Backstage stories at the Miss Tourism Pageant in China
July 23, 2006 | 12:00am
After a busy week in Chongqing, the whole entourage of over a hundred people flew to Shanghai, then took a two-hour bus ride to Jiashan in east Chinas Zhejiang province. A quiet industrial county, Jiashan is where Tom Cruise shot scenes for Mission Impossible III.
Upon reaching the Huadu International Hotel, the group was welcomed with a lavish international buffet. The girls were given the next day off to rest, and on the following day, rehearsed for the Miss Personality contest. At the fast-paced show, the top award was given to Miss Monaco, the beautiful and princess-like Julie Breham, while Misses Kenya and India got first and second runner-up honors respectively.
At the Jin Qiao Hotel show, the delegates paraded in the Chinese national dress, the qi pao, for the "Miss Qi Pao Contest." Adjudged winner was Miss Serbia & Montenegro Gordana Strojin. Runners-up were Misses Taiwan and Singapore.
Thousands of kung fu schoolboys showed their impressive martial art routines under the rain. At an indoor theater, the girls tried to outdo the kung fu masters who demonstrated incredible feats of flexibility and strength.
Miss Sweden was homesick, cried a lot, and wanted to go home. Miss Poland wanted to get a haircut but because of language problems, got her hair dyed the wrong color! Because of the abrupt change from intense heat to rainy weather, some of the girls got sick. Around a dozen girls and members of the media complained of bad stomachs.
Two more special awards were given out the night before the finals. Proclaimed Best in National Costume was Miss Paraguay, and runners-up were Misses Mexico and Lebanon. Also crowned Disco Queen was Miss Cuba; runners-up were Misses Mauritius, Belarus, Lithuania, and Maldives.
All of a sudden, Miss Cuba zoomed up the popularity ladder. The contestants, tired from the hectic activities, were getting discouraged because the sub-competition winners were not the ones they had expected.
After the pre-judging, where the top 16 were chosen, Miss Philippines Justine Gabionza felt low and uncertain. She wanted desperately to get the National Costume award because according to her, Tita Joji Felix-Velarde of Carousel told her to forget about the crown, and just bring home the National Costume award.
Now, uncertain and losing hope, Justine meekly asked me, "Please, dont be disappointed if I dont make it. Promise."
I had to reinforce her confidence because I knew that it was important at that point for her to hold the dream of winning in her mind.
"Youre the most beautiful girl here, and you are going to win!" I reassured her. I was sort of lying through my teeth because the other girls were truly gorgeous and at that point, anyone could have just faced to win.
I was seated in the third row and was surprised when I saw the price on my ticket: $2,000! All the girls were lovely during the show, and the production was splendid and seamless. When the hosts announced the top five and called Miss Serbia & Montenegro as the first runner-up (she was Justines top rival), I knew Justine was it.
Justine has magic. She had the best projection among the girls in the pageant. Every time she appeared, her presence lit up the stage. Her winsome smile, arresting eye contact, elegant poise, graceful walk, and gentle sexiness made her win. Besides, she is a real sweet, amiable girl.
And Justine was lucky to have had two angels help her realize her dream: Carousels Lorraine Schuck, who had the special gift of spotting a winner, and MTQI president Alex Liu, who saw great possibilities in our young Filipina beauty.
After the pageant, I realized one important thing. If it is not your time, its not your time. But if it is yours, everyone simply gets relegated to the supporting cast as fate sets the stage to unravel your destiny. For Justine, it was time to conquer China and the world.
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