During the live telecast of Miss Universe 2014, you might have noticed a beautiful blonde woman waving the Dutch flag everytime Miss Netherlands Yasmin Verheijen was being called. She is actually the very same woman who was zoomed in by cameras back in 2011 when Kelly Weekers was called as one of the Top 16. Who is she exactly?
She’s Kim Kotter, a name that is no longer strange to those who are avid followers of beauty pageants. As the director of Miss Netherlands pageant, she is responsible for choosing and training Dutch women for both Miss World and Miss Universe pageants. Her country is small and belongs to the European Protestant Belt – a group of industrialized and non-Catholic nations where the interest in pageantry are in the all time lows. These countries are antithesis to the European Catholic Belt which includes France, Spain and Italy where beauty pageants continue to thrive.
As the Dutch National Director, the odds are all against Kim. She has to struggle to find sponsorship. Not so many people will watch the finals of Miss Nederland as the only event that warrants attention in her country are soccer matches. So, unlike the bigwigs in pageant crazy nations, being the National Director of the Netherlands does not bring substantial monetary rewards and the cost would pile on as travel and wardrobe expenses could really put a huge dent on the wallet.
So what motivates Kim to continue choosing the delegates for the Netherlands? Kim was a Miss Netherlands herself and she has this pride of representing her nation. During the Miss Universe 2002, Kim almost made it to the Top 10 but she was edged out by Miss Canada Neelam Verma by a very narrow margin. Kim has a vision and with that vision she turned things around. At Miss World, the Dutch delegates began landing in the semis. Before she handled the Miss World franchise, Netherlands was in a dismal state with just few placements like in 1990 and in 2002. Under her supervision, the Netherlands made the cut in the years 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
The Dutch National Director Kim Kotter is a recipient of a Missosology award
In 2011, Kim also orchestrated the end of the long Dutch drought at Miss Universe. And this year, for the first time since 1992, the Netherlands was able to penetrate the Miss Universe Top5/6! Kim’s hard work are beginning to pay off and despite she started with so many failures, she was unfazed. Back in 2009, Missosology awarded her a trophy for her dedication as a National Director.
The year 2014 is banner year for Kim. She decided to choose two winners with Tatjana Maul competing at Miss World and Yasmin Verheijen competing at Miss Universe. Both of her contestants made the cut with Tatjana named as one of the Top 25 at Miss World and Yasmin even went as far as the third runner-up of Miss Universe – the highest achievement of Kim to date! It is indeed a momentous occasion for her and her country.
Kim loves her country as she too represented it
Truly, being a National Director is not just a job. It is a passion. It is not just about a money making process but having pride and joy with your work. Kim loves her dear Netherlands for it is the country where she was born and bred and the country that she had represented. When one is motivated by the love of her own country, all the obstacles are nothing. If you are a National Director of your own country, you have the best interest of your contestants at heart. Kim Kotter is indeed the epitome of a National Director with grit, character and a vision.
I like Kim too, she seems like a nice lady and always full of energies. people said Yasmin didn’t deserve to be in top 15 but I’d say she deserved it, whether it was saved by Donald Trump or not. she was a sweet surprise just like Paraguay in 2006.
please stop saying “able to PENETRATE the miss universe top 5/6”. it’s the wrong use of the word and has the wrong conotation. the correct word is “ENTER”.
Penetrate is from the Latin word penetrat meaning “placed”. So please stop watching dirty movies so you will have the correct connotation of the word. By the way connotation is from the Latin word connotare meaning “together with” so basically whatever you put together with a word reflects so much about you.
i studied 2 yrs of latin in high school. the origin of words does not always equate correct usage today. PENETRATE is incorrect. ENTER is the correct word. i don’t appreciate your accusation of “watching dirty movies” to know that. i only need to know how to use language correctly. that was very unprofessional and immature of you. thank you for showing your true colors.
i studied 2 yrs of latin in high school, thank you. the origin of words does not always equate correct usage today. PENETRATE is incorrect. ENTER is the correct word.
i don’t appreciate your accusation of “watching dirty movies”. no human being needs to “watch dirty movies” to know and understand the use of the word PENETRATE is incorrect in the context of ENTERING a top 5/6. you only need to know how to use/speak correctly. that accusation was very unprofessional and immature of you. my comment was not offensive, yet you chose to be. thank you for showing your true colors.
the post is titled “true grit and character”. you’ve shown your character perfectly, specifically in your response above, followed by removing my subsequent response to your unprofessionalism, instead of leaving it for others to read. you defended yourself by choosing to offend. i should be allowed to defend that inappropriate accusation without having my comment removed.
There is nothing wrong with the term “penetrate” unless you have a dirty mind. We’ve been using that term in pageantry for a long time, and this is the first time I read it to be quoted in a malicious manner.
your such a sex maniac. go penetrate your hole!
i like this national director when yasmin was called in every cut she jumped of happinness waving the dutch flag not so ,many people believed in the dutch delegate in this miss universo pageant as always the latin girls were mentioned such mexico and dominican rep and costa rica but this girl rocked her only trouble was the missundrestood in her Q&A and if she had had a great answer it could become one of the most surprised victories ever i think she is s a true pageant lover i hope to hear news from her soon i wish netherlands can have a great years in a row i remember angela pauline and vivien the three dutch girls in 1989 1991 and 1992 they were awesome
from what i get she value true qualities of a woman and enhance then, unlike osmel souza, i don’t know how many women have ruined there bodies to be miss venezuela by all surgeries and suctions.
Kim is amazing! 😀 I wish her success in coming years!
I think Kim was named as one of the semi-finalist since the 10th position became vacant when Justine Pasek succeeded the crown. Can someone verify this?
It was stated as such on some websites but it is not official with the MUO.
This woman has lot’s of balls unlike some other national director born overseas….you know who????massive failure recently.