Jezebel
clips
Posts Tagged “
Pageant
”
Combat Barbie
"Lance Corporal Katrina Hodge, 21, was called "Combat Barbie" by fellow troops for her love of "pink girlie stuff." Far from taking offense, the decorated Iraq vet seems to be embracing the moniker, competing for the title of "Miss England," which she is favored to win. Says Hodge: "I want to use this competition to highlight the work that the army are doing and what they have done for this country." This is, obviously, the best way to win respect for female soldiers. We can't help wondering what she'll do for the 'talent' competition; she was decorated for disarming an insurgent. Are the baton twirlers shaking in their heels? [The Sun]
Morten Traavik, the Norwegian theater director who created a beauty pageant for female landmine victims called "Miss Landmine," is coming under criticism for exploiting the women and creating a "freak show". Traavik responds that he is helping the victims and is "fed up" with pictures of Africans and Cambodians in rags, but to be honest, his claims might be more convincing if he did more than "raise awareness" and give the winners gold prosthetic limbs. [Guardian]
clips
'Miss USA' Marketers: Watch This Pageant Cuz Pretty Chicks Are Idiots!
It's taken us a while to get around to this, but the new commercial for the Miss USA pageant — airing on NBC on April 11 — is sort of a mindfuck. Instead of sweeping previous embarrassing moments under the rug, NBC is embracing them and encouraging TV watchers to tune in because they might just see a beautiful woman slip and fall on her ass, or babble on about "the Iraq." Such as. Sure, they use the tagline, "Anything can happen — because it's live", but really, they're gleefully humiliating and mocking the girls who participate as well as their own damn programming. Correct me if I'm wrong. Clip above.
foreign affairs
Siberian Inmates Compete For Prettiest Prisoner
"A woman should always be beautiful," says Natalya Khapova, 26 (pictured at left). "Not just outside the fence. Even if she's in here, she should show her beauty. A woman is everything gentle and wonderful - or she should be." The "fence" Khapova speaks of? The one separating her from the population at large. See, Khapova has six-and-a-half years left of her eight-year sentence for assault. She lives in an all-women's prison. In Siberia. Since 1990, the jail has an annual beauty pageant with its own rules and three categories: Greek Goddesses, Flower Gowns and "Imaginary Uniforms," which lets inmates design their ideal prison getups. Guards and unit chiefs judge the contestants on their appearance and creativity, crowning the winner "Miss Spring." Runners-up are "Miss Charm" and "Miss Grace". Russia has 35 women's prisons and the female incarceration rate is almost five times as high as Britain's. Half of the women at UF 91/9 are doing time for narcotics. Does that mean it's OK for them to play dress-up? More »
Katie Rees, the Miss Nevada who was dethroned after naughty photos of her surfaced back in December, 2006, was arrested early this morning for reportedly assaulting a police officer, says TMZ. She was pulled over for a traffic violation and allegedly became physically aggressive towards the popo. Now the real question: is her mugshot prettier than Kumari Fulbright, another recently incarcerated beauty queen? You decide! [TMZ]
judge dread
Don't The Miss America Contestants Have Better Talents?
The Miss America pageant airs live this Saturday night at 8pm on TLC (we'll be liveblogging it!), and as you may know, this year, producers are trying to update and modernize the contest. The original pageant, begun in 1921, was basically something to entertain vacationers on the boardwalk in Atlantic City: Women would parade around in their bathing suits and one would be crowned and wrapped in the American flag. (The winner in 1921? Sixteen-year-old Margaret Gorman of Washington, D.C.; 30-25-32; 5'1", and 108 pounds.) According to a story on CNN, despite what producers are trying to do this year, the organizers have certain ideas about what makes a miss a Miss America. "I want them to be professional ladies," says Lois Elaine Smith-Zoll, a 70-year-old pageant volunteer from Washington with 41 years of judging experience. "This young woman is going to represent our country, we want to be proud of her." But is there a way to be proud of any of these glossy, often cheesy pageant girls representing the U.S. — and the state you come from? More »
snap judgments
Miss America Contestants Stun Us With Their "Talents"
Unlike previous incarnations, the 2008 Miss America Pageant, taking place this Saturday night, is going to be more "modern" (read: less middle-aged lady makeup, more spunk), or so says Ugly Betty's Michael Urie of TLC's Miss America: Reality Check. But holy shit: Judging from the photos of the young women "performing" (and yes, thank you Lord, there is baton-twirling!) in the preliminary competitions in Vegas today, it doesn't look like much progress has been made. A gallery of the pageant contestants (and did I mention the baton-twirling?!), accompanied by the musings of both myself and Dodai, begins after the jump. More »
Kumari Fulbright, the stab-happy beauty queen/law student who was languishing in a Tucson jail for kidnapping, biting, and threatening her ex-boyfriend, is currently out on bail. Police are holding another suspect in the kidnapping, Larry Hammond, 40, but they are still looking for a pair of fugitive brothers, Robert Ergonis, 44, and Michael Ergonis, 46. The Ergonis brothers have allegedly high-tailed it to Colombia, according to the Associated Press. Fulbright is accused of biting her ex-boyfriend on the arm, hand and ear, sticking him with a butcher knife (also in the ear) and threatening to kill him. Hell hath no fury like a pageant princess scorned! Just ask Miss Puerto Rico. [MSNBC]
Miss Puerto Rico Universe, whose pageant-win erupted in controversy, was exonerated by police yesterday. For those of you not following the Aqua Net-shellacked saga, Ingrid Rivera said that someone had doused her makeup and dress with pepper-spray during the pageant, causing her to break out in hives. A few days later, reports surfaced that said no traces of pepper spray were found on Rivera's gowns, and the upwelling of support for Rivera turned into a major backlash. Now, police have decided that Rivera's claims were "sincere" and that the pepper spray perp might have been a pageant volunteer. Ingrid can now attend the Miss Universe pageant next year in Vietnam with her hair held high. [People]
The newly crowned Miss Belgium, Alizee Poulicek, is facing a shitstorm of controversy because she cannot speak Dutch. This might just be a minor blip on Belgium's radar were it not for governmental infighting between French-speaking and Dutch-speaking factions. As a result, Belgium has been without a government for 200 days. But you know, pageant organizer Darlene Devos gets down to what's really important here: the pretty. "I don't worry about this too much. It is the least painful thing," Darlene said of the semantic spat, "I would consider it different if they had said 'Miss Belgium is an ugly girl.'" [MSNBC]
drama queens
Beauty Queen Doused With Pepper Spray, Says God Wanted Her to Win
The saboteurs who called in a bomb threat during the final day of the Puerto Rican Miss Universe competition totally stole their idea from the Sandra Bullock vehicle Miss Congeniality. And the beauty queens behind the bomb scare may have been same women who slathered pageant victor Ingrid Marie Rivera's gown and makeup with pepper spray! (Her competitors were probably hiding the spray in their enormous pageant up dos a la Amy Winehouse.) Though she was dreadfully uncomfortable and pretty splotchy, Rivera — who broke out in hives — persevered because she realized that Jesus had her back. "'Am I a masochist?'" she wondered. "But I said: 'I am with God and this is my goal, regardless of the results.'" More »
clips
Here's what we learned on last night's Pageant Place: Miss Teen USA Katie (the one who ratted out Tara Conner for being a cokehead) is uncouth, belches loudly and often, and spends lots of time on the phone with her boyfriend, facts that inspired Miss USA Rachel (the one who fell on her ass in the Miss Universe competition) to refer to her as a "teenybopper." Wrong move! According to Katie, such a statement is "the meanest thing you could say to anyone", and, naturally, a verbal fight ensued. Clip above.
'Pageant Place': Miss Teen USA Has Gas
Here's what we learned on last night's Pageant Place: Miss Teen USA Katie (the one who ratted out Tara Conner for being a cokehead) is uncouth, belches loudly and often, and spends lots of time on the phone with her boyfriend, facts that inspired Miss USA Rachel (the one who fell on her ass in the Miss Universe competition) to refer to her as a "teenybopper." Wrong move! According to Katie, such a statement is "the meanest thing you could say to anyone", and, naturally, a verbal fight ensued. Clip above.
clips
So, judging by last night's episode, MTV's Pageant Place — which follows the reign and cohabitation of Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA — has lots of potential, due to a curve ball thrown at the beauty queens: Former Miss USA, the famously-rehabbed Tara Conner, moves into the house with them. Also, Miss Universe, an impossibly-tall Japanese girl — who had to show her Miss Universe sash as ID in the airport after forgetting her passport — is totally awesome. When she moved into the apartment and saw her bedroom she screamed "Oooh! Pink!" and clapped her hands.
MTV's Beauty Queens: Fun, Ditsy, And Vindictive
So, judging by last night's episode, MTV's Pageant Place — which follows the reign and cohabitation of Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA — has lots of potential, due to a curve ball thrown at the beauty queens: Former Miss USA, the famously-rehabbed Tara Conner, moves into the house with them. Also, Miss Universe, an impossibly-tall Japanese girl — who had to show her Miss Universe sash as ID in the airport after forgetting her passport — is totally awesome. When she moved into the apartment and saw her bedroom she screamed "Oooh! Pink!" and clapped her hands.
