OH NO, MISS EARTH SA!

One of the lessons that I have learnt since becoming actively involved in pageantry is that one has to match the delegate to the international pageant irrespective of her appeal in isolation. Pageants in different parts of the world have different sets of judging criteria and they have unwritten rules about what "look" they go for.



At the same time I differentiate between the so-called "Grand Slam" pageants and the rest. For a Grand Slam pageant the absolute best on the local pageant circuit must be selected, but for the rest one can take a risk and lower the standard slightly.



I was reading on the Eye For Beauty blog that Dominique Mann has been "hand-picked" to represent South Africa at the Miss Earth pageant. Whilst she is probably a stunning person with an awesome personality and heart of gold, quite frankly, when all things are equal, she could probably only win the Miss Tourism Outer Mongolia International pageant for South Africa, and nothing more.



I have it on good authority that all future Miss Earth SA winners will only get to compete at the international pageant once they have completed their year of digging for earthworms, hugging trees and saving whales. I suppose that's one way of ensuring obedience and keeping the titleholder committed to the title for the year.



At least two former winners (that I know of) lost interest after their all-expenses paid trip to the international final. One even got her arse kicked right out of the door (and now the un-named queen is giving WF nightmares as well). But props to the organization for that new ruling. Sometimes local beauty queens have an attitude that is much more impressive than their physical appeal.



In any event, I'm not holding my breath for a semi-finalist spot at Miss Earth, unless our delegate has a mind-boggling cause that will fast-track her into the Top 16 as happened back in 2007.