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IT’S
pageant season once again, and the biggest news in the
world of beauty involves three lovely women: Sushmita
Sen (Miss Universe 1994), Lara Dutta (Miss Universe
2000) and Priyanka Chopra (Miss World 2000). The buzz
around Bollywood, which naturally reverberated in the
four corners of the beauty cyberworld, is that the three
Indian ladies will star in a Charlie’s Angels-type chick
flick but will be very different from the
Hollywood original.
“Only
the idea of three supersexy girls in action combat isn’t
enough for me. I’ll be going much deeper into their
psyche,” acclaimed director Rohit Jugraj tells
criticalbeauty.com via Bollywood Hungama. “Yes, I’m
directing a film for Abbas-Mustan. All I’ll say at this
stage is that my producers are very influential and
they’ve worked with the who’s who of the industry. For
them, getting my wish list of actors won’t be a
problem.”
Oh, and
there are three other little girls making news, too.
They are Patricia Fernandez (Bb. Pilipinas
International), a 22-year-old speech communication
graduate; Janina San Miguel (Bb. Pilipinas World), a
17-year-old mass communications student; and Jennifer
Barrientos (Bb. Pilipinas Universe), a 22-year-old
tourism major and model.
THE THREE NEW QUEENS.
From
left: Patricia Fernandez, Bb. Pilipinas International
‘08; Janina San Miguel, Bb. Pilipinas World ‘08; and
Jennifer Barrientos, Bb. Pilipinas Universe ‘08
They’re
shaking the earth and rattling some stilettos,
fortunately reviving a staid pageant from irrelevance
and obsolescence. From shocked call-center agents, who
pride themselves for making the country into an English
hub again, to pageant followers who remain incredulous
to the results of purportedly the most prestigious
pageant this side of Femina Miss India and Miss
Venezuela.
What’s
with all the fuss? Fumbling the English language, as San
Miguel did in the question-and-answer portion, is
considered by the condescending few to be unforgivable:
“My family’s role for me is so important because they
was the, they are, they was the one whose very...” then
laughing at herself for being nervous and not expecting
to be in the “tough 10,” then concluding with, “My
family was the most important persons in my life.”
Fernandez, when asked about the one person she admires
the most, went on to extol the virtues of Mother Teresa,
as if the beatified nun were still alive. One finalist
admitted to being “overwarmed” for having received the
lion’s share of awards.
Did the
performance of this batch in the portion of the pageant
that is supposed to provide everyone a gauge on the
girls’ intelligence, confirm everything people ever
knew, suspected and feared about beauty queens, like
what happened to Miss Teen South Carolina’s confusion
about maps? Credit it to Sushmita Sen, the Indian model
whose untraditional beauty beat out Miss U superpowers
Colombia and Venezuela at the 1994 pageant held here in
Manila, that intelligence—the faculty of thought and
reason expressed with clarity and articulateness, with
wit for added points—became a huge factor in winning.
Remember
when Miriam Quiambao choked at the final question in
’99? She had the crown within reach but let it slip away
when she failed to articulate her thoughts. The crown
went to Miss Botswana, the dark horse. Or, when Brooke
Mahealani Lee of the USA easily charmed the judges with
her humor and wide smile at the Q&A? Angular and of
mixed lineage, she won over the Slavs, Teutonics and
Latinas who dominated the pageant until then. Gloria
Diaz, in 1969, grabbed the crown equipped with the same
qualities.
The
tragedy of Janina San Miguel was as much her inadequate
grasp of English as her apparent lack of grace under
pressure. But with seven months to go before the Miss
World pageant in the Ukraine, she has ample time to
prepare. Her weaknesses can still be addressed. She can
be trained.
“She is
willing to learn and she is determined to win,” defends
Barrientos, who will compete first at the Miss U in
Vietnam. She reminds me of Dindi Gallardo (’93),
pleasant and pretty, but should be coquettish enough to
attract Donald Trump, who owns the franchise. In the
run-up to the contest, Barrientos was a dark horse. “I
had training and I had confidence,” she said when the
winners appeared on GMA’s Startalk. “I wasn’t
surprised when I won. I expected it. Can I say that?”
She laughed. This girl has gumption!
Asked
what made her smile throughout the grueling, punishing
pageant, Fernandez replied: “I smile from the heart.
When people ask me how I sustain it, I tell them that I
enjoy” every moment of the competition. In Japan, where
she will compete for the Miss International crown, her
happy disposition will serve her well.
San
Miguel, a tall, leggy beauty, also has a staunch
supporter in Melanie Marquez, no stranger herself to
bashing for her flawed English. “It’s unfair for her to
be laughed about,” said the Miss International ’79,
voted online as the most beautiful MI of all time.
“Before you criticize anyone, you should first give
honor to our country.”
Maggie
Wilson, San Miguel’s predecessor who was also 17 when
she won in her first pageant, told the online gossip
site Philippine Entertainment Portal, “I’m sure like
[with] all the past beauty queens, we’ll take care of
her. And our sponsor Dale Carnegie [Training] for speech
improvement will also [help] her. Even if she’s
pressured, you know, a beauty queen is always great
under pressure. I took classes with Dale Carnegie and
[it] really helped me become more confident in the way I
talk and more confident in front of a lot of people, and
hopefully it could also help Janina.”
Perfect
English communication skills (Anna Lorraine Kier,
Universe ’77; Joyce Ann Burton, Universe ’85; Colette
Centeno, International ’98; Cara Subijano, World ’94,
and all those half-breeds) or university honors (i.e.,
summa cum laudes Lizbeth de Padua, Universe ’76, and
Anna Theresa Licaros, Universe ’07) may be an advantage,
but they cannot guarantee a place in the finals. It is
really up to the judges on pageant night.
“Not all
17 years old nagawa ang ginawa ko,” said a
defiant but endearing San Miguel on Startalk,
whose winning the Best in Swimsuit and Best in Gown
greatly helped in snaring the Bb. Pilipinas World crown,
the only major title that has eluded the Philippines so
far.
She
recalled how many people were supportive of her
backstage. “All others would cry. Ako dinaan ko sa
tawa,” she said, unfazed by all the ridicule (on
YouTube, via SMS) that came her way since then. “I don’t
watch TV or read the papers. We’ve been busy. My friends
are more affected [of all the negative feedback]. ‘Di
ko pinapansin. It’s their opinion. Kahit anong
gawin nila, wala na silang magagawa.”
San
Miguel was given a chance by host Butch Francisco,
himself a pageant expert, to answer again the question
asked by judge Vivienne Tan (who incidentally granted
scholarships in English and entrepreneurship to the
winners): “What role did your family play with you as
candidate to Binibining Pilipinas?”
“My
family, they serve as my inspiration. Wala ako dito
kung wala sila, kasi sila ang inspirasyon ko.” |
