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Thread: Beauty Pageants

  1. #181
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    Miss Texas Averie Bishop

    Former Miss Texas Averie Bishop challenges Republican Angie Chen Button for state House seat
    by Brady Knox, Breaking News Reporter
    August 22, 2023 10:14 PM

    The liberal former Miss Texas, Averie Bishop, is challenging Texas GOP state Rep. Angie Chen Button for her seat.

    Bishop, 26, drew national attention for her outspoken criticism of conservatives in a generally conservative state, using her position to advocate liberal causes such as abortion access, gun control, and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Her outspokenness regarding politics was a break from pageant tradition. She is now running for public office against a longtime Republican representative.


    Miss Texas 2022 Averie Bishop pauses on the red carpet during the Miss America competition at the Mohegan Sun casino, in Uncasville, Conn., Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
    Steven Senne/AP

    In a statement obtained by the Texas Tribune, Bishop let the direction of her campaign be known.

    “I know what it’s like to grow up in a small town and never see leaders who looked like me, let alone who fought for me,” it said. “It’s time for the next generation of Texans to lead — to protect our state’s environment and economy, to safeguard our schools and our right to education, and to truly represent the majority of this great state.”

    The influencer grew her platform through the use of the social media platform TikTok, through which she advocated liberal causes to a large audience. She has personally lobbied the state legislature for several issues, including support for DEI programs.

    Bishop's opponent, Button, has held her seat since 2009. In 2020, she won by roughly 300 votes in a district that voted for President Joe Biden by a margin of 9 percentage points.
    This sounds like a race worth watching...
    Gene Ching
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  2. #182
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    Candace Kanavel

    Candace Kanavel to become 1st law enforcement officer to compete in Miss USA

    By Yi-Jin Yu
    September 28, 2023, 6:48 am

    Candace Kanavel wears many hats and ... a tiara!

    The Tempe, Arizona, SWAT team member is set to become the first law enforcement officer to compete in the Miss USA pageant Friday, according to a press release from the Tempe Police Department.

    "I want to give people who aren't in law enforcement a little insight into what officers are like," Kanavel told Phoenix ABC affiliate KNXV. "We have hobbies, we have families, we have all these different things outside of what we do for a living."


    In a photo posted to her Instagram account, Candace Kanavel is seen holding her tiara and sash while wearing her police uniform.
    @candacekanavel/Instagram
    The 27-year-old, one of Tempe Police Department's SWAT hostage negotiators, was crowned Miss Arizona in May and said the roles share many things in common.

    "When I'm in my police uniform, I'm empowered to help people. And when I'm in my sash and crown, I'm empowered to help people," Kanavel, who is Japanese American, said. "And so I'm doing the same job, just in a different uniform."


    In a photo posted to her Instagram account, Miss Arizona USA, Candace Kanavel, is seen wearing her tiara and sash on the Arizona State University campus.
    @candacekavanel/Instagram

    MORE: For the first time, Texas represented by Asian American women in Miss USA and Miss America pageants
    Kanavel said she encourages others to embrace all their interests and to live fearlessly.

    "I think in society, we get put in boxes a lot and we're confined by that box but I think what my message is to people is that you don't have to be limited to that box," she added. "I can do it all and so can everybody else."

    In addition to vying for the crown, Kanavel revealed in an Instagram post that one of her next goals is to meet "Miss Congeniality" star Sandra Bullock, who portrayed FBI Special Agent Gracie Hart who goes undercover at a beauty pageant in the 2000 film.

    The 2023 Miss USA pageant will be held at Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada, and the winner will be crowned by Miss USA 2022, Morgan Romano of North Carolina.
    Hello officer!
    Gene Ching
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  3. #183
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    Miss Nicaragua Sheynnis Palacios won the Miss Universe competition

    Nicaragua's Miss Universe Title Win Exposes Deep Political Divide
    November 26, 2023 3:12 AM
    Associated Press


    Miss Nicaragua Sheynnis Palacios reacts after being crowned Miss Universe at the 72nd Miss Universe Beauty Pageant in San Salvador, El Salvador, Nov. 18, 2023.

    MEXICO CITY —
    Nicaragua's increasingly isolated and repressive government thought it had scored a rare public relations victory last week when Miss Nicaragua Sheynnis Palacios won the Miss Universe competition.

    But the "legitimate joy and pride" President Daniel Ortega's government expressed in a statement Sunday after the win quickly turned to angry condemnation, after it emerged that Palacios graduated from a college that was the center of 2018 protests against the regime — and apparently participated in the marches.

    Ordinary Nicaraguans — who are largely forbidden to protest or carry the national flag in marches — took advantage of the Saturday night Miss Universe win as a rare opportunity to celebrate in the streets.

    Their use of the blue-and-white national flag, as opposed to Ortega's red-and-black Sandinista banner, didn't sit well with the government.

    Palacios' victory — along with photos she posted on Facebook in 2018 of herself participating in the protests — overjoyed Nicaragua's opposition.

    Roman Catholic Rev. Silvio Báez, one of dozens of priests who have been jailed or forced into exile by the government, congratulated Palacios in his social media accounts.

    "Thank you for bringing joy to our long-suffering country!," Báez wrote. "Thank you for giving us hope for a better future for our beautiful country!"

    With clunky rhetoric reminiscent of North Korea, Vice President and First Lady Rosario Murillo lashed out Wednesday at opposition social media sites (many run from exile) that celebrated Palacios' win as a victory for the opposition.

    "In these days of a new victory, we are seeing the evil, terrorist commentators making a clumsy and insulting attempt to turn what should be a beautiful and well-deserved moment of pride into destructive coup-mongering," Murillo said.

    Thousands have fled into exile since Nicaraguan security forces violently put down mass anti-government protests in 2018. Ortega says the protests were an attempted coup with foreign backing, aiming for his overthrow.

    Ortega's government seized and closed the Jesuit University of Central America in Nicaragua, which was a hub for 2018 protests against the Ortega regime, along with at least 26 other Nicaraguan universities.

    The government has also outlawed or closed more than 3,000 civic groups and non-governmental organizations, arrested and expelled opponents, stripped them of their citizenship and confiscated their assets.

    Palacios, who became the first Nicaraguan to win Miss Universe, has not commented on the situation.

    During the contest, Palacios, 23, said she wants to work to promote mental health after suffering debilitating bouts of anxiety herself. She also said she wants to work to close the salary gap between the genders so that women can work in any area.

    But on a since-deleted Facebook account under her name, Palacios posted photos of herself at a protest, writing she had initially been afraid of participating. "I didn't know whether to go, I was afraid of what might happen."

    Some who attended the march that day recall seeing the tall, striking Palacios there.

    The protests were quickly put down and in the end, human rights officials say 355 people were killed by government forces.
    So many scandals...seems as if that's how pageants get press nowadays.
    Gene Ching
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  4. #184
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    Karen Celebertti

    Miss Nicaragua pageant director announces her retirement after accusations of ‘conspiracy’


    1 of 2 | Miss Nicaragua Sheynnis Palacios participates in the evening gown category during the 72nd Miss Universe Beauty Pageant in San Salvador, El Salvador, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023. The 23-year-old communicologist went on to win the competition, the first to wear the crown from her country. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

    BY GABRIELA SELSER
    Updated 8:39 PM PST, December 11, 2023

    MEXICO CITY (AP) — The director of the Miss Nicaragua pageant, Karen Celebertti, on Monday announced her retirement from the organization, nine days after the Nicaraguan police accused her of “conspiracy” and other crimes along with her husband and son, who are detained.

    “The time has come for my retirement,” Celebertti wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I know that there will always be more opportunities for us.”

    It was Celebertti’s first public statement after the scandal that followed the coronation of Sheynnis Palacios as Miss Universe on Nov. 18 in El Salvador.

    The businesswoman said that she worked for 23 years “with zeal and effort” until Nicaragua won the world beauty crown this year, which she described “as an achievement for everyone” and “for every Nicaraguan, without political distinction.”

    Palacios’ surprise victory in the contest unleashed demonstrations of joy in the streets of Nicaragua, prompting criticism by the government of Daniel Ortega.

    According to the local press, immigration authorities prevented Celebertti and her daughter Luciana from entering the country on Nov. 22, after they attended Palacios’ coronation and accompanied her on a short trip to Mexico.

    Later it was announced that the police raided Celebertti’s home in the southwest of Managua and arrested her husband, Martín Argüello, and their son, Bernardo.

    Without confirming the arrest, the authorities accused the three members of the Argüello Celebertti family on Dec. 2 of the crimes of treason, conspiracy and “organized crime.”

    A statement by the National Police claimed Celebertti “participated actively, on the internet and in the streets in the terrorist actions of a failed coup,” an apparent reference to the 2018 protests.
    Man, what is up with Nicaragua?
    Gene Ching
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  5. #185
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    Miss Colorado Madison Marsh

    Miss Colorado, US Air Force Officer makes history as Miss America
    Author: Alexander Kirk
    Published: 10:17 AM MST January 15, 2024
    Updated: 10:17 AM MST January 15, 2024

    ORLANDO, Fla. — Miss Colorado is now Miss America.
    Miss Colorado Madison Marsh was crowned Miss America during the competition's ceremony Sunday night in Orlando.
    A 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force, Marsh is the first active duty servicemember to ever win the title.
    Marsh is a 2023 graduate of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs with a degree in physics and is a graduate student at the Harvard Kennedy School.
    "Congratulations to our very own Airman, 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh, aka Miss Colorado — who was just crowned Miss America 2024!" the U.S. Air Force said in a statement. "Marsh is the first active duty servicemember to ever win the title."
    "Miss Colorado has been crowned Miss America!" Colorado Gov. Jared Polis congratulated on social media.
    Marsh is also the president and founder of the Whitney Marsh Foundation, named after her late mother, helping to raise more than a quarter-million dollars for pancreatic cancer research at the foundation, according to Marsh's website.
    Marsh is the first Miss America winner crowned from Colorado since 1974.

    Congrats! Nice to have a positive post here.
    Gene Ching
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  6. #186
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    Carolina Shiino - Miss Japan

    Model of Ukrainian descent becomes Miss Japan 2024, sparking debate
    Model of Ukrainian descent becomes Miss Japan 2024, sparking debatevia YouTube/maidigitv
    Carolina Shiino’s victory sparked skepticism, with some questioning the choice of crowning someone who is not of Japanese descent
    Michelle De Pacina
    JANUARY 24, 2024



    CAROLINA SHIINO, A 26-year-old Japanese model of Ukrainian descent, became the center of controversy after winning the title of Miss Japan 2024 on Monday.
    About Shiino: Shiino was born in Ukraine and moved to Japan at the age of 5 after her mother remarried a Japanese man. She became the first naturalized Japanese citizen to win the Miss Japan Grand Prix pageant.
    “I’ve had to face barriers that often prevent me from being accepted as Japanese, so I am filled with gratitude to be recognized at this competition as a Japanese person,” Shiino said on stage, according to The Independent.
    Online skepticism: Despite declaring herself Japanese in “speech and mind,” her victory sparked skepticism on social media, with some questioning the choice of crowning someone who is not of Japanese descent.
    “This person who was chosen as Miss Japan is not even a mix with Japanese but 100 percent pure Ukrainian. Understand she is beautiful, but this is ‘Miss Japan.’ Where is the Japaneseness?” one person said.
    “I think that Japanese people naturally (would) get the wrong message when a European looking person is called the most beautiful Japanese,” another noted.
    “As a non-Japanese person living in Japan, I also think that the choice of someone with no ethnic connection to Japan is beyond ridiculous,” one weighed in.
    Judges’ defense: However, event organizers justified the selection of Shiino, highlighting that the judges were impressed by her “confidence.” Ai Wada, the pageant organizer, also emphasized that “Japanese beauty exists not in the appearance, not in the blood, but it exists firmly in our heart,” urging viewers to contemplate on the essence of Japanese beauty.
    “She speaks and writes in beautiful and polite Japanese,” Ai Wada added. “She is more Japanese than we are.”

    Michelle De Pacina
    is a New York-based Reporter for NextShark
    Back to pageant controversies...
    Gene Ching
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  7. #187
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    Controversy solved


    Karolina Shiino: Ukraine-born Miss Japan gives up crown following affair

    24 hours ago

    By Frances Mao
    BBC News


    Carolina Shiino Miss Japan 2024Instagram
    Ms Shiino had proudly announced on social media that she became a naturalised citizen of Japan in 2022
    The Ukraine-born winner of the Miss Japan beauty pageant has given up her crown after a tabloid report revealed her affair with a married man.
    Karolina Shiino, 26, was crowned Miss Japan two weeks ago but her win sparked public debate due to her heritage.
    While some welcomed the naturalised citizen's crowning, others said she didn't represent traditional Japanese beauty ideals.
    Amid the furore, a local magazine published an expose alleging an affair.
    The article in the Shukan Bunshun reported that Ms Shiino had engaged in a relationship with a married influencer and doctor. The man has not provided any public comment.
    In its initial response to the report last week, the pageant organisers defended Ms Shiino, saying she hadn't known the man was married.
    However on Monday, organisers said she had confessed to knowing about the man's marriage and family.
    She had apologised for being misleading and organisers had accepted her title resignation, the Miss Japan Association said.
    Ms Shiino also apologised to her fans and the general public in a statement on Monday, where she said she had acted out of fear and panic in response to the report.
    "I am truly sorry for the huge trouble I have caused and for betraying those who supported me," she said.
    The Miss Japan title will now remain vacant for the rest of the year, although there were several runners-up.
    Controversy after Ukrainian-born model crowned Miss Japan
    The competition had crowned Ms Shiino on 22 January - the first person of European descent to be given the honour. She was born in Ukraine before moving with her mother to Japan when she was five and taking on her step-father's Japanese last name.
    She speaks and writes fluent Japanese and became a naturalised citizen in 2022.
    Upon receiving the title, she had said in her speech: "I had not been accepted as Japanese many times, but I am filled with gratitude to have been recognized as Japanese today."
    Sounds a bit suspicious, but controversy put to rest.
    Gene Ching
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  8. #188
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    Miss Universe Organisation owner Jakapong Jakrajutatip

    Miss Universe’s Thai owner breaks silence on leaked video belittling inclusivity, says clip was ‘manipulated’
    Thai transgender activist Jakapong Jakrajutatip has blamed an unnamed person for the ‘unlawful act’, saying the edited clip was used to tarnish her reputation
    Jakapong says she does not know why the unnamed person ‘would jeopardise me and the organisation’, and insists she is a staunch proponent of gender equality rights
    SCMP’s Asia desk
    Published: 4:43pm, 28 Feb, 2024



    Thai transgender activist and Miss Universe Organisation owner Jakapong Jakrajutatip has broken her silence on a video in which she belittled efforts to boost inclusivity at the beauty pageant, saying the clip was “manipulated” to tarnish her reputation.

    Jakapong reportedly said the decision to remove the age limit and allow transwomen, mothers and married women to take part in the event was a “communication strategy”.

    “This is a communication strategy because they can compete, but they cannot win,” she said in the video that was leaked online and widely circulated on social media.


    Jakapong Jakrajutatip during the Miss Universe pageant in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 14, 2023. Photo: AFP
    Jakapong, who bought the platform for US$20 million in 2022, blamed an unnamed person for the “unlawful act”, adding the brand’s supporters believed in our “core value of promoting diversity” and would not be fooled by the controversy.

    “The malicious edited video was out of context and used to manipulate other people which led to the public confusion, misunderstanding, misinterpretation and wrong conclusion,” she said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

    “I still don’t comprehend why this man, who I was so nice to, would jeopardise me and the organisation while we were talking about one of the new reality show episodes, not the pageantry itself.”

    Jakapong is a celebrity in Thailand, starring in local versions of reality shows Project Runway and Shark Tank.

    Acknowledging that she identifies as a transwoman and mother, Jakapong also said she was a staunch proponent of gender equality rights.

    “Why do I have to live my life up against what I believe? God gave me the purpose to live, to inspire and to spread kindness. I do have the strength to forgive this man and show the desire to the universe that love is what we need in this world,” she said.

    Thai media company JKN Global Group, run by Anne Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip, that owns the Miss Universe beauty pageant brand said it has filed for bankruptcy: Photo: AFP
    Jakapong, who is known for being Thailand’s first transgender CEO, runs the Life Inspired For Thailand Foundation that advocates for the rights to dignity and opportunities for transgender people.

    But Nepali beauty queen Jane Garrett was not convinced by Jakapong’s explanation, alleging last year’s pageant was “rigged”.

    “Honey, I knew it was rigged from the moment I was onstage. I realised us ‘inclusion’ girls weren’t ever gonna get a real chance to win,” Garrett, the first plus-sized woman to compete at Miss Universe, said on Instagram last week.

    Some social media users criticised Jakapong for championing fake inclusivity, arguing the video could “wreck” the organisation.

    Others rallied behind her, saying “all those slanderers would finally be defeated by their own malicious deeds”.
    I love when someone prefaces a comment with "Honey"
    Gene Ching
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  9. #189
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    Miss World 2024 Krystyna Pyszková

    Krystyna Pyszková of the Czech Republic crowned Miss World 2024
    By Alex Rees, CNN
    2 minute read
    Updated 10:06 PM EDT, Sun March 10, 2024


    Krystyna Pyszková of Czech Republic waves after being crowned as the new Miss World at the pageant in Mumbai, India on March 9. Rajanish Kakade/AP
    CNN

    Besting 111 of her fellow titleholders from across the globe, Krystyna Pyszková of the Czech Republic was crowned Miss World 2024 on Saturday in Mumbai, India, where the international pageant was held this year.

    Across a series of events during the pageant’s preliminary competition, including fitness, beauty, talent and public speaking, several contestants won “fast track” places in the top 40, a cohort announced at the start of the show.


    Krystyna Pyszková, the newly-crowned Miss World, models during the "Best Designer Award" contest at the 71st Miss World pageant preliminaries on March 2. Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
    From there, the field was quickly slashed to top 12 and then top eight, at which point the contestants participated in the classic Q&A round, addressing topics discussed at the most recent G20 Summit. Asked to shed light on an issue impacting women’s health care specifically, Pyszková, a 23-year-old law student and model, spoke about removing the stigma and shame surrounding menstruation, saying that “being a woman is a gift” and that periods should not be a taboo subject.
    After one final cut, four contestants were left to “pitch their purpose” (or philanthropic platform) to a trio of business moguls from “Shark Tank India.” Each of these four finalists represented a different region of the world: Africa, the Americas and Caribbean, Asia and Oceania and Europe.
    Pyszková’s victory came over these three runners-up — Yasmina Zeytoun of Lebanon, Aché Abrahams of Trinidad and Tobago and Lesego Chombo of Botswana. (These women, along with Jessica Gagen of England, are considered the pageant’s “continental winners.”)
    Miss World is widely viewed as the oldest international beauty pageant, first founded in the United Kingdom in 1951 as a “bikini contest.” Perhaps its two best-known winners are both from India: the actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (Miss World 1994) and Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Miss World 2000). Chopra Jonas appeared at the pageant in a video message, paying tribute to both Miss World owner Julia Morley and Nita Ambani, winner of the pageant’s Humanitarian Award.
    Pyszková replaces the outgoing Miss World, Karolina Bielawska, of Poland, whose reign dates back to March 2022. (Due to scheduling issues, no Miss World pageant was held in 2023.)
    Congrats to Krystyna!
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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