In a first, Miss Venezuela ditches contestants' measurements

For the first time in its history, the Miss Venezuela contest will not publish the 24 contestants' waist, bust and hip measurements, organizers said, as pageants face criticism for their primary focus on physical appearance.

The event, which will take place in Caracas on Thursday, has been running since 1952 and has an enviable record on the international stage, having produced seven Miss Universe winners and six in Miss World.

Traditionally, the contestants' vital statistics have been publicized, with a 90-centimeter bust, 60-cm waist and 90-cm hips long considered the ideal.

This year, contestants will still parade on stage in swimsuits and evening gowns, but organizers say they want to fight stereotypes about what an ideal woman looks like and hence will not reveal their measurements.

"A woman's beauty isn't 90, 60, 90 . . . It is measured by each one's talent," said Gabriela Isler, the pageant's spokeswoman and Venezuela's last Miss Universe winner in 2013.

At past pageants, presenters would tell the audience the exact size of each contestant, many of whom underwent cosmetic surgery and followed strict diets in a bid to achieve the supposedly ideal physique.

Miss Venezuela is normally big business in the crisis-wracked Latin American country, but it is suffering from the same difficulties as the rest of the population.

One of those is frequent blackouts, the latest of which hit the country on July 22.

Isler revealed that the pageant did not have enough money to put in place contingency measures in case of a power outage on Thursday.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Miss Venezuela is Miss Earth 2013

PH bet finishes in Top 8

MANILA -- Venezuela's candidate to the 2013 Miss Earth pageant, Alyz Henrich, was crowned the title winner on Saturday during the finals night held at Versailles Alabang in Las Piñas.

Austria's Katia Wagner was named Miss Air, Thailand's Punika Kulsoontornrut took home the Miss Water title, while Korea's Catharina Choi placed as Miss Fire.

The Philippines' candidate to the international pageant, Angelee Delos Reyes, finished in the top 8, along with the delegates of Austria, Mexico, Korea, Thailand, Venezuela, Serbia and Poland.

Completing the top 16 were the candidates of Turkey, Chile, France, China, Mauritius, Spain, USA, and South Africa.

Special awards such as the Best in Swimwear and Best in Evening Gown, which Jenrich and Ukraine's Anastasia Sukh won, respecitvely, were handed out days before the coronation night.

Kazakhstan's Kumis Bazarbayeva got the Best in Talent award, Kulsoontornrut won Best in Resorts Wear, while India's Sobhita Dhulipala took home the Miss Photogenic trophy. She also won the Miss Earth Eco-Beauty competition, where each candidate showcases her environmental advoacy through a video.

Awarded Miss Friendship were Indonesia's Nita Sofiani, Lebanon's Rita Houkayem, and Gabon's Filiane Mayombo Koundi.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

New Miss Universe models $1-million swimsuit

MOSCOW --Newly crowned Miss Universe, Gabriela Isler of Venezuela, took up her duties in Moscow on Sunday, twirling in a jewel-studded swimming costume valued at $1 million.

Isler, 25, spoke to reporters a day after winning the title at a glitzy ceremony at a Moscow concert hall, saying she had stayed up all night talking to friends and family on the phone.

"I feel very happy to share my first day as Miss Universe," Isler said. "I'm a simple girl. I am just come to have fun, to enjoy the moment -- and here I am."

She said she felt "honored" at becoming the seventh Venezuelan Miss Universe, triumphing over 85 other women at the first competition held in Russia in its 61-year history.

Isler wowed the judges including Aerosmith singer Steve Tyler with her appearances in a bikini and sparkly silver evening dress.

She then won the final interview round by saying in response to a question about her greatest fear: "We should overcome all our fears and this in turn will make us much stronger."

As the new face of an Italian lingerie company, she posed in a Moscow hotel in a white cut-away swimming costume featuring an emerald pendant and swirls of diamonds and rubies, with a fur boa wrapped around the hips.

"It's very simple but very elegant, so it's like me," she said.

The organizers of Miss Universe said the costume was sewn with 900 stones and is worth $1 million.

"We do have armed guards, so don't get any ideas," quipped the president of the Miss Universe organization, Paula Shugart.

The organizers did not make clear whether the swimsuit was for sale. Isler said she did not know what would happen to it next, but she would like to keep it.

"I'm still asking: where are those guards, because I'll run with it," Isler joked, although her towering heels would have hindered an escape attempt from the hotel's 20th floor.

The Miss Universe competition, which began in the United States as a promotional campaign for swimwear, includes several rounds in which the contestants are judged based on their appearance in bikinis and one-piece swimsuits.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com