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Miss World Canada gets a new stage...and a beautiful new winner.
By VINCE SOTO
IT WAS in the former dauntless Second City Improv Theatre where I watched a group
of mental hospital patients perform in a variety show workshop. The type of spectacle
that a cautious liberal-leaning folk would avoid for fear of letting loose some inappropriate glee.
I personally couldn't have been more excited. Imagine - Romeo & Juliet - with tourettes!
Cue some years later, with my politically incorrect ass firmly in the past, I came back
to the theatre, now reincarnated as a more youthful sounding DIESEL Playhouse, to catch
a different event. With the theatre's name change, came new shows, and one of the shows
was about to crown a new queen. This show, though assuredly NOT crazy but still abhorred
by some liberals, promised to be just as fun. Welcome to Miss World Canada 2006.
Bigger, better, brighter.
In its fourth year under Ms. Connie McNaughton,
the organisation is seeing the light.
Recognising that staging is key and entertainment adds value, they needed to be resourceful
and they needed to make money. With this year's introduction of candidates' fees, and
the DIESEL Playhouse providing the stage to showcase their girls, the rest was up to
them to create a buzz, electrify the audience, buy the best show they can, and give the
press something to report. Miss World Canada is still the quiet sister of Miss Universe
Canada and is "definitely not as exposed," according to one delegate who has joined both.
Miss World Canada can do it, they've got the girls, they have a purpose, they can get
the stage, and they're getting some attention. Now, they just really need to sell it.
And this year, it must have been an easy sell. You can always rely on MWC to bring
out smart and fetching girls. I spent two days with them, watching them rehearse,
taking pictures, listening to their conversations, and at times, asking some of them
questions. While I felt that last year was about girls fighting with other girls,
this year, whether the delegates that I spoke to realised it or not, was about
them fighting their own demons. It was about their maturity and knowing when to put
on a show and knowing when to stop; or maybe it was about their sophistication,
knowing when to talk and what to talk about, and knowing when to zip it. I know some
doubted their experiences, whether they were enough; and others questioned their
dreams, if they did in fact involve being Miss World Canada.
There were a few girls brave enough to say say what was really on their minds.
A few even welcomed sounding controversial. One delegate refused to talk about her
private life. Not a word. Not a hint. Another openly acknowledged that she is a
trouble maker but assured me that she can be well-behaved if it meant something
as big as the crown. Some were heartfelt and fragile. A delegate kept asking me what
I thought she should do to project better, what poses she should use, which side
of her shows well. I have never been asked this, in fact, I have never been at
the receiving end of a delegate's question. I couldn't answer; the truth of my
opinion got me tongue-tied. I told her to just be herself, expect the best, and
to let me take lots of pictures if she won.
Of the girls I spoke with, half would prefer being in a social setting while the
other half would prefer being alone cuddled with a book. All of them believed in
having a cause. Regardless of the outcome, all of them would encourage future hopefuls
to join. All but two chose Miss Victoria to win if they didn't. And interestingly,
most would choose the crown over their boyfriends.
But not the winner, Miss Peel Region, Malgosia Majewska.
A parachuting, scuba-diving, volleyball-playing, reserved beauty. She was the one who refused to say anything about
her private life. I don't even know if she has a boyfriend. She stopped that question
dead on its tracks. She was also the last delegate I spoke to. It was at the end of
rehearsals, a few hours before coronation. She was alone on the stage, practising
her moves, careful not to seem that she is craving attention, distant enough that
I knew I had to come to her if I wanted to find out more about her. It was worth
it. I found out that she has never been on stage and that joining the pageant was
a way to challenge herself to be in front of an audience. “I struggled at first
but eventually found calm with being up here, I’m ready for the show.” She was very
careful during our interview. She wasn't rehearsed but she was controlled. As
shielded as she was, I believed her when she said that the competition was really
friendly. She said that she was prepared to see a nasty fight but it never surfaced.
There were some disagreements, she admitted, but in the end everyone got along.
Malgosia said that she has never had any real disappointments in life because she
knows what to expect from herself. She thinks anything is possible. She also said
that she believes in second chances and surprisingly, her Top Five final question
reflected precisely on that when she was asked to name something negative that happened
to her that she turned into a positive (a failed course which she took again and aced).
From the way she conducted herself during the pageant, and the way she captured the
crown on her first try, one would get the sense that second chances don't occur much
in this beauty's life. She appears to get most things right the first time. Lucky
for her too as she claimed not to be interested in joining another pageant if she
didn’t win this one.
The Miss World competition will be held in Poland in a little over a month.
Malgosia was born there but is Canadian-raised. Some would think that her Polish
roots would be to her advantage. Many would reiterate the complaint that Canadian
queens are often foreign-born. I'm already rolling my eyes. However one feels
about Canadian beauty queens, rest assured that Malgosia will participate as herself,
with her own beliefs and with her own choices, for that, is what makes a true Canadian.
And so another edition has come to a close. Ms. McNaughton is determined to get
Miss World Canada its deserved attention and she is determined to make sure that
Malgosia tops what she and Nazanin were able to achieve in Miss World: first runner-up,
Canada’s best finish. Will she succeed? It’s very possible. Malgosia is beautiful,
poised and has a reserved dignity about her. But if she doesn’t win, two things are
still for certain: Ms. McNaughton will continue to meet a bevy of new girls with
new hopes and Malgosia will have a fabulous year being Miss World Canada.
Good Luck and do your best Malgosia! In Miss World, there are no second chances.
>>> SLIDESHOW
Photo credit: Miss World Canada
MALGOSIA'S PLAYHOUSE
I asked them questions that were thought out and some off the cuff. I asked if there
was anything at all in their time with MWC that they disagreed with something.
All, except one, said that they had fun and were just going with the flow.
The other was Miss Markham Reshmi Chetram who had a mild objection to wearing a swimsuit,
but it was a personal thing and she acknowledged that bikinis are a mainstay with
the big leagues. When asked if they have done any other brave things other than
joining the pageant, Miss Saskatchewan Olecia
Obarianyk said that she kissed a girl for a children's
educational television show; Miss Nunavut Sandi Vincent went to Ghana to work at a government
hospital; and Miss Victoria Shannon Bowles conquered her fear of the deep seas by wake boarding.
The others got stumped and couldn't answer. When asked what kept them calm and
balanced during the pageant, the majority said each other, family and the MWC
staff, while Miss North York Daphne Choi added that thinking about souped-up cars lightened the
stress. She continued with the proclamation that the kind of car one drives is
an extension of one's self. I asked her what her dream car was. "Fun and sexy," she
replied. On the other end of the spectrum was Miss Brampton Jenna-Lee
Creelman, who went introspective and cited her maturity as her guide to knowing when she was dreaming & when it was
time to be real. "It's a great balancing tool."