If you watched the 63rd Annual Miss Universe Pageant then you may still have a confused look on your face or a migraine like myself. While Miss Universe was full of questionable results this blog is mostly to focus on why our Bahamian Beauties continue to fall short.
**DISCLAIMER**
Before you read on please know that I support and wish the best for EVERY young lady that travels and represents the Bahamas internationally not only at Miss Universe but in every international pageant. This blog is in no way intended to discredit the Miss Bahamas Organization or its members who are all very knowledgeable in what they do. These are simply my thoughts on what I see happening over and over again. Please leave the drama at the door or click the (x) at the top right hand corner of your screen.
Now that we've gotten that out the way ......
I will break this down into 3 parts.
1. Public Appearances after crowning
2. Training
3. Bahamas at Miss Universe
It seems as though every year the Bahamas falls short of the top 15 placement, and being the pageant enthusiast that I am and having watched and followed every Miss Universe pageant probably from birth, I scratch my head every time and wonder what in the world has to happen for us to make the top 15. Whether it be a "curse" as I have often heard it referred to, our "weak sash" or just the fact that we are never truly prepared; I have come up with some possible suspects as to why we can't seem to cross over this line of complete waste of time.
Public Appearances after Crowning
After all of the excitement of our newest representative for the Miss Universe crown is all said and done she literally disappears. She does a few ribbon cuttings and goes to a ball or two and we see her no more.
The minute our queen is crowned is when her quest to capture the Miss Universe crown begins. When the photos of our new queen is out, she is automatically sized up and its decided if she has a chance or not. In my opinion once a queen is crowned her whole social media life should be transformed. What can I say this is serious business!!
If you search through some of the Miss Universe delegates social media pages you will see numerous photos of charity work engagements, hospital visits, college speeches and fundraisers. All of these things draw attention to the delegate even before we know who the other 87 contestants are.
Training
Training I believe is our number one downfall. Unfortunately most the young ladies although FIERCE have had beginners luck and Miss Bahamas is the first pageant they have entered. This alone takes us 20 steps back when vying for the Miss Universe crown. While many of the young ladies we recruit are models which is the look Miss Universe goes for, we have to remember that most of the power countries the always place in Miss Universe train for this pageant for years! Fine I will accept that pageantry isn't really our thing as a country and we don't have many young women seriously training for pageants from birth (darn). BUT we shoot ourselves in the foot when we host our national pageant 4 months before its time to leave for Miss Universe. How do we take a young lady who has been in one pageant to Miss Universe the super bowl of pageants after 4 months?!?!?!? Its insane to me. I think our National pageant should be in February or March giving at least 10 months for our Queen to do extensive training.
Bahamas at Miss Universe
Lets face it, we have to work 10 times as hard as everyone else because we have yet to prove ourselves on the Miss Universe circuit. After we have the first two steps together we now have to bring it!! First things first....
Hair and Make-up
Its sad to say but Tommi looked her best at the airport leaving for Miami. From head to toe she was impeccable. I just wish this was kept up during her entire MU experience. Tommi's hair and make-up for both professional photos and appearances left much to be desired. Now I will be fair, MU team does hair and make-up for professional photos but can it be that you are not allowed to ask for certain things to be changed or fixed? I mean at the end of the day its you that's vying for the crown, do you simply just go with it? I don't know the particulars but I can't imagine that the MU hair and makeup team are allowed to do whatever they want.
Wardrobe
This should be on point from she walks off of the Miss Bahamas stage. I really am longing to see our queen flaunting our talented Bahamian designers. She should be wearing Theodore Elyett Designs, Designs from House of Raphelita by David Rolle, Phylicia Ellis of PE Designs and so much more. Our queen surely can have a wardrobe to last her four weeks at Miss Universe.
Competition
Swimsuit - No arguments here her body is amazing!! She just lacked stage presence. I feel there was not much personality when she walked on stage. This goes back to training. I also wish she lost the belly chain.
Evening Gown - This was just a big disappointment. Tommi has such a awesome body and she was put in a dress that not only did not accentuate her figure but was too big and looked like a 90s bridal dress. This gave me an instant headache and you could tell that she was not confident and comfortable in it by watching her performance.
Costume - Unfortunately her costume looked more like she was from Trinidad or Jamaica than the Bahamas. Even other caribbean countries did not go with their traditional carnival costumes for the costume competition. What are we doing? I would have even been ok if maybe the colors were reflective of our country. I still dont understand why a country with something as unique as Junkanoo never truly showcases it. The costume competition carries no points toward winning the crown however these are things that bring attention to you and get people talking! (This is what you want)
Tommi is beautiful and stunned in most of her photos. We just need to work on the pre arrival details and I think we would be in better shape. OOORRRR we just need to send a girl with the look the Donald Trump is looking for. We all know there is some type of politics behind this pageant.
All in all I say congratulations Tommi on a job well done you did well with the tools that were given to you.
Don't get me wrong I do not think MBO has failed ... I think they should try something new. Maybe outsourcing everything isn't the answer. There are many capable stylists, designers, and pageant coaches right here at home who I am certain can have our girls ready for the "Superbowl".
What are your thoughts? Leave your comments below!
