Critical Beauty

Alyona Spodynyuk , 18, was crowned Miss Ukraine Universe 2016 at the Grand Fairmont Kyiv Hotel in in Kiev on June 28. She will now compete in the next edition of Miss Universe pageant whose date and venue have not yet been confirmed. The 1st vice-miss was  Yulia Gershun  and the 2nd vice-miss was  Julia Zakharova .

Swimsuits at the Miss Teen USA pageant are officially dead in the water. The organization is ending the swimsuit portion of the beauty pageant and replacing it with an athletic wear competition, a spokesperson confirmed to CNN. The news was first reported by USA Today. It's a nod to a more modern approach in an era where there are gender empowerment videos and commercial campaigns including Always' #LikeAGirl aimed at highlighting equality among the sexes. "This decision reflects an important cultural shift we're all celebrating that empowers women who lead active, purposeful lives and encourage those in their communities to do the same," Miss Universe president Paula Shugart wrote in a memo to the pageant's state directors. "Our hope is that this decision will help all of Miss Teen USA's fans recognize these young women for the strong, inspiring individuals they are." Miss USA, Miss Teen USA and Miss Universe are all o

Antonella Moscatelli , 20, representing Santa Cruz was crowned Miss Bolivia Universe 2016 at Hotel Toborochi in Santa Cruz on June 25th. She will now compete in 2016 Miss Universe pageant whose date and venue have not been confirmed. Five other titles were awarded to the following finalists: Khaterine Añasgo -  Miss International Bolivia 2016   Yessenia Barrientos  - Miss Supranational Bolivia 2016  Eliana Villegas  - Miss Earth Bolivia 2016    Julia Méndez - Miss Bikini Bolivia 2016 Estefanía Senzano  - Miss Grand Bolivia 2016   All five will compete in their respective international competition.

Newly crowned Miss Missouri, Erin O'Flaherty , is breaking ground as the first-ever openly gay Miss America contestant. O'Flaherty, 23, was crowned as the Show Me State's representative to the national pageant on Saturday, and is the first openly gay woman to hold the title, said Ann Jolly, chairman of the board of the Miss Missouri Scholarship Organization. In an interview with the   Associated Press , O'Flaherty said that she came out at 18, competed openly and knew that there was a possibility that she could be making history with her win. "I'm on cloud nine really just to be Miss Missouri," she told the AP. "I don't know that I intended to be the first, but I am. So I'm very excited about it." O'Flaherty sent her first official tweet from the Miss Missouri Twitter account on Wednesday, writing, "Hey there! Erin here, officially signing in as Miss MO 2016. So excited to serve this amazing state." View im

22-year-old Yaritza Miguelina Reyes Ramírez was crowned Miss Mundo Dominicana 2016 at the La Fiesta Theater of the Renaissance Jaragua Hotel in Santo Domingo on June 18. She will represent the Dominican Republic in Miss World 2016 pageant to be held in Washington, D.C. on December 20.  The first runner-up was  Perla Núñez .  Yaritza is a pageant veteran. She was Miss Universe Dominican Republic 2013 and competed in Miss Universe 2013 in Moscow where she placed in the top 10. 

 The Spectacular Six. From left to right: Angela la Marquess, Angel Cavalli, Alexandra Dior, Lolita Golightly, Ivy League-O'deria, and Serenity Lōckhart.       So last night at Club Café in Boston, I was fortunate to have judged the first ever Miss New England Continental female impersonation pageantry (a/k/a drag pageantry). I have judged and attended countless pageants, mostly traditional female ones, but none of them could have been more exciting, more entertaining, and more fabulous than this drag pageant. Produced and owned by J. Cardin Moore (a/k/a Jovan I. Cardona), a former Mr. Boston Pride 2015, the Miss New England Continental show was a phenomenal success. For its first year, Moore's production team put on a highly memorable, energetic and professional show. And it didn't matter if there were only six contestants, because each contestant projected two other personae, so essentially I felt like I was judging 12 contestants overall. One was already too

CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES Susana Djuim from Venezuela, who was crowned Miss World 1955, passed away Saturday, June 18, 2016, as confirmed by the Miss Venezuela Organization. She was 79. The cause of death was stroke.  Susana was the first Latin American and first Venezuela to win the Miss World crown. She was born in Aragua de Barcelo in the state of Anzoategui on August 11, 1936. She remained active by conducting a radio program called "De todo a tono con Susana" in Isla de Margarita and she was preparing notes for her new topic, “La vuelta al mundo en 80 años” ("Return to World in 80 Years") in reference to her 80th birthday which would included in her radio show.  CREDIT: MISS VENEZUELA ORGANIZATION

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA — Venezuelan model and actress Alicia Machado says it took her many years to get over get over the abuse she suffered at the hands of Donald Trump when she was crowned Ms. Universe in 1996. “He made me feel small,” she told ThinkProgress in Spanish. “He threatened me, treated me rudely. He called me ‘Ms. Housekeeping’ in front of his friends.” Trump, then the owner of the beauty pageant, publicly mocked Machado for gaining weight and forced her to exercise in front of TV cameras. She said she was depressed and suffered from an eating disorder for several years as a result. “He hates girls,” she said. “He considers girls to be less. We have another status, to him.” Machado has lived in the U.S. for nearly 20 years now, and has a seven-year-old daughter who is a U.S. citizen. But she didn’t consider becoming a citizen herself until a few months ago, when Trump became the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee. “It was like a great monster reappearing

The reigning Miss Great Britain, Zara Holland , has been stripped of her title after having sex on  ITV2  reality show Love Island. Beauty pageant organisers said they had “no problem with sex” but said they could not condone Holland’s relationship with 24-year-old scaffolder Alex Bowen . Wednesday’s episode of the show, watched by around a million viewers, featured the two in bed together and what one insider described as a “look of delight” on Bowen’s face. Although no explicit scenes were shown, it was readily apparent what had happened from comments that were featured in the following night’s programme. Love Island presenter Caroline Flack criticised the decision, saying Holland was a “very sweet girl. What even is Miss GB? Are we living in the dark ages?” n a statement, Miss Great Britain organisers said they had taken the decision with “deep regret”. “We pride ourselves on promoting the positivity of pageants in modern society and this includes the promotion o

Siera Bearchell , 22, from Saskatchewan was crowned Miss Universe Canada 2016 on June 11th at  St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts . In her bio, Siera describes herself as  a law student, entrepreneur, runner, golfer, and an avid photographer. She will now represent Canada in the next edition of Miss Universe whose date and venue have not been confirmed. Siera's court includes 1st runner-up Amber Bernachi , 2nd runner-up Kesiah Papasin , 3rd runner-up Camila Gonzalez , and 4th runner-up Zoe Bennett .

PHOTO CREDIT: GMA NEWS ONLINE A German-Filipino student based in Puerto Princesa City bagged the 2016 Miss Philippines Earth crown in ceremonies held at the UP Theater in Quezon City Saturday night.  Imelda Bautista Schweighart (center), 21, bested 45 other aspirants from all over the country and from overseas Filipino communities to inherit the national crown. She will try to secure a “three-peat” for the Philippines in the global Miss Earth pageant later this year. Kiara Giel Gregorio (second from right) from the Filipino community in London placed second and was proclaimed Miss Philippines-Air. She was also named Miss Hana Shampoo and Miss Oasis Dental. Loren Artejos (second from left) from Laoag was crowned Miss Philippines-Water while Shannon Rebecca Bridgman (farthest right)   from Rosales, Pangasinan, was hailed as Miss Philippines-Fire. Melanie Mader (farthest left) from the Filipino community in Vienna was proclaimed Miss Philippines-Ecotourism. Schweigha

On June 10th, five new queens were crowned during the joint Miss Continents/Miss Teen Continents/Mrs. Continents 2016 pageant held at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. From left to right: Jasahna D'Aniello (Miss U.S. Continents 2016), Ida Ovmar of Sweden (Miss Continents 2016),   Anjali Sinha of the United Kingdom (Miss Teen Continents 2016), Katie Wadman ( Miss Teen U.S. Continents), and Kim Schiltz of Nebraska (Mrs. Continents 2016). The pageant is run by Gaspar Cruz, owner and operator of Gaspar Cruz Cosmetics and designer and owner of Crown Couture by Gaspar Cruz. Ida Ovmar  of Sweden (left), Miss Continents 2016, and  Anjali Sinha of the United Kingdom, Miss Teen Continents 2016. Photo credits: Gaspar Cruz Facebook

Miss District of Columbia USA 2016 Deshauna Barber reacts as she is crowned Miss USA 2016 by Miss USA 2015 Olivia Jordan. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) For the first time in 14 years (and only third time in history), Miss District of Columbia took home the crown at the Miss USA pageant on Sunday night. Deshauna Barber , a 26-year-old Army officer and IT analyst for the U.S. Department of Commerce, won first place over Miss Georgia Emanii Davis and Miss Hawaii  Chelsea Hardin , who was the runner-up. Barber, who graduated from Virginia State University in 2011, joined the military at age 17. Her parents and siblings also serve; her father was deployed overseas to Iraq after the Sept. 11 attacks. “I consider it to be a family tradition,” she said in a pre-show interview of military service. “It’s something that runs through our veins — patriotism and service for this country.” According to her Miss USA bio, Barber is currently a logistics commander for the 988th