The winner this year is from Venezuela. Last year's winner is from USA. In 2011 the winner came from Angola. Then Mexico, then Venezuela again, and again (that's two times in a row). In 2007 the winner came from Japan, a nice surprise I'd say. Then Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia, Dominican Republic. In 2002 there were two winners, Russia and Puerto Rico. The Russian won, but then she was de-crowned and the title was given to the runner up, which was Puerto Rico. You know how it is, the winner has to only sneeze towards the wrong person and they take the crown back.
They had the first competition in 1952. Do you know who won? Me neither, I had to look it up. It was a pretty Finnish blond called Armi Kuusela. In the following years the winners came from France, USA and Sweden. Sweden won again in 1966, Finland in 1975 and Sweden again in 1984. Norway won in 1990. These are the only times the winner came from a Nordic country.
1974 was the first time that Venezuela won. All together they have won 7 times. USA has won 8 times and Puerto Rico 5 times. So, if you're looking to win the title, go be born in one of these countries.
I'm not a big fan of beauty pegents. Not like my ex colleague ( a guy) who could tell you the name of each Miss Finland by the year. I wasn't sure if that was cool or sad. Still, I've always wondered about these pageants, and how they can measure the beauty of someone.
How come the Finnish girls were pretty at first, and now they can't even qualify in the top 10? About 10 years back there was a Finnish girl who came in third, but her dad came from some exotic country so she didn't exactly look like a standard Finn. Have the Finns gotten ugly? Or have the Venezuelans gotten prettier? Or what's the deal here?
Who the hell decides anyway what's pretty? A panel of a dozen people, which means that not every country is represented in the selection process. In order to decide who's the prettiest in the world there should be some world wide vote, where everyone and their uncle can vote (even the dudes in Africa that have no electricity) so that the prettiest girl in the world is chosen by her peers, and not some sweaty dude from Illinois who just happens to have landed in the beauty business 40 years ago.
Still, choosing the prettiest is a little silly now isn't it? It's like grown ups playing with Barbies. Young girls trying to live up to some linoleum image of outer beauty, waiting for Ken to pick them up in his convertible, and hoping for daddy to say that they're the prettiest thing there is. Sounds a bit harsh, but that's more or less the idea. Getting attention.
Why isn't there a pageant for inner beauty? Who's the prettiest inside? Who's the nicest, most generous, most honest girl? If I'm not mistaken, every year the Miss Universe competitors choose a "nice girl" among themselves, but it's kind of like winning the consolation price now isn't it? The prettiest and the nicest are never the same girl. Being the nicest is like winning the side show of the circus. Nobody remembers the side show after the circus is over.
Maybe there's already a pageant for the nicest girl. Maybe it's called winning the Noble Peace Price. Maybe it's called being Mother Theresa. Or maybe it's just called being a nice person, doing your best to be good and honest, helping others when possible, and knowing in your heart that you're the pageant winner even if there's no fancy awards or crowns.
Ain't no one going to take that title from you, no matter which way you sneeze.
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