After watching the men's semi-final at the French Open between Roger Federer and the lanky dude from Argentina, I decided to have a closer look at pictures and video clips of the Miss & Mister Switzerland pageants. Not only does the world's second best tennis player have a South African connection (his mother was born here), but a number of the Swiss title-holders and runners-up are part South African it seems.In addition, Switzerland currently has a caucasian Mister that will more than likely not compete at any international pageant just as our caucasian Mister will more than likely not compete internationally. Then there's the mixed race Swiss Miss that will be up against our mixed race Miss SA at the Miss Universe pageant in August. Strange, but true.
That is where the similarities end however. Although South Africa has a superior record at international Miss pageants, I have to be honest when I say that the general standard of the group of finalists at the Swiss Miss & Mister pageants is far superior to that of the local finalists. I was stunned by some of the gorgeous girls and guys on stage in the YouTube clips I viewed.
Given that the Swiss population is approximately one-sixth of the South African population, it is sad that the standard of contestants at local national pageants is not higher. Once again the only conclusion that I can come to is that local national pageants do not attract the creme de la creme of local beauties.
Something else I noticed was that the personalities of the Swiss contestants are about as mechanical and sterile as their clocks and gadgets, which probably explains why they don't achieve the same level of success internationally as South Africa does. But then that is also one of the reasons that the Europeans, in general, don't perform as well as the North, Central and South American contestants.
Whilst the road from Germiston to Geneva might be uphill technologically, it's downhill in terms of a bright and sunny disposition.