Miss World 2002 - London, England

The story of the most controversial Miss World Ever...commentary and photos below

The Miss World Pageant was originally slated to be held at the International Conference Centre in Abuja, Nigeria on that same date. Local organizers had successfully bid to hold the major international event Miss Universe and Miss World Pageants had been previously held in Seychelles, South Africa and Namibia, but never in mainstream Africa before. The President hoped that the pageant would change the image of Nigeria, a pariah country due to successive military takeovers, one of the lowest living standards in West Africa, religious tension between Muslims and Christians, and recognition as the most corrupt nation in the world.

The pageant was plagued by problems from the start. To please Muslims, the pageant was moved one week back to not coincide with Ramadam. Then, many contestants throughout the world intended to boycott the event over Amina Lawal, a woman sentenced to be stoned to death for having a baby out of wedlock. The pageant was in the public eye like never before, with delegates stating their intentions, Parliaments passing resolutions and even a debate on the floor of the European Union with Belgium's Ann Van Elson arguing with Italy's Pamela Camassa and Sweden's Sofia Hedmark. Organizer Julia Morley sought to control damage, claiming that the girls would be allowed to present their views on the issue and that the sentence would not be carried out. In addition, she ensured the security of the girls.

In November, most of the delegates showed up, but many did not. Miss Germany got sick and never showed up. Miss Belgium refused to go and was replaced by her runner-up. Miss Italy chose to give up her title altogether. However, for the time being, it was a success, despite a London gala being boycotted by several high-profile guests. The girls flew into Abuja and were welcomed by politicians excited at having the pageant in their country. Armed guards were all around to ensure that nothing went wrong as the delegates took part in shootings and events in Port Harcourt. A religious riot in Kaduna in Northern Nigeria had broken out, and a fashion show was cancelled and the girls were taken back to Abuja, without being told anything and guards being placed outside their rooms. In fact, most of them ended up finding out while watching news channels. The international press made the riot its lead story, and headlines from the U.S. to Singapore took note of the incident. Despite claims of an exaggerated situation, Miss Canada contacted her ambassador and flew out and Miss Korea did the same.

With pressure building from outside, Julia Morley chartered an Air Cameroon Boeing 747 to London. Despite heavy criticism from the British press, Julia intended to get Miss World televised on December 7th, and she did just that. Press calls were held frequently due to the situation that had unravelled, but essentially the delegates were 'imprisoned' in the hotel, running up and down the stairs, watching tv and eating. Miss South Africa, Miss Spain, Miss Panama, Miss Tahiti and Miss Canada, who begged for acceptance back into the pageant, which was finally granted to her. Miss South Africa, run by Sun International, came in the form of Claire Nuyens, a delegate Julia Morley had arranged last-minute. However, Sun International quickly arranged for the First Runner-Up in their pageant, Claira Sabbagha, to fly to London and fulfill their contract. Vanessa Carreira, the original Miss South Africa, regretted the fact that she was obliged to give up her crown at the Miss SA contest during that time.

As contestants rehearsed in a downtown studio, Alexander Palace, a north London venue, was booked for the pageant date and the stage was installed. On December 7th, in the middle of the afternoon, British patrons came to the pageant, which still managed to be televised in every continent after everything. The winner emerged, a Turkish model by the name of Azra Akin - a Muslim. The favorite of the contestants and a sweet, charming, delicate beauty with a wild sense of fashion, she was the perfect winner to turn around the image of the pageant. At the end of the day, Julia Morley was happy, too. After everything, including the failure of Nigerian sponsors and organizers to honor their obligations, on top of revenue lost from ticket sales, and the extra expense of chartering a plane, making hotel arrangements, venue arrangements and so forth, Miss World, Ltd. broke even for the year.

Color Commentary

The Grand Opening

A sensational Spanish hit by Chayanne opened the 2002 Miss World Pageant. Although this had a great atmosphere, the fact the girls had to do it in their evening gowns and really were not dancing at all shows some of the problems caused by leaving the original venue of Nigeria. I assume if it had been there, we probably would have seen special outfits and steps in the opening. Alas, until next year.

The Set

Alexandria Palace was one of the saving graces of the pageant. I was quite impressed that this stage would be used in Nigeria, as it goes against the stereotypical European view you would expect of Africa, which would have included a bunch of fake trees and shrubs and a painting of a savannah. Instead, the set was modern and fashionable, using a pastel tone on a minimalist structure, giant banners of the new Miss World logo (Which fits into a more 2002 image), a giant video screen, and 2 small pools among the catwalk.
The First Segment

After a quick video showing the judges and their encounter with the girls, a much shorter than usual version of the parade was done. Instead of creating 8 groups, starting with swimsuit videos of each and then gown parades, the girls came quickly in groups of six to catwalk music. As each girl walked, a wonderful announcer (Who seemed to have a British-African accent) gave a quick line on the contestant as a video of them rapidly flashed on our tv screens. I enjoyed this portion of the show, although I do miss the more extensive group-by-group parades with different music and lengthier footage.

The Final Twenty

Due to the unusual shortness of the contestants' parade, I could not believe my ears to hear they were cutting down to twenty girls...I almost wondered if they had actually showed them all, but yes indeed, this was the definitive moment. The girls were put together in their groups, so that the host could have some fun and add to the excitement. From each group, Sean announced the number of girls who had placed. In an almost playful way, he would approach the girl from the side or front to announce her placement. This was definitely something more fun.
This gave us a chance to focus on a wonderful video of Agbani's year as Miss World, which they really should include more often.

This was followed by an excellent performance by the popular group BBmak, one of my favorite bands, performing "Our of my Heart" during the interval.

The final twenty were lined up onstage alphabetically and an extremely short video (30 seconds) of them was shown to the audience. Personally, I did not understand the purpose of all of this, and would have preferred to see the top twenty parade one more time, maybe in different outfits, such as an fashion show with Nigerian fashions or haute coutoure pieces from Europe.

The Finale

Chayanne chalked out one more number for the audience, prior to the calling out Agbani Darego for her final walk. She looked stunning in a beautiful white dress and a new hairdo, and the confidence and skills gained during her year showed. One by one, each of the ten was brought out for one last walk. In an almost non-dramatic fashion, Peru was named second runner-up. Colombia was named first runner-up. I was just fine with Peru, she was a very lovely woman and competitive in her own right, but Colombia? I could not believe the Miss World judges had made such a big mistake. Miss Norway deserved that spot next to Turkey's Azra Akin, who was named thereafter as Miss World 2002.

1) Australia (Nicole Rita-Ghazal) - Sexy and a classic beauty, Nicole had a beautiful black dress that complemented her "hot" personality and style. Despite some previous comments, she almost lived up the image produced by heavily-airbrushed photos. She was not particularly tall, though. Her video in the finalists round made her out to be the "Sex Kitten" of the group, and as everyone knows, the "Sex Kitten" does not become Miss World. Her answer in the final round about how Miss World was not a sacrifice because of the doors it opened, did garner her some brownie points, but not enough to save her aggressive downfall.


2) China (Wu Ying-Na) - Polished, fine-tuned, with the right modelling skills and a wonderful gown, but is there anything else she had to offer? Her facial beauty was just not there. She was taller than expected, and I will give her one major credit: unlike her two Miss World 2001 and Miss Universe 2002 counterparts, she gave an impressive, eloquent response on what made her unique in the contest, about how she was a Chinese woman, representing one billion people. Bing Li and Ling Zhuo came off as very flat and/or "doormat-ish."


3) Colombia (Natalia Peralta) - She had the facial beauty, but what really made me sick of this Colombian contestant was her old-school pageant tools: Big hair, (pumped full of ten cans of hairspray), thick caked-on make-up and deep, red lipstick (the shade of blood), and to top it off, a boring, virgin-white evening gown kept no originality or vivaciouness whatsoever. In the early 90's, this would have been ideal, but not in 2002.  The message she wanted to give women of the world was a mess about children and eternal love and flowers, and funnily enough, the translator was clueless and practically made up her own pageanty mess of an answer based on key words she heard. What made it even funnier was that when Miss Colombia was asked to repeat the end of her answer, it was almost like a tape recorder being rewound, as her words came out once again. Well, the translator was gone by the time Peru came around, but maybe a sympathy vote was in order? That spot belonged to Miss Norway or Peru.


4) Nigeria (Chinenye Ochuba) - A favorite from Miss Universe, the hometown girl (technically) adhered to all stereotypes of a Western beauty pageant and showed that the only way African women will succeed in these pageants is by conforming to Western standards of what constitutes a nice physique, an attractive face and a pretty dress. Miss Ghana, a real African beauty, would have been more choice for this spot, because just like Agbani, Chinenye seems too "manufactured," as if she was not speaking for herself, but rather doing what she was told. The lime-toned evening gown was among the best of the night, and she knew what to say when asked about 'personal philosophy,' and so she clinched that African spot for Nigeria once again. When India woke up and began conforming to White standards of beauty in its Miss Universe and Miss World contestants, they started to become successful. Maybe Nigeria can do the same?


5) Norway (Katrine Sorland) -Miss Norway should have been First Runner-Up or Second Runner-Up, without a doubt. She had a beauty that was undeniable (Although pehrpa snot living up to perfect photos), and to top it off, she was cute and carefree, as could be seen in her fun up-close video, her cute response in the finalist round and her girlish playfulness in press sessions.


6) Peru (Marina Mora) - An exotic, simple type of beauty was expressed in Marina Mora. She is not really like most "Top 3" Latin American candidates in Miss Universe or Miss World. She is more regal, reserved and regal. Thankfully, the translator did justice to her simple, yet powerful answer to her question. My only criticism is the old-lady bun, which did not suit her. Her look was much too conservative, as I have seen Marina look much more stunning in more laid-back shots.


7) Philippines (Kate Manalo) - Teletext voting was involved for the first time in Miss World's judging, allowing the Philippines' very well-polished Kate Manalo a chance to compete with the other nine semi-finalists who the judges had chosen already. Her response to the question of what would be her first act as Miss World left me in pain. In America, we use the term 'brown-nosing' to describe what happened there. Identifying with Miss World's "Beauty With a Purpose" is one thing, but to go to such a great length is embarassing.


8) Turkey (Azra Akin) - The new Miss World is in a league of her own. Funky with her own sense of style (The curls and gown with boots) made her a charming delegate, not to mention her Giorgia Palmas-like personality and uniqueness. A breath of fresh-air, should we say. I did not know if Miss World would crown such a woman in place of the rehearsed types like Agbani Darego and Priyanka Chopra, but they did it, and for that I thank them!


9) USA (Rebekah Revels) - Wearing a dress worn by Miss America's Second Runner-Up and numerous other beauty queens, in her video she explained why she believes she should be Miss World and gave a rather eloquent response to her interview. Begging the judges to vote for her killed any shot she had of going further, but her Miss America skills paid off, even if the look was not 'happening.' She gave the best answer out of the ten and seemed to genuinely know what the heck she was talking about. I would have preferred the hair left down with a most flashy gown, but compared to America's delegates in the other pageants, Rebekah is a winner. One of her most stand-outish features is the Native American (Lumbee) roots, which gave her particular facial structure and tone which seemed somewhat 'exotic.'


10) Venezuela (Gozeider Azua) - Wearing a copy of Aura Zambrano's dress during the final of Miss Venezuela 2001 and the same hairstyle, Goizeder brang Venezuela back into the Miss World top ten once again. Definitely a more natural and spontaneous Miss Venezuela compared to the last two disasters, but nothing more. I was pleased by her response to the final question, where she was asked a question similiar to that of Martina Thorogood, who had stumbled around aimlessly, while Gozi knew how to handle it. I personally found the look to be slightly 'unkempt,' and am not certain if I really agreed with her top ten positioning compared to the more beautiful Miss Uruguay, who somehow did not even break the top twenty.

The Rest of The Top Twenty were:

11) Holland - The giant contraption sticking out of Elise's gold and black gown simply ruined the whole thing. I think the girl herself was pretty, but not a stand-out, just kind of a pretty blonde girl with a nice smile. The look was much too matronly for a woman of her age.
12) Vietnam - Mai reminds me of a Miss Thailand or a Miss Japan from back in the 1950's or 1960's pageants. Very traditional, reserved and young. I guess she brought back some nostalgia with a taste of Asian influence (A very ethnically-inspired gold-orange eveningwear choice with a needle design in her hair), but also extremely introverted and young. Facially, I feel there were better delegates.
13) India - With her hair in a traditional Indian 'pageant' style and in a shimmering sky blue evening gown and wrap, Shruti looked amazingly sexy and beautiful. Not to draw too many comparisons here, but I do think she stood out even more than some past Indian delegates. Her teeth seem to be her major downfall.
14) Curacao - Ayanette's best assets are what a pageant girl knows best: Face, face, face. Very thick make-up was noticeable, and the gown was too pageanty, but certainly better than her disastrous choice at Miss Universe. Nonetheless, face, face, face, and Ayanette had the sweet, feminine facial features to do it.
15) Yugoslavia - An absolutely beautiful, tall, sexy woman! Her simply platinum gown complemented the metallic make-up and silky curls and classic Slavic features. Definitely should have made the top ten, but certainly no Tijana Stasic.
16) Russia - Miss Russia was simply a Russian princess! Her hairstyle (fit for a crown), detailed blue gown and walk all made her a shoo-in for the top twenty, but why not the top ten, I wonder? She seemed a bit constricted during the final night, but she was possibly the most elegant woman there that night, while at the same time retaining the sex appeal which made her popular so place, in the fashion of pop star Kylie Mingoeu.
17) Puerto Rico - This Mariah Carey look-alike was a breath of fresh air from the island, but she should have worn her hair down to complement the green nature-toned gown she wore so well. Compared to past Puerto Rican delegates, she made better choices in her sense of fashion, not going for pounds of make-up, big hair and 'off-the-rack' gowns. To the new organizers in Puerto Rico, keep it up!
18) Aruba (The Caribbean's Queen of Beauty) - Polished, but not overly impressive. Her height was an asset, but her features were too masculinized. It was quite surprising to see her beat out more obviously beautiful contestants from Puerto Rico and Curacao for the Caribbean title. I did not care for the overly-busy gown or the heavy led lipstick.
19) Italy - Stunning! Her solid white gown and neat make-up and hairdo complemented her delicate features. She appeared to be a professional model and obviously made use of Italy's fashion dominance with the way she was styled. Top Ten material. I would have loved to have seen the even more beautiful Miss Italia Mondo, Pamela, who abdicated.
20) Bosnia and Herzogovina - A cute blonde, but nothing compared to last year's representative, who barely missed the cut. I guess she was just a surprise.