22 posts tagged “beauty pageant”
I can say that my ANZAC Day was unique. I have done the odd service, but this was the first time I marched in an ANZAC Day parade, with the Miss New Zealand contestants, in the town of Levin last Saturday. We began outside the library and went to the cenotaph for the service. The girls had to leave early because of make-up and hair appointments, but we oldies stayed on for the duration and put our poppies down at the memorial.
[Cross-posted at Lucire] We finally have images of Katie Taylor, Miss Universe New Zealand 2009, from the night itself, rather than photographs taken casually during the days I was there. We’ve distributed some from this series to media today.
Photo credit: Paul Whiteford/Southern First National via JY&A Media
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Photo of Katie Taylor by Paul Whiteford, featured at Lucire
I know some people reckon beauty pageants are dead (or want them to be), but here are the most-searched keywords or phrases at the Lucire ‘Insider’ blog, beating Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s new Chanel ad.
Lyndon at Scoop tells me he’s seen the same pattern there, and the Miss New Zealand item has had to compete with political and swine-’flu news.
As Kiwis make up a small portion of Lucire’s total audience, this is a huge but very pleasant surprise.
Today (so far)
miss universe new zealand 2009
miss universe new zealand
miss new zealand 2009
miss universe nz 2009
katie taylor miss universe
katie taylor miss nz
miss universe new zealand katie taylor
miss world 2000
jean-pierre jeunet chanel
aucklander katie taylor
Yesterday
miss universe new zealand 2009
miss universe new zealand
katie taylor nz
katie taylor miss new zealand
miss universe nz 2009
katie taylor miss nz
katie taylor miss universe
aucklander katie taylor, 22
miss new zealand 2009
katie taylor miss universe nz
katie taylor new zealand
[Cross-posted from Lucire] The search for the next Miss Sweden has begun.
My own affiliation with this pageant—Fröken Sverige to use its name
in its native language—began six years ago, and I am happy to say this
year I will be far more involved. I will let the publicity machine talk
about my role in due course. (I will remain a judge at Miss New
Zealand.)
But for now, let me announce that the pageant is open and accepting
entrants. The winner will go on to Miss Universe 2009 at Atlantis
Paradise Island, Nassau, in late August.
After protests grounded the pageant in Sweden some years ago, it was
retooled to reflect modern women, though during the past year, Miss
Sweden was, according to the organization, a ‘dormant project.’
It continues, ‘The Board of Directors have spent this time
evaluating and collecting impressions and inspiration from around the
world—all in order to further develop the concept.
‘During this time intensive pressure from various channels and
interests have shown that Miss Sweden is missed and more and more
people have raised their voices asking that the pageant continue. Just
now, when in these somewhat darker times, it is more important than
ever to brighten up the world with hope, engagement and all the
positives that Miss Sweden represents. We think it is important that we
once again place in focus sound role models who create faith in the
future and trust in one’s own abilities.’
The role-model angle is important and it is one I have always borne
in mind, ever since I began judging beauty pageants in 2007.
I have always said to entrants that the interview is ‘80 per cent’.
While the points don’t add up that way, judges place a great deal more
on the entrant’s intelligence and initiative far more than we are given
credit for.
It may be fairer to say that after an interview, I can usually pick who could win with 80 per cent certainty.
In New Zealand, interviews can last 20 minutes with each candidate.
After speaking with a former Miss Israel, Gal Gadot, who is in the new Fast and Furious film, I understand that she was subjected to eight to ten minutes per judge—and there were eight to ten of them.
Sweden, too, has a very involved procedure when it comes to
interviews—if it didn’t, I doubt that the first winner of the retooled
pageant, Josephine Alhanko, would be a young woman with two masters’
degrees with an ambition to get a doctorate.
For those who wish to be a part of one of pageantry’s most
successful competitions, Miss Sweden is now accepting applicants at www.frokensverige.se.
In the words of my friend, Panos Papadopoulos, the initiator of the pageant and the man behind Panos Emporio,
‘For those who are interested in participating the recruitment of the
New Miss Sweden is an adventure that proves that one can conquer the
world with the right attitude. New Miss Sweden gives endless
possibilities for talented young women to realize their dreams. One
year of important and inspirational work awaits. Everyone else can take
joy from this fairy-tale of success and be a part of the festivities
that surround it.’
[Cross-posted at Lucire] Doug Rimington has a few behind-the-scenes shots from Tuesday’s shoot with Miss New Zealand Samantha Powell. I snapped one to finish off a roll of film myself, which is below. This was shot in pretty dark conditions, f5·6, 1/30 sec, on my Voigtländer Bessamatic. Rebecca Connor, the reigning Miss Wellington and a top-five finisher herself at the national competition, is doing the make-up on behalf of her own business, About You Artistry. It’s very lucky of us to have two beautiful women in the same frame. (This is a scan, and our office scanner is doing a few funny things, so please bear in mind that the original print is a tad sharper.)
[Cross-posted in Lucire] We’re preparing to shoot Samantha Powell, Miss Universe New Zealand 2008, on Tuesday. Photographer Doug Rimington is flying in from Sydney tonight and I collect him at the airport in a BMW 120i Cabriolet that the company has lent to me; and the Tissot Fabulous Garden watch has arrived, delivered personally by Griffiths McKay & Buckleigh’s Lynette Kopu. Our one is prettier than the one featured in Lucire this month: it has a gold face, and the watch is nicer in the metal, but the price is the same (NZ$775). No word from the press person at an Auckland label whom I called last week, so it looks like Starfish (our first choice) will be supplying both dresses for Sam.
Not that I know what the photos will look like, but there is a good chance the next New Zealand-edition cover will be shot by a Kiwi.
It’s quite easy to work out the agenda of the mainstream media when it comes to an article like this, trying to harm Samantha Powell’s chances at Miss Universe tomorrow night.
- Personal aggrandizement of the journalist, or, if not the journalist, then the newspaper editors or management trying to look like they can set agenda. (The part about Val Lott hanging up the phone, I understand, is total fiction—so if something so minor is untrue, can we trust the rest?)
- Trying to cause a split between pākehā and Māori when in fact there is none. Fact: the photograph of Samantha Powell doing the pukana was actually published in mid-June—and even ran in a rival newspaper here! There were no complaints from anyone, Māori or any other group, until the Herald made it a race issue yesterday. Or the Herald is trying to play catch-up because it missed the photos a month ago and was desperate for a fresh angle.
- Racism: come on, the headline is clearly poking fun at Māori and the pukana. I don’t appreciate the newspaper doing that, and I would say my Māori friends would be more upset at that than the Herald’s false defence of the haka. Like a newspaper owned by Australians and the Irish really understands Māoridom.
- Implying that two beauty queens are at odds with one another. False. Samantha Powell is in communicado for the most part in Nha Trong, Vietnam, and I severely doubt Miss World New Zealand, Kahurangi Taylor, would risk criticizing another pageant for fear of damaging her own chances when she goes to Miss World.
- Tall-poppy syndrome. (The newspaper failed there: the judges decided their top 15 last week.)
- Lack of patriotism: you would never drag the All Blacks down a peg the day before a big international. And places like Venezuela treat Miss Universe with greater fervour than we treat a rugby match. But an absence of supporting New Zealand is understandable, since The New Zealand Herald is owned by a company listed on the Australian exchange and in turn owned in part by a company based in Dublin. Pity: their business pages are good, so it’s a shame some of these others are dragging them down.
My views about the appropriateness of Samantha Powell’s haka are at the Lucire blog. I agree that Māori culture should be defended. But you couldn’t really call it a haka. She just did a few moves. It would be like a Caucasian donning a lion mask and moving two metres and calling that a Chinese New Year’s lion dance.
As I said in Lucire: ‘I know of no Māori who, while rightly guarding against improper use of their culture, would deny a chance for it to be promoted or be rendered so “untouchable” to those who came later to Aotearoa. In fact, one kaumatua I spoke to says it is our duty, regardless of our ethnic origins, to be promoting Māori culture when we are abroad.
‘Sometimes, because we have not been immersed in the culture, we err. It is to be expected. And, when the one who errs is not of our own race, we forgive and we educate, but we do not criticize.
‘All New Zealanders should be proud to propagate Māori culture as the alternative would be to ignore it and pretend we are mere facsimile of Great Britain, as many Kiwis did 50 years ago.’
I’d hate to see us head back to those monocultural times—though it looks like the Herald wants that to happen by running a story like this.
Since the newspaper has been shifting a lot of its work to Australia, I imagine an Anglicized monoculture makes it easier to take more editing work away from Kiwis.
Any time you see a story about over-sensitive Māori getting upset about the way the culture has been portrayed, think again about the agenda.
All the Māori I know put mana first and actually see this as an opportunity to reach out and educate in order to promote their culture.
A big fail for the Herald. Sam’s still going to wow the world tomorrow night.
[Cross-posted] Miss New Zealand, Samantha Powell, flew out to Vietnam a couple of weeks ago and the Fairfax Press gave her a bit of a boost yesterday in the local media. It’s in stark contrast to the hatchet job the same publishing group gave her predecessor, Laural Barrett, last year.
If you head to the Miss Universe site now, there is a good selection of images, plus Sam’s video interview. The more casual shots are the better ones, in my opinion—having photographed her myself there’s a good, real energy about her.
But it’s hard to be negative about any of the shots of any of the contestants: we are talking Miss Universe here.
The contestants get to Miss Universe and are given a photo shoot and their video interview fairly early on.
I have had a brief email from Sam after her arrival and she is loving it. Both pageant director Val Lott and I agree that nothing seems to faze her.
A spot of good news from the pageant world. More good news comes from pageantry than bad, based on what I see. Many of the contestants get a leg up into the areas they want to, thanks to the profile. Others form business networks. Don’t believe the gossipmongers and the sour grapes you might read elsewhere (as I say to the negative bloggers, I was there).
For instance, the two Wellington-based contestants, Samantha Powell (who won Miss Universe New Zealand) and Rebecca Connor (Miss Wellington) have formed an alliance and this is particularly good for Rebecca’s business.
Both Sam and Rebecca went to Miss New Zealand to have a bit of fun and to make connections, and this has allowed them to look a bit further than just the pageant, and at their careers.
This release was sent today and I have my doubts on whether some of the mainstream media will pick this up, since it’s not negative enough. It’s not as big as some of the news posted to the groups that I am sending this to, but it’s a nice piece that deserves an airing.
Miss Universe New Zealand spurs cooperation between former rivals
Wellington and Auckland, May 21 (JY&A Media) Miss Universe New Zealand 2008 Samantha Powell will be getting support not only from the pageant and its sponsors, but from her former rival, Miss Wellington—Rebecca Connor of About You Artistry (www.aboutyouartistry.com).
About You Artistry, a company specializing in make-up, is owned by Miss Connor. She has agreed to do Miss Powell’s make-up for publicity shots, photo shoots or print work whenever possible during her reign.
Miss Connor was voted Miss Friendship by her fellow contestants and was in the top five at the 2008 pageant.
‘I had a great experience at the pageant and made some true friends,’ says Miss Connor. ‘I really want to support Sam in her bid for Miss Universe and during her year representing New Zealand.’
Val Lott, director of Miss Universe New Zealand, says the cooperation between the former rivals is an example of the many positive outcomes found in pageantry.
‘Many of these girls go to the pageant as a professional choice, to forge not only friendships but create new networks,’ she says.
Jack Yan, publisher of Lucire, who was a judge for Miss Universe New Zealand for the last two years, says Miss Connor’s entrepreneurship and willingness to reach out to a fellow contestant are examples of the positive effects the pageant brings.
He says Mlles Powell and Connor are examples of contestants who are ‘keeping it real. This is why they both did so well in the pageant.’
The Miss Universe New Zealand pageant was held at the Novotel Ellerslie on April 20. Samantha Powell will contest Miss Universe in Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 14.
Miss Powell represented the Horowhenua at the national pageant.
[Cross-posted] I finally came across the full text of the press release attacking Massey University over its story on its alum Rhonda Grant, Miss Universe New Zealand’s second runner-up.
You can read the statement from the Association of University Staff’s president, Assoc Prof Maureen Montgomery, via Scoop. I think she was pretty persistent, sending it out to the NZPA as well as other news sources—she really disliked the story.
It’s a shame Dr Montgomery has received anonymous hate mail over this today, when her release is filled with good targets for debate.
I respect her right to hold an opinion and I think she was right to circulate it, but I wonder just how it might benefit the Association of University Staff, or any institution promoting tertiary issues.
A lot of the arguments are addressed in our own release, which pageant director Val Lott asked me to write. I was more than happy to put the record straight, something that Dr Montgomery gave me a good opportunity to do.
You can tell Dr Montgomery failed to do what I thought academics should do first and foremost: get sufficient evidence and maintain an open mind.
The story on Rhonda Grant was no better and no worse in quality terms than the puff pieces about alumni on the Massey University website, so we know she has been singled out.
Dr Montgomery writes, ‘Massey’s story reads like the formulaic sort of thing that aspiring beauty queens are expected to say when interviewed on the catwalk.’
As I said in our release, the reality is the interviews are tough—and there are no expectations of formulaic answers at Miss New Zealand.
I defend the pageant because I know how tough the judging got: Rhonda was allowed to talk about nutrition, and other contestants were quizzed about everything from the moral repugnancy of bank charges to genetics versus socialization, depending on their university specialization.
‘One might expect a university public relations office to do more than piggy-back off what comes across as a publicity statement produced by the Miss Universe organisation,’ she said.
Publicity statements from the Miss Universe Organization seldom focus on second runners-up but, whether we like it or not, Massey has engaged in journalism. We might argue over the quality.
I share some of her concerns over objectification but I believe that was sufficiently addressed when Rhonda’s bikini-clad photograph was removed from the Massey University website in favour of something more conservative.
Once that was done, then the complaint really is a case of the lady protesting too much, unless all alum puff pieces are equally, to use Dr Montgomery’s word, ‘banal’.
And as deep journalism, maybe that’s not unfair—but it should apply fairly to all puff pieces, not just Rhonda’s.
If it were couched in such terms, I would gladly stand by her.
Dr Montgomery’s complaint on Rhonda’s piece specifically might be better directed at government educational policy that has supposedly bred a generation of sex-obsessed high school graduates who might find Rhonda Grant’s figure the reason to join Massey University.
Actually, on the sexualization of youth, I would also gladly stand by her.
But for now, as a colleague here at Lucire said to me today, ‘You have to ask yourself: what does Maureen Montgomery get out of it? It’s none of her business. Why has she been allowed to be involved?’
I suppose the answer comes, rightly or wrongly, from the anti-American stances of liberal universities around the world, and Dr Montgomery’s own informs them. It helps the profile of the University of Canterbury, where she works, and cements its liberal position.
My own father equated Dr Montgomery’s release to Rosie O’Donnell’s outburst on The View against Miss Nevada 2006 and Donald Trump: ill-considered, narrow-minded, poorly investigated and founded on opinion.
Where Dr Montgomery and I do share some basic views is how images can shape agenda. I know this. I publish fashion magazines. Let’s not kid ourselves.
She wrote, ‘Massey University has provided an excellent example of how the desperation to market universities as “attractive” places to gain knowledge and transferable skills intersects with the use of the sexualized female body as a site of desire.’
There is an element of truth to such statements, but I question if university choices are made based on attractive alumni—even with my rant yesterday on sexualization.
When I went to university, I had far more pressing concerns such as degree programmes and career prospects.
Vitally, we are talking about a story that is hard to find on the Massey University site—a site that had proxy errors in the small hours of this morning that rendered it inaccessible. If it were not for her own strong and widely disseminated disapproval, it would have been seen probably by a few dozen people—perhaps one prospective student.
I’d personally have saved the energy for when universities started putting out alumni swimsuit calendars.
By all means, speak out—I do on even lesser issues. But consider the effect of the publicity: right now, it seems Rhonda Grant is going to be promoted to national stardom on Close-up and Campbell Live, and the pageant will get prime-time coverage on the same day Miss New Zealand Samantha Powell did her Good Morning interview on TV One. Earlier today, Paul Holmes promoted this as a major item on his radio show in Auckland.
We couldn’t have dreamed of this profile.
This has played into the hands of the pageant exceptionally well and, as a judge, I thank Dr Montgomery, even if I do so somewhat selfishly.
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