Confessions of a Social Climber

For as long as pageants have existed, the word controversy has never really left its side. Oh, in history there have been tons and tons of scandals involving name-swaps, cheating, paid judges and whatnot. Have things gotten better since then? Well, apparently not — there are still controversies and scandals that are plaguing beauty pageants worldwide. Which leaves me asking, “how can someone be so beautiful and yet be so ugly on the inside?!”

Here are a couple of pageant-type blunders that have happened in less than a year.

Not-so-Ms.-Brooklyn – Well, supposedly, after missing for 16 years, the Miss Brooklyn pageant has been resurrected. As a crucial stepping stone on the way to Miss America — and the winner, Leigh-Taylor Smith, isn’t actually from Brooklyn. Will Brooklynites allow this to happen??? Well, apparently, it wouldn’t have happened had more young women from Brooklyn signed up. “We only had a few committed girls from Brooklyn,” said Kim Thomas, executive director of the Miss Brooklyn Scholarship Program. “We couldn’t have a contest with only three girls.”

Miss New Jersey’s Unladylike Photos – Apparently, someone threatened to blackmail Miss New Jersey Amy Polumbo last year with photos that exhibit some unladylike behavior, you know, the kind that pageant winners shouldn’t be exhibiting in the first place? The twist? Amy Polumbo voluntarily revealed the photos in advance, way before her meeting with New Jersey pageant officials, who have ultimately determined that, the photos were done in the spirit of fun, and that she could keep the crown. (Besides, which young girl doesn’t have at least one photo like this in their Facebook???)

Invisible Pepper Spray – The beautiful Ingrid Marie Rivera had allegedly been a victim of sabotage via pepper spray in her make-up and clothing. Her skin broke out in hives and was regularly icing herself down backstage to ease the pain. Well, she did win, but the twist is, police investigators and forensics found no trace of pepper spray in the make-up, or in the clothing. Was this just an elaborate publicity stunt, or was she just allergic to something? She swears by it, well, even her swelling and reddened cheeks, ears and arms do.

Win By Technical Foul – Just last December, controversy in the Miss California USA pageant, where surprisingly, the announced winner, Cristina Silva, was stripped of her title … literally overnight! As it turns out, even the judges were surprised when her name was called as Miss California. When they ran to double-check, it had seemed that because of a tabulation error, the wrong girl was called out as winner, while the real winner was declared runner-up. Miss Silva was then asked to surrender the title and publicly declare that Raquel Beezley, the runner-up, was the actual winner.

But wait, there’s more! I saved the most recent:

In the Philippines, apparently, they crowned a Miss Janina San Miguel the title of Bb. Pilipinas-World, the prerequisite before being able to compete in the Miss World pageant. The controversy stems from the judgment, of, well, the judges. See, during the question-and-answer portion, Ms. San Miguel had a couple of grammatical blunders and often excusing her lack of poise due to her youth and lack of experience. The story took off merely minutes after the decision — in the papers, tv shows and, YouTube. Poor girl became the big joke, but is it her fault, or the lack of a proper screening / pageant training? You tell me. I do wish her good luck, and may she redeem herself for the Miss World contest.