Beauty queens are not hard to come by these days. You have the Miss America, Miss USA, Mrs. America and Miss California International competitions, just to name a few. Yet the grand majesty of them all – the Miss Universe pageant – is perhaps the competition where the total package comes down to the wire…and the final question.
Behind the false eyelashes, bikini waxes, hair extensions and bronzed tans are women that are much more than pretty faces.
An international audience will get to see more than 80 beauties strut their stuff on September 12, 2011, as the reigning Miss Universe Ximena Navarrete crowns her new successor in São Paulo, Brazil at the annual Miss Universe pageant. Photo credit: © Miss Universe L.P., LLLP.
When the contestants appear on stage, Rashel Díaz and Omar Germenos will be there to present up-close accounts of the glitter and glamour of the contestants competing to be the 60th Miss Universe.
Díaz and Germenos, both co-hosts on Spanish television network Telemundo’s “Levántate” morning program, gave a telephone conference last week with members of the press to discuss how they are preparing for the pageant world’s biggest night.
In a recent “Levántate” broadcast, Díaz and Germenos had some of the Latin American contestants as guests on their show. When asked if they could identify any potential front-runners in the competition, Díaz said she thinks Miss Puerto Rico is “very pretty”, while others on her list include Miss Dominican Republic, Miss Venezuela and Miss Colombia. However, she also says that since contestants arrived in Brazil on August 8, a lot can change in one month, giving other contestants time to improve as well.
Germenos adds that some of them may surprise viewers as well. While he agrees with Díaz that Miss Puerto Rico is a standout, he states that Miss Philippines also presents fierce competition.
Although many of these ladies are what you would call ‘natural beauties’, some do get a little ahem, enhancement done.
Díaz is a strict opponent of plastic surgery that distorts the beauty of a person. “In some candidates it is excessive, it is not natural beauty…I do not think it should be allowed so excessively,” Díaz said.
With so many pretty ladies, how is it possible to pick just one? Germenos said he’d “rather be a presenter than a judge.”
During the broadcast, the co-hosts will present some behind-the-scenes footage and interviews on the contestants as well as commentary on the splendor and wonders of São Paulo.
“Camino a La Corona”, a Telemundo special on the contestants from Latin America, precedes the two hour Miss Universe broadcast. Television personality Monica Noguera and top model, actress and former Miss Puerto Rico 2005, Cynthia Olavarria, will both host “Camino a La Corona”.
