Penny for your thoughts

 Musing over Miss Universe

By Earl D.C. Bracamonte

Right after the winner was announced last Friday, reaction was swift. The audience was outraged and they showed how they felt. The boo came next. Even when the Mexican delegation exited the hall, the boo continued.

Before Omar Harfouch resigned as part of the selection committee, people thought that Miss Mexico was simply standing up for herself during the Sashing Ceremony altercation. In countries where English is not the lingua franca, words like "damage" could be misheard as "dumb"; and "dumb" could certainly create "damage," especially when bystanders take sides hastily without ascertaining facts. When Omar shared with People Magazine the info about Rocha and Fatima's father as having business ties, the pieces of the puzzle simply fit in. 

Omar's resignation also prompted jurors Claude Makelele and Principessa Camilla di Borbone, who was supposed to preside over the deliberations, to leave the panel as well. They knew they'll simply be figureheads of a contest panel, where the supposed winner had been determined, even before competition began. 

Paraguay who had an involvement with one of the Beyond the Crown jurors actually won as top advocacy project. Not that her project was inferior, as it could have its merits. It was winning it with a shadow cast over the process. Paraguay automatically qualified through the online poll as People's Choice awardee, outplacing Miss Australia who was at the 30th rank.

Even selection member Natalie Glebova, Miss Universe 2005, said she would not participate again if the transparency issue was not resolved.

However, there were also good things that came out of the competition. Friendships and new bonds were formed. For Ahtisa Manalo, it was with Miss Panama and Miss Pakistan. And may I add that Val Taguba's creation was a chef d'oeuvre. Seldom would we see such inspired work on the global stage.

After 44 years, Malta had its long deserved placement - and a Top 12 at that! Just goes to show that those who wait will surely be rewarded.

The new entrants like Palestine, Guadeloupe, Mayotte (to name a few) gave stellar performances. China was a revelation this year. And so was Miss Bangladesh.

Well, it's too bad deserving queens were robbed of their true placements and titles. But that has happened before, in one form or another. In fact, each year has its own set of issues; it just got messy this year.

But I tell you this, people's memories are short-lived. They won't even remember why they fussed so much over this when they'll talk about this in the future. Especially with the Pinoy memory. The next gossip will eclipse this issue and that will be the new topic, 'til another juicy one surfaces.

Let's just hope the Puerto Rico edition will be more transparent and fair. This is because honest efforts are costly and can hurt the heart and mind for a very long time.

But hey, what's a pageant without a little drama?