Whilst I rarely, if ever, contribute to any debate on any message board or forum these days, I would be lying if I said I don't read what other pageant enthusiasts have to say for themselves. What annoys me most about these websites is that contributors are either raging loonies, critical for the sake of being critical of certain countries, and are guilty of blind patriotism even when their delegate would be more at home at a dog show.In any event, given the bad "rep" and "rap" that pageants receive in the mainstream media these days, any opinion, good or bad, is better than none. The annual "USB mock 15" list has just been released and, although I never contributed my "two cents worth", my personal preferences match the collective choice of the USB list insofar as 8 contestants appear on both lists.
As I have, ad nauseum, stated in previous posts that I do not believe in diversity for the sake of diversity, I would be really stupid not to include a delegate from every corner of the globe in any list that I do compile. In this age of political correctness and all-inclusiveness, there will always be at least one contestant from every continent and race group in the Top 15 at any international pageant.
Since pageants are, in essence, slaves to the bias, choice, prejudice, motives and subjectivity of the individual judges, one would expect that the aggregate outcome would at least include contestants from all the groups mentioned above. That the aforementioned reasoning was disregarded, is my only criticism of the list that was released on the USB earlier today.
I am not a great fan of Miss South Africa, but, although there is at least one other African delegate that is miles ahead of her in the beauty stakes, she is far more "out there" in terms of overall impact. I have no doubt that for no reason other than she is the best delegate from Africa, she will be included in the Top 15 next weekend. Her fans must be frothing at the blow-hole at her exclusion from the list.
As far as the rest of the USB list goes, I still do not "get" Miss France, and I still think that Miss Great Britain looks like Miss Strawberry Puff Spice. I also think that Miss Spain should be wearing the Miss Bugs Bunny sash, and that Miss Czech Republic, as gorgeous as she probably was a few years back, would be more at home at a Mrs pageant.
As far as the corresponding selections go, I am really hoping for a win for either Miss Hungary, Miss Iceland or Miss Venezuela. In another week, I will find out to what extent the judges agree with my choices, or not.