she looked taller than I thought. Her evening gown was pretty. She was great!
Miss Irealand- Andrea Roche & Miss Russia- Anna Malova
Both women, what were they dointg in the top 10? Before the pageant, many people were saying so much about how Miss Russia is beautiful and elegant. I don't think she was so elegant and sure can't judge a book by its cover. Skinny and tall, but not much of the brains. Why use English that's not good? She looked so out of clue and lost during the interview, repeating the same thing. Jack Wagner saved her.
Andrea of course was the big surprise. She looked okay in the internet picture and she looks okay with bright make-up and wardrobe. Beginning til end she wore black. I saw as this mysterious lady in black. Something was definitely wrong with her hair. Gotta brush it.
Would have loved to seen Miss Hungary and Miss Costa Rica take the spots of these two women.
She just didn't have it to go any further. She's cute and smart, but she was mediocre. I think she had a disadvantage because she was the first one to go. The judges didn't know what was low or high and she was like the model person for the scores of the proceeding people. She did well in the interviews, very impressive.
IF ANYBODY WAS ABLE TO FIGURE OUT THE LYRICS FOR THE OPENING NUMBER WILL YOU PLEASE E-MAIL ME IT? THANKS!
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