THIS YEAR would be Helen O'Connell's last year as co-hostess of the Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Seoul, Korea on July 8th. Broadcast started at 8 in the morning to benefit U.S. televiewers living in the East Coast. The broadcast begins with current titleholder, Maritza Sayalero, greeting televiewers outside the theater. The actual show starts with the delegates entering the stage and singing the theme song, "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here." Then the following are introduced and remain on stage with the candidates: entertainer Donnie Osmond, co-commentator Jayne Kennedy, hostess Helen O'Connell, host Bob Barker, the Little Angels (fan dancers), and the Korean National Dance Company.

      Bob Barker introduces the mayor of Seoul and the chairman of the organizing committee of the Miss Universe pageant. This is followed by the Parade of Nations, supposedly in alphabetical order, in which each candidate rapidly recites her name and country. A few booboos: Bolivia came first before Bermuda, and Italy before Israel. Also, Japan's face was never shown; the camera was already showing Korea even before Japan ended her greeting. This rapid succession of names is not pleasant, since it merely suggests that either Barker is tired of introducing each individual delegate or that it does not allow televiewers to appreciate more closely each candidate's face.

      Following the Parade of Nations, Helen and Jayne explain the electronic computing system. In the background are electronic boards where the names and scores of the semi-finalists in several categories light up. Then the swimsuit competition comes next; Bob precedes the country's name with "Miss." Notice the mediocre scores then: Miss Philippines (Rosario Silayan) gets a 7.448 and Miss USA (Shawn Weatherly gets an 8.359 - the highest and the only score in the 8.0 range). Many candidates receive 7.4s or 7.5s.

      Bob announces the semi-finalists (dressed in Gloria Vanderbilt dresses) with their composite scores from the preliminaries: SCOTLAND (Linda Gallagher, 7.785), SWEDEN (Eva Anderson, 7.572), PUERTO RICO (Agnes Tañon, 7.885), NEW ZEALAND (Diana Nottle, 7.885), PANAMA (Gloria Karamañites Davis, 7.514), KOREA (Kim Eun-jung, 7.525), CANADA (Teresa MacKay, 7.711), TAHITI (Thilda Raina Fuller, 7.566), COLOMBIA (María Patricia Arbelaez, 7.531), USA (Shawn Weatherly, 8.480), PHILIPPINES (7.662) and ICELAND (Guobjörg Sigurdardóttir, 7.636).

       Then Bob interviews each semi-finalist beginning with Miss Scotland who says she likes dangerous sports like skiing, parasailing and sailing. Miss Sweden is a student and wants to be a pediatrician; her English is very good because she had lived in Jamestown, New York for one year as an exchange student. Miss Puerto Rico studies Human Relations; when asked by Bob if she has taught some Spanish to her roommate, Miss England, she replies: "Apaga la luz! ("Turn off the lights!") Miss New Zealand, who was voted earlier as Miss Photogenic, wants to be an international model. Miss Panama, a beautiful and tall black woman, through an interpreter, wants to be a journalist and have her own news firm. Miss Korea's interview was rather amusing; she was asked by Bob, through an interpreter, about Korean dating rules that involves selecting a number out of a hat: "What if you pick number 2, but you like number 5, what do you do?" Miss Korea replies, "I go up to number 2 and tell him that I don't like him." Laughter from the audience.

      An intermission follows in which Helen belts out a few verses in the tune of "Around the World." Bob then interviews the second batch of semi-finalists starting with Miss Canada, a 19-year-old model who thinks Korean history is ancient. Miss Tahiti, the oldest at 25, struggles with English and says she is a grammar school teacher; however, she faltered in her interview because she did not use an interpreter. Miss Colombia, who opted to speak English, says that she wants to be a cardiologist. Then Miss USA follows, and in her charming Southern accent, reveals that she is dating a football player from the San Francisco 49ers. Miss Philippines, who turned 21 several hours ago, tells Bob that her father thinks it's not a good idea for a woman to be an actress; Bob coaxes the audience to sing "Happy Birthday, Rosario." Finally, Miss Iceland expresses her desire to be a pilot. Her score did not flash on the screen.

Here are the average interview scores:

SCOTLAND	8.036	SWEDEN	8.208
PUERTO RICO	7.850	NEW ZEALAND	8.283
PANAMA	7.713	KOREA	7.658
CANADA	7.992	TAHITI	6.957
COLOMBIA	7.785	USA	8.317
PHILIPPINES	8.12	ICELAND	7.675

      After Donnie Osmond's singing, he introduces the judges that include actor George Maharis, Kiyoshi Hara of Asahi Broadcasting of Japan, modeling scout Eileen Ford (wearing a cast in her arm with "Miss Universe" inscribed on it), columnist Abigail Van Buren, world-renown water colorist Dong Kingman, Miss Universe 1978 Margaret Gardiner, and two Korean personalities, Chae Kyung Ok and Il Yung Joon. The introduction of the judges is followed by a musical entertainment by the Korean National Dance Company performing "Farmer's Dance."

The swimsuit competition follows. Here are the scores:

SCOTLAND	8.273	SWEDEN	8.250
PUERTO RICO	7.892	NEW ZEALAND	8.400
PANAMA	7.742	KOREA	7.750
CANADA	8.200	TAHITI	7.858
COLOMBIA	7.729	USA	8.718
PHILIPPINES	8.033	ICELAND	7.942

      Donnie Osmond and all of the candidates, dressed in the traditional Korean costume, perform, "How to Speak Korean." This segment is followed by a footage of activities. The evening gown competition, enhanced by the Little Angels' incredible fan dance. Here are the evening gown scores:

SCOTLAND	8.267	SWEDEN	8.346
PUERTO RICO	7.867	NEW ZEALAND	8.400
PANAMA	7.825	KOREA	7.967
CANADA	8.100	TAHITI	8.067
COLOMBIA	7.842	USA	8.883
PHILIPPINES	8.433	ICELAND	7.933

      A voice-over announces the prizes that include a Flemington Blackgama Fur. Then Bob announces the five finalists (average scores in parentheses): SWEDEN (8.268), USA (8.640), PHILIPPINES (8.196), SCOTLAND (8.192), and NEW ZEALAND (8.361). Each finalist picks a question from a bowl held by Summer Bartholomew, Miss USA 1975 and 2nd runner-up in the Miss Universe 1975 pageant. When asked which country she'd like to see, Miss Sweden replies "Australia" because of its "nice culture." Then Bob asks Miss USA what she would tell someone who asks her why she wants to be Miss Universe, and Shawn replies, "I'd love to see the world... and all the people and the cultures in it..." Miss Philippines would like to meet someone in politics or head of state. Miss Scotland believes that she's "a much better person now that I've gained many friends". And Miss New Zealand would encourage other girls to join pageants. At this point, it is not easy to predict who is going to win because each candidate answered their questions very well.

      Donnie Osmond gives his last musical performance by serenading the finalists with a medley that includes popular songs like, "What You Won't Do For Love" and "I Just Wanna Stop." After the serenade comes a footage of former Miss Korea Kim Sang Hee showing the viewers images of several Buddhist temples. Maritza Sayalero does her final walk. Bob announces the official placements: Sweden (4th runner-up), Philippines (3rd runner-up), New Zealand (2nd runner-up), Scotland (1st runner-up), and USA is Miss Universe 1980. Maritza is extremely happy when she crowns Shawn; the two have been roommates in their New York apartment. By leaning her forehead towards Shawn's and by crying with joy, Maritza shows her genuine affection.

Photo courtesy of the Miss Universe Organization

Text by Rafael Robert Delfin

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2006 CRITICAL BEAUTY. All rights reserved.