Laural Barrett is Miss Universe New Zealand 2007
Laural Barrett (Miss The Edge Christchurch) is Miss Universe New Zealand 2007. It was not easy. As we tallied our scores in the judging room, we noticed that in many cases, positions were determined by half a point.
Naturally, I can’t discuss whom wound up second to some of the prizes, but one of the non-placing prizewinners got her special award by that narrowest of margins.
But as we saw Laural up on stage as Miss Universe New Zealand (and seeing that sudden surprise on her face, just as on TV), we knew that we had made a good decision. I believe she will represent the nation well, and have the confidence and poise at Miss Universe 2007 in Mexico City.
Calling someone ‘second’ is not an insult here, given the closeness of the competition. Sylvia Laurenson (Miss Boulgaris.com) was runner-up (with the usual conditions of ‘If Miss Universe New Zealand cannot serve, then you are it’) but as I told her earlier, I expect to see a lot more of her in broadcasting and media. She has a drive and confidence. As my friend and co-judge Hilary Timmins said, she did not win her pageant in the 1980s, but wound up with a 20-year career. Sylvia gets my vote for the contestant most likely to get in to a profession in the public eye.
Jessica Body (Miss Asta Club & Lounge) placed second runner-up. At 5'4", one might think she was at a disadvantage. But then, Miss Universe 2006 is 5'5". Jess (one of three girls with the Christian name) has those eyes that follow you around a room, no matter where she was looking. She was clearly Miss Personality, a unanimous decision from the judges. I say this without being flattering: she has star quality. She shone from beginning to end.
What was interesting was that every one of us had shortlisted nearly the same ten girls to go in to the finals. Our first to eighth contestants were identical, with a bit of back-room negotiations to determine the ninth and tenth.
What audiences did not see was the Thursday night judging that went from 6 p.m. to midnight. We met with the young ladies casually, then at an interview. We also had a preview of the swimsuits on that night, and there were some changes earlier tonight in terms of our top 10. The interview was a massive part, however: while it is a beauty pageant, we took into account the girls’ intelligence, speech, succinctness, rapidity of response, depth of response, and appropriateness. We also got to see them sitting on an armchair, not dissimilar, as it turned out, to the one on stage that Laural got to sit on.
Laural did interview very well. Now the real work begins, as I have to organize a shoot with her for a future feature as part of her prize. As some know, Laural’s twin sister, Sharaine, placed runner-up in 2006 with her natural hair colour; now-blonde Laural probably made the right choice with her hair, accentuating her skin and facial features.
The three prize-winners on stage were a true vision. Then, so were all the girls. Eye-candy with substance: as the only male judge, and in many settings the only man other than the director’s partner, I was in danger of sensory overload.
And if you saw what stress director Val Lott was under, having to be compère, organizer, surrogate mother, judging coordinator, press relations’ director, etc., you would admire her no end. Allan, by her side, was still working at 1.35 a.m., when I left, after hanging out with Megan Alatini and the Cassie clan. A great night; and I can only imagine how the prizewinners are buzzing.
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Comments
As a close follower of the Miss New Zealand 2007 pageant I was left in absolute dismay after hearing the top 10 announced on Saturday night.
One contestant that comes to mind is Miss Manawatu's, Rachel Crofts. I was perplexed that she did not even reach the top 10 of the competition. There was a lot said about all the contestants, especially Rachel. She was talked about by everyone and then to not even make the final ten is a pin in the balloon.
Fantastic looks, gorgeous body and incredible personality are just some of the characteristics that make up Rachel. In fact I even read the write up by Jack Yan, and given the way he spoke of Rachel I'd say a top 10 finish should've been a breeze.
I'm very interested to hear what other people think about the results, including Jack. It would be awful to think Miss New Zealand was unjustified...
There’ll always be a bit of flak after judging with suspicions of conspiracies as I saw elsewhere, but I will say the judging was independent—I could not talk to my fellow judges about my preferences till the scrutineer was there on the night—and, as far as I can tell, as fair as it could be.
The very fact I wrote about Rachel highlights the impartiality of the judging process if she did not make it into the top 10. She may not have been on the other judges’ shortlists. In other words, the other four judges were not affected by my opinion.
About Rachel, all I can definitively say is that others pipped her. I am not allowed to go (without clearing it with Val) into the actual judging or where I placed her. I will say that in a lot of cases, girls made it to their respective prizes by half a point. That might have included Rachel.
Each of us, when deciding the top 10, made our own shortlist. This was done by adding our scores from the Thursday interviews and initial swimwear judging, and the Saturday judging. I will say that my top 10 on each day differed, though my top five did not. In short, their performance on the night counted for a lot, and some girls simply did better. It also meant that some girls were inconsistent, and we could not afford to have that over in Mexico.
When the top 10 votes were collated, there ultimately were about 12 or 13 names—I can’t recall exactly now—and there were some negotiations as to which of the two or three extras would be left off.
This was done by analysing the exact points we had awarded, which of course is arbitrary. One judge might have awarded points such as 3 to 7 out of 10. I tended to judge from 5 to 10 out of 10. This may have its faults as any statistician will tell you, but it does not tend to be unfair, either, if each judge is consistent.
I am happy with the results. Members of the public who came up to me appear to be happy with the results. They reflected what we saw of the girls, and you have to remember that I did spend more time with them than the average observer. I also got to see them up close and, at this level, when the competition is this strong, you do have to be brutal with everything from complexion to make-up. Internet photos (which, for the most part, were horrid and totally unrepresentative) or a casual glance, or even attendance at the Langham on Saturday, would not have revealed as much as our interviews or contact with them.
While I think Rachel is a lovely girl with very piercing dark eyes and represented the Manawatu well, it may be a simple fact that others did better. I am certainly not saying that she lacked in looks, figure or personality. To be even clearer, I am also not saying that she was not among the top 10 in any of these criteria. I am not suggesting anything between the lines.
Pre-event talk does not gauge where a girl will be placed. There was also a lot of talk on the internet that Carena West would be a shoo-in. In terms of talk, Carena’s hype outdid Rachel’s. She had had more air time, both on Treasure Island and Breakfast. But there were others, again, that did better than her.
Without going through my notes, I cannot recall where Rachel was overtaken. Even with my notes, I probably cannot comment publicly, though if I am ever given permission, I would happily discuss it. Usually the rule is that the judges’ decision is final; I’m stretching it by engaging in correspondence.
I will say that if you felt that she stood such a good chance based on the criteria you list, then she would probably have been surpassed in the interview, which depended on far more than looks, figure and personality. And as with any interview, she could have totally caned it, or fallen flat, or somewhere in between. Her nerves could have shown, she could have had poor posture on the armchair we had (I note that the winner, Laural Barratt, was perfect on that particular matter), or she could have fumbled a question.
If Rachel were to contact me privately asking which areas she could improve on, that would probably be the only means through which I felt comfortable in sharing what her shortcomings were. But I will not discuss her actual placing with friends or members of the public.
You also have to bear in mind that this is a points-based system and the winner is chosen on an aggregate; however, I believe that even with another system, Laural Barrett would still have won. She really is that good and her composure was superior to the other girls on both nights.
When you have 24 gorgeous girls, each one of them with comparable looks and figure, their major points of differentiation will come from personality and the interview responses. In those two areas, Laural Barrett surpassed her competitors totally. As it turned out, she did incredibly well on the other criteria, too.
Thank you very much I fully appreciate your response to my post.
Yes that is very true that all judging is independent and it's not as if one could influence the other. I also realise that not only Rachel will be disappointed, there will be others.
As this is only Rachel's second pageant I'm sure she'll enter a lot more in the many years to come. This will fuel her fire.
Hopefully she reads this and understands the reasoning behing the final decisions made on the night. I respect your work and appreciate your critique Jack.
Thank you.
My pleasure, Anonymous. Rachel has potential so if you know her, please encourage her to re-enter. She was up against girls for whom Miss Universe New Zealand 2007 was their third or fourth pageant and that experience does count for something, especially composure (which Laural had a lot of) and overall maturity. If she wishes, I will discuss privately with her where she can improve.