Jaws drop at Bb. Pilipinas (Miss Philippines) parade

“The most beautiful batch of ladies” was how Paolo Bediones described this year’s roster of Binibining Pilipinas candidates.

Paolo, who’s hosting the annual pageant with Iza Calzado, sounded very sincere — and not just because his girlfriend is rejoining the contest.

Jaws dropped as the ladies paraded in their red printed peek-a-boo Mossimo swimwear at the Sunset Pavilion of Hotel Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Pasay City last week. Pageant veterans, show biz figures and audacious newcomers are among this year’s contestants.

Paolo’s girlfriend, Abegail Cruz, was second runner up in 2007 and a GMA 7 talent. She is joined by Bianca Paz, who is Polo Ravales’ current flame. Also in the roster is Carisheila Kuijpers, Joross Gamboa’s rumored sweetheart and Estee Lauder Model Search winner in Malaysia.

Other returning candidates are former semifinalists Marie-Ann Umali and Jaysel Arrozal and Miss Philippines-Earth semifinalist and Mutya ng Pilipinas runner up April Love Jordan.

The following local beauty title holders have gotten into the fray: reigning Miss Bicolandia Melody Gersbach; Mutya ning Kapampangan 2007 and former Bb. Pilipinas contestant Keann Mallari; Miss Oriental Mindoro 2007 Diana Arevalo; Miss Cebu 2006 Stephanie Señires; Miss Makati 2006 Marie Lorraine de Guzman; Miss Cebu runner-up Priscilla Mae Honorio; and Quezon City queen Gizelle Rivamonte.

The competition could be made tougher by Regina Hahn, Miss Universe runner-up Chiqui Brosas-Hahn’s daughter, and Bianca Manalo, Miss World finalist Katherine Manalo’s sister and niece of Nini Licaros, the first woman to be crowned Bb. Pilipinas-International.

To make the judges’ job even more difficult are former “Walang Tulugan” host Sandra Seifert, “Starstruck” contestant Rich Asuncion (who’s using her real name Richell Angalot) and Miss Teen Philippines runner-up Priscilla Navidad, the hearing-impaired teen housemate in “Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition.”

Neophytes Barbara Salvador and Cheryl Oliveros, on the other hand, might stage upsets.

The pageant selects the country’s official representatives to the Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss International beauty contests.

The outgoing queens are hopeful that this year’s batch will produce winners abroad. Although they have their own bets, they all agree that the contestants are all beautiful and intelligent.

Miss International semifinalist Patricia Fernandez sees at least three contenders who could be short-listed for her title. “I noticed that judges in the Miss International focus on the eyes. They also do not want heavy or muscular women. They prefer cute and charming ladies,” Patricia told the Inquirer.

Danielle Castaño, who replaced Janina San Miguel as the country’s Miss World bet, thinks of four contestants who could inherit her title. “Miss World judges look for someone athletic, who could attract attention right away. She must also be humble, nice and a good role model for the youth,” said Danielle.

Jennifer Barrientos finds two ladies who fit the Miss Universe standards. “In Miss Universe, most of the ladies have modeling backgrounds. But they are not super thin. They are super sexy with a lot of character. They also embody the country they represent,” Jennifer said.

The coronation night is on March 7, 7:30 p.m. at the Araneta Coliseum. GMA 7 airs the event at 10 on the same night.

Countdown begins for Miss India beauty contest

Mumbai, Feb 28 (ANI): It is countdown time for the Miss India 2009 pageant in Mumbai.

Sixty-five dazzling contenders appeared at an event on Friday ahead of the contest, which is to be held on April this year. The sixteen finalists will be announced on March 9.

Some of the contestants were excited and enjoying the media attention.

‘It’s the most renowned and well known contest in the country. Just being a part of it, is amazing. I really hope that I am selected. I am really looking forward to the training,’ said Ridhima Shahni, a nineteen-year-old aspirant from Pune.

These contestants are to be put through an intensive training programme to ensure that the eventual winners fare exceptionally well at international pageants.

The finalists will undergo a month-long training under the supervision of experts and professionals.

Contestants are imparted training in catwalk, skin and hair care, make-up and grooming, diet and fitness, speech and diction, workshop on Indian heritage, culture, music and art.

‘I tell them one thing, keep and maintain your Indian values and Indian culture that at end of the day when you go abroad and integrate in the modernization, globalization, you will that is what will make you the winner,’ said Marc Robinson, a contestant director.

India first won a Miss World title in 1966 with the crowning of Reita Faria. Thereafter, it took another 28 years for an Indian woman to secure another world beauty title.

In 1994, Sushmita Sen won the Miss Universe crown, while Aishwarya Rai secured the Miss World title. Both are now Bollywood actresses.

Ms. Mantucket Beauty Pageant March 9

The Rotary Club of Nantucket is delighted to invite the public to the sixth annual "Ms. Mantucket" pageant on Monday, March 9, 2009, 6 p.m. at the Faregrounds Restaurant, 27 Faregounds Road. Tickets are $50 per person and will be available at Faregrounds Restaurant beginning February 23 or from any Rotarian.

"Ms. Mantucket" is a fun, locally sponsored event featuring 12 goodnatured businessmen - willing to regale the crowd with their sense of humor and "inner-beauty." Originally started by the Nantucket Students for Guatemala - as a benefit for the Gods Child Project, a day school in Antigua, Guatemala - the Rotary Club of Nantucket assumed responsibility for this event in 2008 and was able to raise more than $20,000 for the Rotary student scholarships. For more information about Ms. Mantucket and The Rotary Club of Nantucket, visit us on-line at www. nantucketrotary.org.

This event would not be possible without the support and commitment of our sponsors and willing contestants: Ms. Pudley's Pub - Bill Puder; Ms. Nantucket Independent - Dan Drake; Ms. Beauty Bar - Jeff Beamish Jr.; Ms. Vaughan, Dale, Hunter, Stetina & Beaudette - Bob Bates; Ms. Suzanne's Hair Design - Tri Gauvin; Ms. Nantucket Vineyard - Kevin Mohler; Ms. Sperry Tents - Hartley Batchhelder; Ms. Brock Insurance - Tony DiSavino; Ms. St. Peter Construction - Tristram Marks; Ms. Jordan Real Estate - Frank Hanlon; Ms. Inquirer & Mirror - Norm Berthelette and Ms. Nantucket Bank - Mark Latter. I

Tough for VN to choose representatives for int’l pageants

VietNamNet Bridge – This year, it will be a hard job for Vietnam to choose contestants for international beauty contests like Miss Universe and Miss World as the new rules only allow one national beauty contest a year – the Mrs. Vietnam pageant.

According to the regulations on the organisation of beauty contests in Vietnam, dated December 30, 2008, as of 2009, Vietnam will have only one national beauty contest, one regional, sector level beauty contest. Provincial pageants are permitted to be held every two years.

In recent years, Vietnam has had three national beauty contests: Miss Vietnam, Miss Vietnam Global and Miss Universe Vietnam. According to the new regulations, these contests will not be organised in 2009 because Mrs. Vietnam 2009 was licenced to be the sole pageant.

The Chief of the Performance Art Agency under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Le Ngoc Cuong, said the Mrs. Vietnam 2009 pageant must be licenced this year because in 2008, the government approved the Mrs. World 2009 pageant in Vietnam. Vietnam needs to hold a national beauty contest to choose a representative for the Mrs. World 2009.

Moreover, the agency received applications for organising beauty contests 2009 last October and at that time, the agency didn’t receive any application except for the Mrs. Vietnam 2009, Cuong said.

“It is quite funny that each year Vietnam will have only one national beauty contest because each pageant has its own criteria. Mrs. Vietnam is for married contestants. It will be a loss for young girls if only Mrs. Vietnam 2009 is licenced next year,” said former Chief Editor of Tien Phong Newspaper, who has been the chief organiser of many national beauty contests, Duong Xuan Nam.

The vice chief of the Performance Art Agency, Nguyen Van Khanh, suggested that the Miss Vietnam Global, Miss Universe Vietnam, etc. should change their scale from national to regional or sectoral to get a licence.

However, Duong Xuan Nam, one of the founders of Miss Vietnam Global pageant, said it is impossible to lower the scale of Miss Vietnam Global because this contest is open to contestants from home and abroad.

Respecting the new rules, the Deputy General Director of the Universe Joint Stock Company, Chi Bao, stated that the firm would not organise Miss Vietnam Universe 2009. He also said that it is impossible to change the scale of the pageant because in that case, the winner of this contest will fail to meet conditions to attend the international Miss Universe pageant.

The new rules are said will cause difficulties for Vietnam in choosing representatives for international beauty contests this year. But Cuong said: “Vietnam doesn’t need to have too many beauty contests while its organising skills are unprofessional. Moreover, not all international pageants require national-level contestants.”

At the same time, Elite Vietnam stated it would stop buying the copyright to send Vietnamese representatives to Miss World and Miss Universe 2009.

Managing Director of Elite Vietnam, Thuy Nga, said: “This decision was considered in 2008 and Elite Vietnam wants to focus on modelling.”

However, she admitted that choosing contestants for Miss World and Miss Universe 2009 will be difficult.

VietNamNet/VNE/NLD

Angolan placed third in beauty pageant in Finland

Luanda, – Angolan contestant Sílvia Daiana Alfredo Neto was placed third in international beauty pageant “Queen of Hearts 2009”, recently held in Helsinki (Finland) and participated by representatives of nine countries. 

According to a press release from the Angolan Embassy in that country, delivered to ANGOP this Monday, in Luanda, Daiana Neto, took part in the event by dressing a typical outfit of an Angolan women of the ethnic “Mumuila” group, of the southern Huila province.

The note stresses that with her choreography (comprising glass beads and skirt manufactured out of Samakata fabric) illustrating Angola’s flag colours, which are red, yellow and black, Silvia Daiana Alfredo Neto delighted the public and convinced the jury through her physical and intellectual attributes.

According to the document, with this achievement, the Angolan representative, whose victory corresponds to the category of second Lady of Honour has received a proposal to become a model.

“Queen of Hearts” is an international beauty contest that also recognises woman‘s inner beauties with the purpose of highlighting values such as good manners, compassion and trustworthiness of women of different nationalities living in Finland.

Model hopes to win Miss Galaxy UK beauty pageant

A Norwich woman is raising money for charity after getting through to the national final of a beauty pageant.

Ann-Marie Woodyatt, 29, has been named Miss Norfolk Galaxy after she entered the competition organised by Galaxy Pageants UK. The blonde model and events organiser has only been modelling for three years, and has never entered a similar competition before.

She is organising a charity ball on April 7 at Dunston Hall to raise money for Sparks, the children's medical research charity. She is involved in producing a 2010 calendar to raise money for cancer research.

She said she never thought she would have any success in the first round of the competition, which was based on sending photographs to the organisers along with information about herself. She said: “To find out I had won and had been crowned Miss Norfolk is a really big deal for me. It is amazing.”

The Miss Galaxy UK final is in Manchester on March 29. If she wins, she will be flown out to Florida for a week in July to take part in the international Miss Galaxy competition.

Tickets for the charity ball are available through her website, www.missmarie.co.uk

Miss Atom 2009: Russia's Nuclear Bombshells

Female employees from Russia's nuclear energy industry are competing for the Miss Atom 2009 title this month. The event's sponsors hope the beauty pageant will help dispel the industry's negative image.

Imagine, if you will, a bikini clad beauty queen strutting out of lake, with giant cooling towers belonging to a nuclear power facility dominating the background. Odd perhaps? Not, apparently, in Russia. There, women working in the country's nuclear industry compete for the annual title of Miss Atom.

The beauty pageant, now in its sixth year, is generously financed and well established. There are no anti-nuclear protestors who show up to sling rotten tomatoes at the contestants. Instead, it seems that this bold strategy of fusing atomic energy and Russian bombshells is just another part of life -- or at least a marvelous ploy.

"We want to show the general public that the nuclear industry is an industry like any other," Ilya Platonov, who heads up Nuclear.Ru which runs the event, told ABC News. "Ordinary people work in it, including young, attractive women."

Platonov also admits that the pageant is also an image campaign aimed at dispelling the image of a dangerous and threatening nuclear power industry.

The range of contestants for "Miss Atom 2009" is vast. Many look quite ordinary, lacking the perfect features often associated with beauty contests. Several, though, are astonishingly beautiful. In profile photos, some sling themselves across cars and desks or strike sexy poses in front of machines and oceanscape backgrounds while others wear silly hats or simply sit at office desks.

In personal statements, the ladies divulge passions for activities such as dancing, growing cactuses, travel, and sports. Some, like Julia Leonova of Siberia, add a bit more flare: "I can be a tiger, who spreads fear with a flash of my teeth, or an eagle who flies free through the sky…I can play a hundred different roles -- but choose only those I like," she writes.

Svetlana, an engineering student who goes to modeling school and won last year's "Miss Elegance" title, seems to embody winning characteristics: Her interests included fitness, hairdos and world peace. "I wish the world wasn't full of so many negative things, but rather with peace, friends and love," she writes.

In this competition, a good dose of patriotic love for the Fatherland never hurts either. One contestant sent in a photo of herself enthusiastically waving a Russian flag. Another contestant, 25-year-old Kristina Pogosjan, stated, "I don't need to go to modeling school. After all, I work for 'Atomtrudresurcy.'"

Pageant sponsors include the Atomenergoprom corporation, which was founded two years ago and has close ties with Rosatom, an agency that controls both the civilian and military branches of the industry -- and thus practically all Russia's nuclear material.

Rosatom recently announced plans to build 40 new nuclear reactors at a cost of $60 billion. With these plans, Russia will raise the share of atomic energy in its mix from 17 percent to 25 percent. The country already has 31 active reactors. The future of atomic energy in Russia seems secure.