16 posts tagged “laural barrett”

Samantha Powell (Miss Universe New Zealand 2008), Rebecca Connor (Miss Wellington), Rhonda Grant (second runner-up, Miss Universe New Zealand 2008), Kylie Anderson (second runner-up, Miss Universe New Zealand 2006).

Why is it that they stem from Christchurch? Are there more anti-pageant types down there?
   Last year, The Press ran a piece on how Laural Barrett, the winner of Miss New Zealand 2007, had allegedly stolen shoes along with her sister, when anyone reading between the lines of journalistic double-talk could tell the writer had used enough ‘seems’ and ‘allegedly’ in an ill-researched story based on a leaked rumour. It would have been fitting on a gossip blog, not a metropolitan newspaper.
   But hey, it sells newspapers in a land where tabloids can successfully masquerade as broadsheets. I had to go on the warpath that time and accuse Fairfax of tall-poppy syndrome with unpatriotic journalists appeasing foreign owners. However you looked at it, that Press story was poor, poor journalism, which only fed blogs, rumours and envious teenage girls.
   Now we had that liberal professor down at the University of Canterbury attacking 2008 second runner-up Rhonda Grant for being good-looking and effectively sending a message that her degree is valueless and that she should not be fêted for her success. Shame.
   I’m just glad that Samantha Powell has managed to steer clear of controversy this year, but then, she didn’t go to university—which obviously means that she escaped the liberal pen of an American Studies professor.
   But given that beauty pageant winners’ academic successes should not be celebrated according to the Association of University Staff—since the release was sent under its banner then I take it to be policy—it’s just as well Sam received on-the-job vocational training rather than have a worthless degree from a New Zealand tertiary institution.
   I sure hope I never joined the Association unwittingly when I was a lecturer, since I cannot agree with its position.
   I believe in individual excellence, working hard and being treated fairly.
   Unless Assoc Prof Maureen Montgomery’s aim was to send out a nothing story—when I first read it I had no idea anyone cared and nearly advised Val Lott, pageant director, to ignore it, and a contact at a TV network actually agreed with me—and see how trivialities can propagate in the New Zealand media.
   Because that made a fascinating study. I held off sending out a release till the morning because I had no idea anyone—from Paul Holmes on the wireless to TV1’s Close-up—would be interested.
   All Dr Montgomery needed was a willing conspirator in the form of the New Zealand Press Association, with the weight of the Association of University Staff behind her, and the publication of the wire story by The New Zealand Herald.
   From there, the story suddenly had legitimacy, even if I think the Irish-owned Herald should have sought comment from the pageant or Massey University side before publication of a clearly biased article.
   Perhaps Dr Montgomery’s Irish roots and the Herald’s part-Irish ownership just went hand in hand and there’s some unwritten rule to help your own inside the newspaper.
   I shall send my future releases to the Herald under the name O’Malley.
   If this was a study of the lowering of media standards and their (and the public’s) obsession with trivia, then I actually applaud Dr Montgomery, with a standing ovation.
   Being London-born, Dr Montgomery will have seen the lowering of standards in her lifetime before she left Thatcher’s Britain (she said ‘escaped’, which shows her thoughts on Thatcherism) with the Australian takeovers of two tabloids and The Times. And, perhaps out of interest, this was an experiment to see how far these tendencies went in New Zealand, a protest against the technocratic injustice that has been emerging over the last quarter-century—again something she has witnessed after her arrival here.
   I don’t know. If that were her aim then I thought it rather cruel to target a young woman who has never done anything against her.
   But as I said, there was a part of me that enjoyed it because it was darned good profile for the pageant and for Rhonda.
   Rhonda spoke well on TV for someone with no media training, and I think she did better on the live interview with Mark Sainsbury on Close-up than the recorded piece with John Campbell on Campbell Live.
   The other good thing was that Rhonda was one of two contestants who identifies with the Christian faith, which allowed her to put this into perspective of a greater plan.
   I shall be interested to see what happens next—or possibly next year. Will Christchurch go for the hat-trick?

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Allan Parker, husband of Miss Universe New Zealand organizer Val Lott, took this great photograph not long after Laural Barrett, Miss New Zealand 2007, handed her crown to her successor, Samantha Powell. Sam is holding back a few tears here as she took the prize on Sunday night at the Novotel in Ellerslie.
   We’ve had a lot more press interest this year compared to 2007, so it does appear that beauty pageants are coming back into favour in New Zealand.

Darn, no Laural.

Venezuela
Thailand
Denmark
Nicaragua
Angola
Slovenia
USA
Brazil
India
Mexico
Japan
Ukraine
Tanzania
South Korea
Czech Republic

Good luck to those who made it into the top 15. I have my biases though.

Good signs: the Irish newspaper (The New Zealand Herald) has been pretty supportive of Laural Barrett so far and I was interested to read that the Murdoch Press has been positive in its coverage of Miss New Zealand, quoting Miss Australia Kimberly Busteed. It’s in stark contrast to how Fairfax treated Laural after her win, though a few weeks ago, she did rate a footnote in the Australian newspaper group’s Stuff website.

To get people in the mood for Miss Universe tonight (in the US on NBC, 9 p.m. EDT and delayed PDT), my article on Laural Barrett, Miss New Zealand 2007, is now online at the Lucire website. Photography is by London-based photographer Camille Sanson, with styling by Michiko Hughes. (We may run different ones in the print magazine.) I had wanted Laural to have a glance beforehand, but you can imagine that she’s full-on preparing for the pageant tonight. Good luck to “our Laural”: New Zealand is behind you!

Laural

I hadn’t expected a gambling newsletter to be a place where I could find my name, but these folks are laying odds presently on Laural Barrett’s (and others’) chances in Miss Universe on Monday.
   The Online Wire in Fla. has reported my comments (I like how they portrayed me as a politically incorrect loudmouth) defending Laural in early April as a Kiwi–Aussie rivalry thing, but I want to add that that wasn’t the case. It was, more accurately, a side-swipe at foreign-owned media and their “patriotism”.
   The interesting thing is that the Online Wire has done a better job of reporting the so-called “incident” that Laural and her sister Sharaine were allegedly involved in than the newspaper which originally broke the non-story.
   It also asks:

Meanwhile reports from Mexico indicate that Laural Barrett appears to be getting along with Aussie sad beauty Kimberley Busteed. Could it be that these two young women are showing to be far more mature than their fans/supporters?

   In a word, yes.

Here’s a nice wee video from Miss Universe 2007 in which most contestants, including our Laural Barrett, can be seen. I have heard from Laural a few times and she is having a great time—we’re keeping our fingers crossed here!
   My story on Laural will appear online at Lucire’s original web edition first over the weekend.

Missnz 009

At the risk of this becoming the unofficial Laural Barrett website and blog, my colleague Kip Brook in Christchurch sent the above photograph to me and gave me his permission to republish. I am not sure of the event, but we can safely say Ford and Adidas are involved. Red is the colour of the local rugby team, the Crusaders. Focus, Jack, Focus. I’m waiting for Kip to get back to me about what Fiesta this was, and whom Escorted Laural there. It looks like a Popular event and one worth Escaping to.

PS.: From Kip:

The Crusaders presented Laural a jersey signed by Dan, [R]ichie and the boys to go to a big [charity] auction at the Miss Uni pageant in Mexico next month. The guy in the photo is Crusaders marketing manager Tim Blake and the other woman is Crusaders promotions manager Brooke Freeman.

This has been a great day for celebrities. I started it in loco parentis for Laural and Sharaine Barrett (Miss Universe New Zealand 2007 and her twin sister, who was runner-up in 2006), escorting them safely from airport to TV studio and back (nice that the regular crew had a bit of fun with me on a day I wasn’t scheduled to appear), and finished it watching Topol in Fiddler on the Roof at the St James Theatre. My friend and colleague Caleigh Cheung, who stars in the upcoming TV2 series Ride with the Devil, sent me a digital photo of the two of us, taken by her friend Alastair Kwun. Sadly, Cal cannot comment on her new series but I think she is on the verge of something big. And I am usually right about these things.
   Meanwhile, Lucire’s online edition is running a story on Eva La Rue of CSI: Miami (from an earlier print story), just as news of her romance with star David Caruso is becoming better known.
   It has been a very interesting and varied day, but I got too little work done.

Sharaine Barrett at Wellington Airport

Laural Barrett at Wellington Airport

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[Cross-posted] A contact of mine, Kip Brook, has been good enough to write, and have published, a far more positive article about Laural Barrett, Miss Universe New Zealand 2007. Let’s say it’s more balanced. In the short time I have known Kip, I have known him to be a decent bloke, and I am grateful he has written something that focuses on the real Laural, yet mentions the controversy that the Australian newspaper kicked up last week.
   The story ran in Fairfax’s Sunday Star–Times and today in The Press. It follows on nicely from the 60 Minutes report on TV3, which has had some positive feedback.
   It’s not all nice-nice with John Fairfax today, however. I was made privy to an email—I will not state the writer—but I will say that if Fairfax journalists cannot spell enquiry, controversial and adult when writing in an official capacity, then they should not be in the job. (We are not talking slips of the finger. We are talking dumbass stuff.) The matter has been dealt with—with some ease, I might add.
   My new title is Miss Universe New Zealand Pageant Ass-Kicker. That’s kicker.