THE LITTLE SISTERS (1983-1995) define an era that I deem the Golden Age
of Miss Universe. Admittedly, I confess that I accidentally stumbled
upon the Miss Universe broadcast on CBS only the year previous to the
Little Sisters' debut at the St. Louis, Missouri pageant. Ever since that hot
and humid night in July 1983, the evening gown segment of the annual
telecast would rank as my absolutely most favorite part of the entire
production. The Parade of Nations and the culminating crowning moment
came in a somewhat distant second and third place, respectively.
Some neophyte may ask what the big deal was when a bunch of kids gave
flowers to the Top Ten as they modeled evening wear. To me, the Little
Sisters ritual transformed the Miss Universe telecast into a magical
and seemingly royal event. The evening gown competition back then was far
from the catwalk show of today in which bare legs and hanging cleavage have
replaced the signature sashes bearing the names of sovereign
nations. The
Little Sisters endowed the pageant with more than a healthy dose of
elegance, class, and downright puppy-dog-and-lollipop warmth and
fuzziness. It was all rolled into the ten minutes for which I waited
a
whole calendar year. So let me go on about it: year by
year.
1983 SEMI-FINALISTS AND THEIR LITTLE SISTERS
1983 There was nothing exotic about the venue, St. Louis, Missouri. No
catch-phrases to learn in a foreign language, no colorful folkloric
dances. Bob Barker announced that every beauty delegate was assigned a
little sister: a local youngster (age 3-9) who would wear the banner
of her "big sister" and accompany, look up to, and root for every
contestant. The eighty-or-so little girls sported identical knee-length
frilly white party dresses and white Mary Janes with white
stockings. All wore white ribbons in their hair and belted out the very first Little
Sisters musical medley known as "You Are My Universe." This early melody
(pre-dating "You Are My Star") simply sounded too corny for the grand
occasion, but for the first four years, the sisters would smoothly switch
to "You Are So Beautiful [To Me]" during the second half of the evening gown presentation. The Little Sisters presented a small
bridesmaid-style bouquet (streamers and all) of white flowers to each of the twelve (sic)semi-finalists.
1984 In its second year, the Little Sisters' appearance
at Miss Universe replicated the "Easter Sunday" uniforms from the year before. The
venue
was Miami, Florida, but the background scenery was so plain and dull,
the
pageant could have been held in Anywhere USA. The 1984 sisters
represented
all races: Black, White, Asian, etc. So did the 1984
semi-finalists.
In sharp contrast to 1983 in which eight of the twelve semi-finalists
were
of European origin and in which only two token semi-finalists
represented
all of Asia [Singapore] and Latin America [Venezuela], the 1984 Top
Ten
turned out to be a complex ethnographic representation of the
Universe. The host representative, Miss USA, was half-Chinese and
half-Irish. It was no wonder her national costume was appropriately
symbolic of Native American culture. Miss Thailand grew up in LA and
spoke
'perfect' English. No one in the audience batted an eyelash when Miss
Holland (a tall, svelte black model) and Miss South Africa (a
green-eyed
blonde) were both named as part of the Top Ten.
As for the evening gowns featured, Miss Philippines delighted the
audience
with a multi-colored sari wrap-around with a flowing scarf. Miss
Sweden
wore an excruciatingly modest ice-blue lacy dress with matching
cape. She
looked like she had just finished playing the role of the Blue Fairy
in
Disney's Pinocchio. Miss Holland modeled an elegant black strapless
with
black elbow-length gloves. Miss South Africa showcased a 1950's-style
ballgown in a striking crimson color and Miss Venezuela concluded the
presentation with a princess-like royal blue gown with 'poofy'
shoulders
trailed by a fluttering train.
1985 Third year of the Little Sisters. Second year of the Little
Sisters......in Miami. In my opinion, not much stood out - at least
aesthetically - this year. Historically speaking, though, 1985 was a
progressive time for the Miss Universe pageant. The crown was won by
the
second Puerto Rican in fifteen years, the USA was represented by a
Mexican-born woman from Texas, and perhaps for the very first time
ever, a
black African [Miss Zaire] not only became a finalist, but finished as
2nd
runner-up. Only the year before, a white Miss South Africa came in as
1st
runner-up and only seven years previously, a white South African was
crowned Miss Universe by succeeding a black lady from Trinidad and
Tobago. Miss Universe fans of the very vintage kind (such as myself)
will
fondly remember how the whole Universe was rocked when, in her turn in
1977, Janelle Commissiong became the first black woman to sit on the
Miss
Universe throne. It would be until the near-end of the century, in
1999,
that the Miss Universe crown would come to rest on the head of an
African-origin queen representing a free and independent African
nation [Botswana]. By 1985, it still seemed like Europeans
and Americans
(from the whole Western Hemisphere) would dominate the contest
indefinitely.
I wonder if some of the Little Sisters (who happened to be Black or
Asian)
would inwardly ask themselves if they would ever get to see one of the
Big
Sisters who shared their darker skin and features get to wear the big
crown and take the victory walk waving to the crowd amidst the
thunderous
applause. In 1984, the Miami Little Sisters were witnesses to a
blonde
Miss Universe [New Zealand] crowning another blonde Miss Universe
[Sweden]. In 1985, those same Miami sisters saw a green-eyed brunette
from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean isle of Puerto Rico ascend the
throne
without shedding any tears or quaking her chin. Thus began the Latin
American streak of Miss Universo.
1986 The Republic of Panama was the host country and this the year the
catch-phrase to learn in Spanish was "Mi Nombre es Panamá" [My name is
Panama]. I was very impressed with the background scenes and the
dance
numbers - performed by the Ballet Folklórico de Panamá - which
peppered
the whole production. The scene for the evening gown presentation was
quite elaborate. The audience takes a peek into a lively street scene
at night in Panama City. We see the French-influenced architecture of the
turn of the last century coupled with a troupe of traditional folk
dancers. The lady dancers overwhelmed the stage with their "polleras"
-
the full-skirted white dress of ladies from Central America and the
Caribbean. As the ladies retreated with their ample skirts, we
discover a
kiosk in the center of the Plaza Mayor.
At the foot of the kiosk, ten little girls holding very simple floral
arrangements eagerly awaited the appearance of their Big Sisters. The
Top
Ten, each in turn, stepped down from the kiosk and greeted the Little
Sisters assigned to them. I noticed with not-so-minor disappointment
that
the other sixty-or-so Little Sisters (those assigned to delegates who
did
not go into the semi-finals) were relegated to the far right corner of
the
Panamanian panorama. From this rather isolated vantage point, the
1986
sisters delivered the final rendition of "You Are My Universe." By
the
end of the night, the Universe belonged to Barbara Palacios Teyde of
Venezuela.
1987 SEMI-FINALISTS AND THEIR LITTLE SISTERS
1987 Surprising Singapore was the venue. The scene for the evening gown
competition was an Oriental moon gate surrounded by the Singaporean
Little
Sisters. Bob Barker (in his last year as emcee) introduced this year's
sisters by proclaiming one of them may grow up to become Miss Universe
2000. A star WAS born that night: the Little Sisters anthem, "You Are
My Star", which became such a long-standing tradition until 1994. Years
later, almost anyone who has heard this strikingly poignant melody
will instantly recognize it as the song lauding the 'celestial' qualities
of Miss Universe contestants.
The gowns this year were so 1980's funky/psychedelic. Wearing a
glove-fitting "Chinese red" tunic, Miss Italy was the first
semi-finalist
to pass through the moon gate. The exotic lady who followed in a
raven-black strapless with black opera gloves was Miss
Philippines. Miss
Venezuela and Miss Sweden imitated each other by modeling high-necked
pink
gowns with overstated pink ruffles at the bottom. Miss Peru 'took the
cake' with a strapless which seemed to be molded out of a teal-colored
aluminum foil!! Miss USA's selection was a traditional princess gown
in
violet. The host delegate, Miss Singapore, also wore a princess gown
in a
scarlet color, and the bust was enveloped by a trellis of black
lacework.
Miss Chile's white strapless was beautiful with a long, flowing
train. The
Universal crown, which would soon sit on her head, could have been
effortlessly substituted by a bridal veil. To end on a completely
bridal
note, the flowers at the 1987 contest were bouquets of purple, pink,
and
fuchsia orchids.
1988 The charm and splendor of Cathay (ancient China) provided the setting
for
the pageant held in Taipei. The Taiwanese dance troupe and the fairy
tale
scenery divulged sheer delight to the senses. This year's evening
gown
presentation is so visually stunning that I rank it as my favorite in
the
history of pageantry. Ten beautiful maidens have been invited to a
ceremony to be held in the gardens of the Emperor's palace. The
Taiwanese
dancers initiate the ceremony by silently marching in with Chinese
lanterns. Once the "guards of honor" have taken their posts, the
sixty-six Little Sisters of Taiwan (who are attired in traditional
Chinese
brocade) serenade each of the ten semi-finalists as they glide across
the
drum bridge straddling an imaginary bubbling brook. The Top Ten are
presented with the national flower of the Republic of China [Taiwan] -
the
plum blossom.
1988 LITTLE SISTERS
The gowns selected by many of the semi-finalists fit in perfectly with
the
fairy-tale theme. Miss Hong Kong wore a knee-length "prom frock" in
carnation pink with pink roses and black velvet (?) leaves and stems
as
part of her bodice. Miss USA presented herself in a black strapless
with
embroidery work in silver depicting delicate branches and
leaves. Miss
Japan resembled the Empress herself in an imperial red ballgown with a
matching train fastened by red rosettes. Miss Korea, who finished
1st
runner-up, was truly the Cinderella of the event, looking the part in
a
mint green ballgown with a delicately flowing train secured by an
imposing
bow in the back. But the queen of the ball (and the Universe) was a
supremely composed Miss Thailand.
1989 The Caribbean region of Mexico's Yucatán peninsula hosted the
seventy-six
delegates to the 1989 contest. Cancun (in the Mexican state of
Quintana
Roo) was the venue. The Little Sisters of Mexico sat on the steps of a
Mayan pyramid to salute the Top Ten with the "You Are My Star"
anthem. There is a fade-out to the tender moment the delegates first
meet
their Little Sisters prior to the telecast. At the foot of the
pyramid
and after receiving a pink rose, each Miss executes an unflattering
mini-catwalk strut at center stage. Up until that point in MU history,
the
contestants were required to gracefully stroll around in a small
circle
instead. This microscopic deviation from protocol was a telling sign
of
things to come in the late 1990's (when the pageant gets
"Trumped").
OCTOBER 2004