Miss International: Maintaining Its Relevance through the Years
by Kenneth Sales
“In life, we can only strive to make our good better, and our better, best. . . “
In over 50 years of existence, Miss International has sealed its place in the world of pageantry. Through the years, it remained as one of the most anticipated pageants by millions of followers around the world. Why not? Miss International has a unique approach. It does not just focus on the pageant aspect of the competition, but also in searching for the best ambassador of culture and the arts. It was packaged in such a way that women are seen not just as mere contestants, but women of substance. Most of all, year after year, people have no complain about the chosen winner. In fact, several pageant experts and popular websites like Missosology, have considered Miss International as a Big 4 pageant.
However, despite the undeniable success of Miss International, it continues to struggle to remain relevant. With the advent of new pageants, it needs to be reshaped so as to cope up with the changing needs of the times. Thus, if given the chance to make some changes in Miss International, here are some of our suggestions:
- Work on increasing publicity. Not that the current public relations strategies are bad, they just need more. Other major pageants come up with lots of gimmicks to make people talk more about the pageant. It doesn’t hurt to maximize the use of social media and other online websites as outlets. Miss World for instance has created a Miss Multimedia award to ensure that the contestants themselves have efforts to create an impact. Miss Universe has also given the power to the people by allowing one spot in the semifinals to be given to the girl with the highest online vote. Though the Miss International has a Miss Internet award in place, there should be a more massive advertisement on the voting process. Aside from social media, actual press should also be given more attention. Local press helps a lot, but they are not enough. International visibility must be a priority.
Since 2003, Missosology has always been present doing live coverages and pageant reviews for Miss International whenever it is being held in Japan. - Focus more on production changes. Though the effort can be seen over the years, Miss International’s production seems to be “boring” compared with other pageants. Yes, it wants to stick with its brand, but it does not hurt to have some brave moves. For instance, several hours for the show are not necessary. Tons of performances are also not appreciated internationally. If possible, there should be a separate show just to showcase diverse arts and culture all over the world. The announcement of the winners should also be more dramatic, but intense and not dragging. Choose the most appealing performances to be showcased during the finals, but the highlight should still be the contestants. Most of all, the part where the ladies just walk back and forth with their swimsuit to introduce them can be done more creatively.
The Miss International 2012 stage in Okinawa’s Budokan Hall is considered as one of the best in Japanese soil. - Make public the standards in choosing the winner. I believe that the organization has certain standards in place in selecting the winner. However, lots of people don’t understand this, unless they read Missosology. It is the reason why they doubt the results and say that they are rigged, even if they are not. For instance, Miss Earth makes it public how pre-pageant sub-contests may (or may not) affect the result or how the closed door interview and environmental awareness programs are of bigger importance. Miss International can promote its brand even more if they can explain to the public what kind of woman they are gearing for. Otherwise, Missosology will once again do the justification.
Paulina Malulu of Namibia was the last African to place as a semifinalist in Miss International two years ago. - Make the pageant more popular in African countries. A lot of people say that Miss International is biased towards contestants coming from African nations. It has never crowned someone from this continent, and it barely crowns or recognizes women of color. However, the truth is that there are only a few contestants from Africa every year. Thus, the chances of making the cut, let alone getting the crown, are very low. The best way to deal with this is to focus more on African countries and tap organizations that can host a local pageant where winners will be sent to Miss International. Seeing Miss Gabon is a good start though. Pageantry in Gabon is starting to get big and making more people aware of Miss International in Gabon is definitely a great start. With more African countries joining Miss International, we won’t be surprised to see a beautiful African walking away with the crown soon (or even this year, who knows?).
- Increase the number of projects done by the reigning queen. One of the biggest reasons why people seem to not care about Miss International is because the reigning queen does not do anything significant. Relative to other pageants where the winner is traveling across the world to do its campaigns, Miss International winners are barely seen. Though the reigning queen, Bea Santiago, has managed to create good publicity for the pageant during her reign, the organization should have provided her with more opportunities. The same thing is true in many of its winners. If people can see that a Miss International is active or it can really create an impact in the global arena, then people will support the pageant more. The reigning queen is the standard bearer of the pageant. Thus, she needs to be more visible.
Many people think that pageants are irrelevant or it only depicts women in a negative light. However, the truth is that pageants can create major positive changes in several ways. Therefore, if a pageant like Miss International can be seen as a platform to effect change, then it will remain relevant for many more years. People should understand that pageants are not just about choosing the most beautiful woman or just a one-night event. They also have this notion that pageants are just there for business sake. To begin with, money will surely come in if the pageant is more popular. But far more important than that is the fact that pageants like Miss International is not just about money. It is about promotion of arts, culture and peace. These are wonderful advocacies. If the pageant continues its popularity and relevance, then its impact will be felt by a lot of people.
About the Author:
Kenneth is a Bangkok-based pageant expert and has covered over ten international pageants in Thailand as a Missosology correspondent. He has also hosted two international pageants. He is a university lecturer by profession.
