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| 02.26.2007 | Monday
"I knew what the rules said but they seemed so absurd that I thought: this must be something from the 1970s that hasn't yet been updated to today's times,"
said Bustillo, who has taken part in the contest in other years. Spain's ruling Socialists said "this type of discriminatory
behavior based on gender must be fought" while the Women's Institute, a branch of the Labor Ministry,
appealed for the organizers to reverse their decision.
"Motherhood does not create any physical, intellectual or
work-related limitation for women and any conception of it as a problem is discriminatory," it said in a statement.
The company that organized the pageant, Propulsora Montanesa, defended itself, saying the rules for its event
were the same as those for the national Miss Spain and Mister Spain contests. But one of these rules says that fathers,
unlike mothers, can compete in the pageant because they "do not undergo substantial physical changes that would impede
them from carrying out duties such as travel and taking part in parades that are required of pageant winners.
(Agence France Press, 2/20/2007)
It seems that Bustillo is getting strong support from the public
as well as from Telecinco, the television network that broadcasts Miss and Mister Spain, which released a
statement favoring a change of rules and regulations in the way Miss Spain is selected - such that a candidate
cannot be excluded from winning the title for being an unmarried mother. If the pageant starts accepting
unmarried women, then it would surely violate the rules of Miss Universe or Miss World that strictly forbids
unmarried women. (Diariocrítico.com, Spain, 2/24/2007)
• THE NEW MISS CZECH REPUBLIC is Lucie Hadasova, 20, who was crowned last Saturday. She will
go to Miss Universe. The first runner-up is Eva Ceresnakova for Miss Earth and the second runner-up
is Lilian Sarah Fischerova. Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera was a special guest. The show
was hosted by Ivana Trump, ex-wife of Donald Trump.
• IT'S NANCY AGAIN : NBC announced last week that "Access Hollywood's" Nancy O'Dell will host the 2007 Miss USA
Pageant, live telecast from the Kodak Theatre in the famed 'glamour capital' of the world, Hollywood, on Friday,
March 23 at 9-11 p.m. ET/PT. O'Dell is hosting for the fourth consecutive year. "NBC is thrilled that Nancy O'Dell
will be back to host the 56th Annual Miss USA Pageant on March 23," said Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment.
"Nancy is a consummate professional and as a former title holder herself, brings an insiders feel to the many viewers
of the pageant who have come to respect and adore her. We are fortunate to have her as part of our team."
(Starpulse.com, 2/23/2007)
The gossip website TMZ.com reported that the choice of Nancy to host
the pageant has upset Donald Trump, who "doesn't like the way pregnant woman look" and tried to get Nancy,
5 months along, dropped from her spot. Luckily for Nancy, she's under contract and is staying put.
The Trump camp was contacted and had no comment.
• IT'S NOT A BEAUTY PAGEANT : Miss Sweden, the title that has reaped three Miss Universe crowns, is up for grabs ...
on the country's jobseeker site, organizers said Wednesday. The job, advertiSed under "Search for New Miss Sweden," is
posted on the Swedish Employment Service agency and welcomes applications from inspirational, intelligent Swedish women
with good English and communication skills. No previous employment history is required and it promises a fixed salary that
will be determined by qualifications. "Your primary work task will be to communicate a positive picture of modern Sweden,
but you will also be required to clearly and consequently work to promote the core values of the New Miss Sweden," the job ad said.
Panos Papadopoulos, spokesman for "New Miss Sweden" said that "this is an ordinary job. We advertise for it
just like you would do for any other job when you are looking for the right people with the right qualifications."
"This is nothing like the old Miss Sweden anymore, it's not a beauty pageant, it's a job or a talent quest," Papadopoulos said,
adding that the former contest was changed to reflect the modern values of Swedish youth.
Papadopoulos, owner of the Panos Emporio brand that bought the rights to the event in 2004,
changed the requirements for the Swedish title in 2006 after having pulled the country's entry in 2005 amid heavy criticism from
several women right's movements in the country. In the new Miss Sweden approach, the swimwear event has been scrapped,
and applicants can no longer sit at home waiting to be recommended, Papadopoulos said. "If she wants the job she has to fight for
it otherwise she can stay home and be pretty." (International Herald Tribune, France, 2/22/2007)
• HE'S GOING : Despite an earlier rumour that suggested that Mr. Venezuela Vito Gasparrini might not
compete in Mr. World next month because he's too old - well, the rumour is not true. Gasparrini is ready to
travel to Sanya, China on March 9th. Age was not the issue as much as the franchise fee: $15,000 (though it is
not clear if these are U.S. dollars). Usually, Mr. World and Miss World pageants have done away with
the national costume segment, but it seems that there will be one in Mr. World. Gasparrini's costume is
designed by Miguel Alemán, who is called "La Ballena Costurera" ("The Designing Whale") because of his
oversize plus. To get the materials for the costume, it is reported that Alemán had hired three hunters to
slaughter all kinds of birds just so he could pluck off their feathers.
• A SAFE COUNTRY : "Sri Lanka is one of the safest places I visited and I want to travel to Sri Lanka once again,"
said Tatana Kucharova, the current Miss World from the Czech Republic. Speaking at a media briefing at the host
hotel, Galadari Colombo, Kucharova said that once she gets back she would strongly recommend people to visit Sri Lanka.
She said that Sri Lankan culture is of very high value and the people are very friendly. She made these comments in the
backdrop of some Western countries publishing adverse travel information against Sri Lanka. Three other country titleholders
for Miss World are from Italy, Germany and India who also endorsed the Kucharova’s statement with regard to safety too
are presently in Sri Lanka. The new Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourist Board, Renton de Alwis said that the visit of the beauty
queens would have a major positive impact for the leisure industry in Sri Lanka. “This is a very good PR exercise for the
country,” he said. The general manager of Galadari Hotel, Sampath Siriwardane said that this visit would help to put
Sri Lanka once again in the world tourist map as a safe destination. (Daily News, Sri Lanka, 2/26/2007)
• BEAUTY JUNKIE : "My name is Alex and I’ve been Botox-free for 500 days and I’ve never felt better about myself.”
Alex Kuczynski is 39 and, like a former alcoholic, feels as if she has a second lease of life now
that she has extricated herself from the addictive world of cosmetic surgery. In her book Beauty Junkies
she writes about America’s $15 billion cosmetic surgery industry, which caters to the growing obsession
with looking eternally youthful and perfect. Read more.
• THE OSCARS : I am watching the Oscars as I finish this entry. They just announced Jennifer Hudson as
Best Supporting Actress. Woohoo! So far, I haven't seen any gown that displeases me. I love, love, love Nicole Kidman's
red dress with a
bow on her right shoulder, and Rinko Kikuchi's strapless black number.
We'll see if any of the Oscar gowns will make an appearance in Miss USA or Miss Universe this year!
• NEXT UPDATE : Monday, March 5, 2007.
Photo credits: El Diário Montañés, 7sur7
• TOP PINOY : The new Mr. World Philippines is Emmanuel Mago, a 6'3" business management major
and a basketball coach. Mago was crowned last Friday night in Manila. The pageant was organized by
the Binibining Pilipinas committee. Mago will represent his country in Mr. World 2007 to be held in
Sanya, China next month. His court includes first runner-up Jason Fulgencio and second runner-up
Claude Jean Bocquet. (From OPMB.com)
• STILL UNOFFICIAL : Although the Mexican media has announced and printed that the 2007 Miss Universe
pageant will be held in Mexico City's National Auditorium, MUO has yet to make a press release and officially announce it on its website.
Anxious pageant fans await the official confirmation before making their travel arrangements to Mexico.
Unconfirmed postings on several message boards are reporting that there will be less than eighty delegates
this year, contrary to earlier claims that there would be at least ninety participants.
• THE LOST BID : Puerto Rico reportedly offered MUO two million U.S. dollars to host the pageant, but
MUO officials were asking for four million instead. A representative from Puerto Rico's Compañía de Turismo
Nelly Cruz stated that her office had received a letter from MUO rejecting their offer while
being open to further negotiations. (El Nuevo Dia, San Juan, 2/14/2007)
• LEGALLY VICTORIOUS : Taiza Thomsen, Miss Brazil for 2002 who recently was the subject of an international
missing person hunt, has been awarded the equivalent of thousands of dollars in a lawsuit she filed against pageant organizers.
Thomsen initially took second place in the pageant but, toward the end of the year, was declared the winner after
Joseane Oliveira was stripped of the title because it was revealed she was married. Thomsen claimed judges
knew about the marriage all along and sued for damages caused by the delay in her crowning. The former beauty queen
was in headlines recently after her parents reported her missing on January 25, sparking fears she had been kidnapped
or fallen victim to a human trafficking ring.
Earlier this month she contacted Brazilian police from London to say she was
well and did not want to be bothered. In 2004, Thomsen filed a petition at a court in the city of Belo Horizonte,
550 kilometers (340 miles) northeast of Sao Paulo, demanding 1 million reals (US$474,000, euro363,999) in moral
and material damages from pageant organizers. On Monday, the court decided to award the former Miss Brazil 170,000 reals
(US$80,600, euro61,900) "She claimed that the delay in receiving her crown caused her to lose out on a series of
benefits usually awarded to Miss Brazil," said a court spokeswoman who declined to be identified in accordance with
department policy. Other than a car, she did not detail what benefits Thomsen was entitled to. Thomsen's attorneys
could not be located for comment, but Henrique Pereira, the lawyer representing the pageant's organizers said he
would appeal the court's decision "because we can prove that we didn't act in bad faith when granting the crown
to Oliveira." (CNN International, USA, 2/14/2007)
• CONCERNS OF MISBEHAVIOR : U.S.-based fans are concerned how the Mexican audience will treat Miss USA. The last time
the pageant was held in Mexico in 1993, the U.S. rep Kenya Moore was booed by the Mexican audience.
Tara Conner, the current Miss USA, was reportedly booed also by the Mexican contingent when Miss Universe
was held in Los Angeles last July. I'm not sure if booing is a cultural thing among Mexicans, but I guess
the proverb, "If you don't have anything good to say, don't boo" is just not a common practice south of the border.
Meanwhile, in its newest CB poll ("Do you want Mexico to host Miss Universe 2007?"), the "no" vote is leading by
a strong 72 per cent.
• BEAUTY TIPS FROM THE PAST : The beauty tips website, Celebrity-Beauty-Secret-Goldmine.com, reports a blossoming trend:
the beauty secrets of yesteryear's glamour girls are being sought by today's culture. "Women today are looking
for beauty inspiration from the beauty queens of the past", says Sara Liz, the site's Editor-in-Chief.
A recent analysis of the keywords used to find the beauty website shows that the number of web surfers
interested in the "it girls" of the past, as beauty muses, is growing. Recent keyword strings entered into
search engines that led web surfers to the site included, "Brigitte Bardot’s beauty tips" and even "Joan Crawford’s
beauty rituals"!
"Some of our website visitors are fascinated by the nostalgia of a
retro-look and want to recreate it", said Sara Liz. "Others are just curious about the beauty tips of the
vintage glamour girls. The pages that feature the beauty secrets of the classic celebrities are among the
most popular pages on the website."
So what are some beauty tips of the beauty queens from the days of yore?
Marilyn Monroe purposely lowered her eyelids a bit before her photo was snapped, to look more seductive.
Jean Harlow wore white satin gowns, which along with her platinum hair and ivory skin, made her appear to glow.
Brigitte Bardot achieved her signature look by going from brunette to blonde and by teasing her hair for
height on the top. There are many beauty tips used by the original glamour girls, which are being embraced
again today, as evidenced by the recent resurgence of false eyelashes and back-combed hair.
Celebrity-Beauty-Secret-Goldmine.com reports which products and techniques
celebrities use to look and feel beautiful. The website includes beauty tips for the body, hair, makeup, nails, skin, style,
and weight loss. The website offers information on hair coloring help, makeup application, beauty trends,
anti-aging and anti-acne skincare, fashion advice, nutrition, and fitness. (Financevisor.com, 2/17/2007)
• SHE WAS NO BABE : Here's an interesting article that claims that ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra
was not the goddess of beauty that historians would want us to believe. At least that's what a 2,000-year-old
coin suggests! Read more.
• CB NEEDS YOU : Once again, I am pleading the support of our readers for the maintenance of this
website and to help CB achieve its goals. Please visit Support This Site
and consider making a donation. Thank you!
• NEXT UPDATE : Monday, February 26, 2007.
Photo credits: World Beauty Organization, All-Pictures-Photos.com
I have neither seen nor met Anna Nicole in person, but I used to watch
her show, "The Anna Nicole Smith", years ago. I loved her show because of her - she was unpredictable,
theatrical, dramatic, sweet, generous, self-critical, and funny in her own way. I loved the catfights
between her and her incompetent and tasteless interior designer, the equally flamboyant Bobby Trendy, as
well as the tender moments as she cuddled her pixie canine companions and showered motherly love to her
teenage son Daniel. As an animal rights activist, I admired her work with PETA. Even though she stated repeatedly that she paralleled
her life after Marilyn Monroe, her physical appearance was more reminiscent of another blond
bombshell from the 1950s Jayne Mansfield who, like Monroe, also died tragically. Whereas Monroe and
Mansfield had their own identities, Smith had to cultivate one. And if there is one thing
that all three women shared, it is that there were victims of their own helplessness and vulnerability.
In classical theater, a tragedy describes a conflict between the protagonist
and a superior force (or destiny) and producing a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that elicits
pity or terror. One can say that Anna Nicole was the star of her own tragic play; some of us who have followed
her life through the media may either hold some level of sympathy or perhaps contempt towards
her. To some, one might say that she brought all of this tragedy to herself. Be that as it may, she was still a human
being deserving of dignity and respect. The media is making a grand fanfare of her death because she was famous and beautiful,
although no one exactly sure what she was famous for. But there was no doubt that she was physically beautiful.
A beauty queen, she was not. Beauty queens are a dime a dozen, but household names or pop culture
icons are rare. Anna Nicole is now one of them.
Read Anna Nicole's bio in Wikipedia.
• NEGOTIATIONS : The government of Oaxaca, thru its Tourism secretary Beatriz Rodríguez Casasnovas,
is still negotiating with MUO officials regarding the possibility of having the 2007 Miss Universe pageant
held in Mexico. Casasnovas informed that Oaxaca could be the venue for the national costume segment
of the pageant, whereas Cancun could host the swimsuit segment. The finals are tentatively scheduled
for May 28th or 29th at the National Auditorium in Mexico City. "We need to know how much it would
cost to promote Oaxaca during the live telecast, and how much it would cost for the state to host the pageant,"
said Casasnovas. (Vanguardia, Mexico, 2/9/2007)
• SAVING TARA : Donald Trump said he's trying to get Miss USA Tara Conner in the mainstream in a positive
way. Even if it means spending a frigid afternoon outdoors modeling wedding dresses in New York. Trump tells a
New York newspaper using Conner as the face of Trump on the ocean will help revamp her image.
Conner recently completed a stint in an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center after nearly losing her crown
for hard-partying in New York nightclubs. Trump, who owns the Miss USA pageant said at a press conference in
December that Conner could keep her crown if she straightened up. Modeling an of-the-shoulder bridal dress in
chilly temperatures, Conner said, "I'm cold, but I'm fine." (WBKO, Kentucky, 2/9/2007)
• THE NEW MANHUNT INTERNATIONAL is Jeffrey Zheng of China. Zheng was crowned last Friday at Kangwonland International
Convention Center in Korea. His court includes first runner-up Jason Milot of Canada, second runner-up Ioaninis Athiakis of Greece,
third runner-up Craig Barnett of Australia and fourth runner-up Abhimanyu Jain of India. Over fifty delegates
participated in the event.
• NO TO MARRIAGE : Jictzad Viña, Miss Venezuela 2006, decided to renounce marriage to
her boyfriend Luis Luzo after Luzo insisted that she should give up her pursuit of an
artistic career and to focus instead on being a housewife. Viña said, "No, thanks!" Good for her!
(El Aragueño, Maracay, 2/9/2007)
• NO TO ANOREXIA : Maju Mantilla, Miss World 2004, denied rumours that she is anorexic.
Mantilla acknowledges that she is thinner and lighter, but claims that her loss of weight is due
to gym workouts and to special diet required to keep her new job as a contracted model with
Ford Modeling Agency in New York City. Mantilla says that there are models who are thinner and
who look better on the runway, but she considers herself as a print model where weight is not
much of an issue. (Diário Ojo, Lima, 2/9/2007)
• OLDER AND SEXIER : "Forget about yesterday’s sirens — the anorexic catwalk models and sultry young
actresses once feted as icons of beauty are being replaced as France’s feminine idols by women in their
fifties and sixties. The French have long been associated with a fascination for the “superior vintage”
but are taking that obsession to new extremes with a series of magazine spreads and advertising
campaigns featuring women over 50 in seductive poses and without many — or in some cases any — clothes on."
Read more.
• WHAT'S UP WITH KAITLYN? : Miss Indiana USA 2005 Kaitlyn Christopher, 20, a Critical Beauty
awardee, is now in her second year as a biology student in a prestigious Indiana university. Kaitlyn
continues to volunteer in a local animal shelter and to promote her favorite cause - animal welfare.
We wish her the best of luck in her studies, and we hope that she will consider signing up either for
Miss Earth USA or U.S. Miss World! She is featured as one of her school's "amazing students." Watch
her video interview. Thanks to J. Scot
Reid of Pageant Crown for this info.
• BEAUTIFUL POLL : Beauty has no age limit. Read more.
• A FULL-GROWN HAIR : Contrary to rumours, Mister USA 2006 Chaka Sedgwick is not bald! Check out his new pics,
and my updated blog.
• NEXT UPDATE : Monday, February 19, 2007.
Photo credit: PETA
• MISS UNIVERSE 2008 IN COLOMBIA? Colombia does very well in Miss Universe, as evidenced by
its first titleholder in 1958 Luz Marina Zuluaga, and three successive first runners-up:
Paola Turbay in 1992, Paola Andrea Betancur in 1993 and Carolina Gomez in 1994.
Not to mention more than a dozen semifinalists and national costume awardees. But why has
the pageant never been held in this land of passion and emeralds? That could change next year.
According to the Miss Colombia national director Raimundo Angulo Pizarro, Colombia
would be the perfect host in 2008; he claims that the country already has the infrastructure needed to
organize an international event. However, Angulo finds opposition in Jorge Janna David,
an architect and interior decorator who has been following the Miss Colombia pageant for thirty
years. Janna stats, "Even though Colombia is a country of queens, it's also a reality that
pageants have lost their credibility and they no longer generate the same enthusiasm of past years."
Janna also alludes to Panama and Ecuador - two Latin American countries that have suffered
severe economical backlash after the pageant was held in 2003 and 2004 respectively. (El País,
Cali, 2/4/2007)
• A TRUE BEAUTY : A teenage girl sentenced to death in Iran was released from jail Wednesday,
much to the relief of former Miss World Canada Nazanin Afshin-Jam who fought ten months to free her.
Afshin-Jam is ecstatic that 19-year-old Nazanin Fatehi has been freed. "I can't tell you how happy I am,"
Afshin-Jam told CBC News. "I spoke to Nazanin this morning and she's extremely happy and she's reunited
with her family." Fatehi was sent to death row a year ago after she confessed to stabbing and killing
one of three men who tried to rape her and her 16-year-old niece. The attack happened in a park near
Tehran in 2005, when Fatehi was just 17. In early January, an Iranian court overturned the death sentence
and ruled that Fatehi was acting in self-defence. She was exonerated from the charge of murder, but the court
ruled she must pay compensation to the family of the man she stabbed in exchange for the pardon.
Wednesday, she was released on bail while her lawyers appeal the compensation ruling.
(CBC, British Columbia, Canada, 01.02.07
• WHERE WILL IT BE? The Tourism Company of Puerto Rico (CTPR) decided to counter-offer the proposal
that the Miss Universe Organization had submitted to hold the 2007 pageant again in the Enchanted Isle.
CTPR spokesperson Iván Cardona stated that tourism officials are still actively
renegotiating with MUO. Last week, I reported that Mexico would host the 2007 pageant, but this
now remains doubtful, as these countries are also bidding: Colombia, Brazil, Spain, France, Nicaragua
and Bermuda. (El Vocero, San Juan, 2/2/2007)
• TARA'S CONFESSION : Disgraced Miss USA Tara Conner has dropped another bombshell just days after
her release from rehab last Thursday - she was abused as a child. In a recent interview with journalist Matt Lauer,
the troubled beauty queen came clean about her use of cocaine and alcohol, which landed her in rehab -
after Miss USA pageant boss Donald Trump insisted she seek counseling. But when the Today show host
pried into her personal life, Conner blurted out, "I will not deny I've witnessed some abuse."
But she refused to go into details because she has yet to discuss the matter with her family members.
As Lauer continued to pry, asking, "Physical abuse? Sexual abuse?" the blonde beauty queen added,
"I would like the respect of privacy because I'm giving all that I can right now. We'll just say that it
was earlier on (in my life)." Later last week, the Kentucky native admitted she had taken cocaine
during her reign as Miss USA, but denied reports she has "a sexual addiction." (NewsChannel 9 WSYR, NY, 2/2/2007)
Read the transcript of Tara's interview in this
site.
• THE NEW MISS ATLANTICO INTERNATIONAL is Soraya Bohl of Argentina who was crowned
in Montevideo, Uruguay last week. Her court includes first runner-up Natalia Pérez of Mexico
and second runner-up Laura Cruz of Ecuador. News courtesy of Alvaro Petrone.
• THE NEW MISS SLOVAK UNIVERSE is 19-year-old Jelena Maros was crowned last Saturday
in Opatiji. Maros lived in Palm Beach and Miami in Florida for thirteen years. Her court includes
first runner-up Tamara Neferanovic, 19, and second runner-up Branka Klarin-Petrina, 23.
In 2003, Maros was crowned Miss Adriatic Europe and Miss Mediterrano. News courtesy of Paul Palmero.
• YOUNGER AND SMALLER : The 2007 Miss America Pageant, which premiered live on CMT Monday, drew a significantly
younger audience, increasing its 18-24 audience by 257 percent. During that time period, CMT placed second
in all of cable in the 18-24 demo. The median age for the 8 P.M. telecast was 43 years old, down eight years
from the 2006 Pageant. The 8 P.M. premiere of Pageant averaged 2.4 million viewers. That's down about 700,000
viewers from the 3.1 million who tuned in last year. Cumulatively, the pageant reached 7.2 million total
viewers in its two airings on Monday night. The two-hour contestant special, "Pageant School: Becoming Miss America,"
which aired over the weekend prior to the Pageant itself was seen by more than 16 million viewers
across 10 total plays on CMT, VH1 and MTV. The special was part of an original programming blitz
consisting of over nine hours of pageant-related programming designed to drive overall viewership
and awareness of Miss America. (Vegas Pop, Nevada, 2/2/2007)
• A CONDESCENDING PAGEANT? An interesting commentary by Pageant News Bureau suggests that
the reason Miss America 2007 was popular with the younger audience was that they were expecting to see
Miss USA (especially after the series of scandals) and that they could not tell the difference
between the two pageant systems. PNB thinks that Miss America is guilty of condescension and
arrogance by belittling Miss USA. Read the whole commentary here.
• CRITICAL PHOTOESSAY : Starting this week, CB will be featuring vintage photos from the collection of William Prendiz
de Jurado, the world's biggest Miss Universe fan. William will also be writing a little background about each photo.
Thank you, William, for sharing your collection with fellow pageant fans! Check out the first vintage photo.
• NEXT UPDATE : Monday, February 12, 2007.
Photo credit: Fashion Wire Daily/Andrew Gresham
JANUARY 2007
• BEAUTY QUEEN SACKED : A beauty pageant in Spain disqualified its winner two weeks after she won her crown
after learning she was the mother of a three-year-old boy, sparking criticism on Monday from left-wing parties
and a governmental woman's institute. Angela Bustillo, 22, (photo with son) said she would sue the organizers of the Miss
Cantabria contest, named after the region in northern Spain where it was held. She said the rules barring
pregnant women, or those who already have children, from taking part in the contest are discriminatory since
no such limitations apply to contestants in the Mr Cantabria contest by the same organizers.
• BELGIAN KISS : Two former Miss Belgiums Ann Van Elsen (2002) and Tanja Dexters (1998)
attended a soirée to honor the Belgian Playboy's Playmate of the Year. With champagne in hand, the
two beauties (left) decided to satisfy the fantasies of their male fans by kissing each other passionately
on the lips in front of the camera. The beauties said that they loved the girls, the Playboy mansion
and its "kinky" and mysterious atmosphere. See the passionate kiss
in this clip. (7sur7, 2/23/2007)
| 02.19.2007 | Monday
• TOP MODEL : The new Top Model of the World is Natália Guimarães of Brazil, left, who was
crowned last February 14th in Kunming, China. Her court includes first runner-up Michelle De Leon of the
Philippines and second runner-up Tatyana Dmitrivenko of Kazakhstan. Completing the top fifteen are
the delegates from Bulgaria, Poland, China, Taiwan, Venezuela, Russia, Colombia, Czech Republic, Germany, the
Bahamas, Vietnam and Armenia. Special awards were given to Bulgaria (Best Costume), Greater Antilles (Miss
Photogenic), Australia (Miss Congeniality), Guadeloupe (Best Evening Gown), Kazakhstan (Best Body), and
Venezuela (Miss Popularity). Over fifty young women participated in the contest. Thanks to Michelle
Malcolm of the Miss Bahamas Organization for this info.
The website was launched in March of 2006 and features beauty secrets of
the iconic, glamour girls of yesterday, such as Brigitte Bardot (left), Betty Grable, and Marilyn Monroe, as well
as the beauty secrets of today’s celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Beyoncé, Jessica Alba and Jessica Simpson.
From Christina Aguilera’s retro hair and makeup in her circus-themed video for "Hurt", to Christian Lacroix’s
flapper-haired models in his spring 2007 collection, retro beauty and fashion are invading the current popular culture.
| 02.12.2007 | Monday
• TRAGIC BEAUTY : Last Thursday, Anna Nicole Smith (left) - model, reality show star, and mother -
died after collapsing in a Florida hotel. She was 39. Born Vickie Lynn Marshall in Houston, Texas, this
former Guess Jeans spokesperson and Playboy playmate skyrocketed to fame (and notoriety) in 1991 after having married oil
billionaire J. Howard Marshall who was 63 years her senior and later inherited his $1.6 billion estate which to this day
is still being disputed by Marshall's family.
| 02.05.2007 | Monday
• FASHION PRINCESS : Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera, left, attended the New York City Fashion
Week last Friday. The event, held in Bryant Park, was called "Red Dress Fashion" whose
goal was to raise awareness of heart-related diseases. On the runway, Zuleyka wore an elegant
fiery red color, tiered dance skirt and ruffled bolero jacket designed by Gustavo Cadile. She
also attended the Baby Phat Fashion Show featuring the latest Fall 2007 collection by Kimora Lee.
The Fashion Week began amidst an international debate about whether or not extremely skinny
models should be allowed on runways. But in this case, women of all shapes, sizes, ages and
colors participated much to the delight of the audience. Other celebrities who graced the
runway included Kelly Ripa, Lauren Hutton, Billie Jean King, Angela Bassett, Rachel Ray,
and Kim Catrall. (Primera Hora, San Juan, 2/3/2007)
