That was the intriguing question thrown by Judge Vivica A. Fox to Miss Philippines candidate Shamcey Supsup in the recently concluded Miss Universe 2011. This question created a virtual world where various entities discuss their own points of view as well as their reaction to Shamcey's answer.
Miss Philippines - Shamcey Supsup (3rd Runner-Up)
Shamcey Supsup delivered her answer very eloquently and confidently. Everybody collided with claps and shouts and cheers as Shamcey ramped back to the other top five finalists. Held in Sao Paulo, Brazil last September 13, the Miss Universe 2011 was another history in the beauty pageant industry.
It was the first crown for Angolans, represented by Miss Leila Lopes, the 60th Miss Universe. Lopes, 25 years old, was the fourth African to win a Miss Universe crown following Miss Botswana, the Miss Universe 1995. Lopes was a philanthropist and brought Angola's first crown. She picked Judge Lea Salonga (Tony awardee and Miss Saigon) to give her the final question.
Lea Salonga: 'If you could change one of your physical characteristics, which one would it be and why?"Miss Angola: "Thank God I'm very well satisfied with the way that God created me and I wouldn't change a thing. I consider myself a woman endowed with inner beauty, I have my principles, I have acquired many wonderful principles from my family and I plan to follow these through the rest of my life and now I want to give all of you a piece of advice: Respect one another."
BANG!
She was crowned MISS UNIVERSE 2011. Indeed, even if she used the services of an interpreter, she delivered a good answer and she deserved the spot as well, like everybody else. There was this funny comment I've heard which says, 'If you want to be the Miss Universe, next time give them a piece of advice, too!.
The other top five finalists were:
(1st Runner-up)
Question: (Judge Amelia Vega)
If you could trade lives with anyone in history, who would it be and why?
Answer:
"I simply live my life and I'm very satisfied with it. But if I did have the chance to trade positions with someone, I think I would choose Cleopatra. I think she is a very powerful and strong woman who is very much worthy of respect. And I think a woman could also be a leader like Cleopatra."
Miss Brazil - Priscila Machado (2nd Runner-Up)
Judge Helio Castroneves: "What would you do to avoid fighting a war that you did not agree with?"
Miss Brazil: "First of all I would explain to people that the premiere quality of human being is respect. And more war is not based on respect. It's always based on misunderstanding, it's always based on a lack of education. So I would tell this person that we should respect each other as human beings."
Miss China - Luo ZiLin (4th Runner-Up)
Judge Isabeli Fontana: "Nude beaches are common in some parts of the world. Is public nudity appropriate or inappropriate and why?"
Miss China: "Every country has its rules and regulations and every country has their own habits as well. We should respect them and be more understanding."ISSUES:
As expected, issues afloated right after the announcement of the winners. Miss Philippines was the crowd's favorite and she was the only candidate who answered in English language, without the help of interpreters, and delivered her answer in a very candid and intelligent manner. This created a mixture of disappointments to the faces of the viewers. A lot of people found the results very questionable and biased. Discussions were brought up just to ease out their dismay. In fact, in social networking sites, people exhausted their sentiments through tweets and wall posts. As the day as ending, lots of critics have voiced out their opinions, too. I have read somewhere that Oprah reacted to the results and provided a statement via NBC.
"I have reservations with the results. If the only basis is the Q and A portion, after having been trimmed down to 5, Ms. Philippines deserved to win. What made her different from the rest is that she had no seconds to rethink of her answer as she had no interpreter to break the ice. The rest had their interpreters and having breaks on seconds to think about their answers. Hands down, Ms Philippines answered straight to the point."
It was indeed a powerful statement which uplifted the morale of Filipinos in that particular beauty contest. Funny thing to say,but interpreters have been a big issue in the contest. Last year, Beauty Queen Gloria Diaz also stated that maybe next year the country should also make use of the interpreter's services, after the crowing of Venus Raj as the fourth runner up.
My reaction to this was simply passive. First thing, we should not forget that the final judging is not based solely on the question and answer portion. Dont forget that they are also judged in other manners, such as poise and projection, stage presence, etc. And take note, asking for the services of an interpreter doesnt give you an advantage. Speaking ENGLISH has been considered normal since it is the universal language. But let us put into consideration that there are various countries in the world that doesnt speak nor teach the English language yet they are productive and progressive. For example, CHINA. It is considered the SLEEPING GIANT. Yes, they are teaching English language in their universities and some event went abroad just to learn the English language.But how about those who focused on business and didnt study the language? They still provided progress and productivity in their country despite their inability to communicate in English Language. I am not making this a big issue, but I just wanted to point out clearly that speaking English doesn't provide a massive advantage. Miss Universe Organization is just being fair to all human being in the world, that is why having interpreters is not considered a problem. Aside from that, these Miss Universe delegates were the best of their own countries, hence they both posses beauty and brains. Everyone deserves the crown. We all know that.
Moreover, all the final top five candidates were eloquent in expressing their views and opinions on the given questions. I agree to that fact that Shamcey delivered the best answer among the five. Mind you! But I am not the judge, and not all judge think like me. Some judges may have understood well the answers of the other candidates in their own language, that is why the impact on them was very good and provided a big score for the candidate. There might be Atheist judge who doesnt believe in GOD, for Religion creates a big debate when discussed. The level of difficulty in the top five questions was also not balanced, thus the answer that matters most for the judges were given top scores. However, let me just point out that they are all intelligent!
However, take note that it is not all about the intelligence.
THE MISS UNIVERSE WINNER IS NOT GOING TO JOIN A DEBATE OR QUIZ SHOW FOR THE WHOLE TIME OF HER REIGN!
This is also about the attitude, character and personality, among others. It was explained in the pageant proper that there are various responsibilities and activities that accompany the crown. As such, intelligence doesnt play the biggest role in the whole picture. Just something I wanted to point out also.
Another issue was that, Shamcey deserved a higher spot than Third Runner-Up. There are a lot of factors that affected the final result of the contest. There is always an under-the-table discussion and decision-making. As what I have heard in the Pageant Primer on Kris TV, there is also a business side of the contest. Billionaire Donald Trump once said, 'I know it, because I own it!'. There has to be a business-related reason behind the results, but that is not something I am perfectly aware of.
In the end, various celebrities congratulated Miss Shamcey Supsup for reaching that far. She brought pride and fame to the country, to her family and the community. We should not provide coal for the fire of disappointment to keep on burning! Instead, we should show to the world that we Filipinos and Asians are competitive in the field of Beauty and Pageantry! Once again, congratulations Shamcey!
As I end this post, let me share something about Miss Philippines - Universe:
The Philippines was ranked 11 in the Country Rankings for Miss Universe Finalists ( Semis up to Winners) since we have 2 Miss Universe Winners, 1 First Runner-Up, 5 Third Runner-Up, 2 Fourth Runner-Up and 7 Semifinalists, with a total of 16.
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