Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Miss World winner comes under fire
This past weekend 116 contestants gathered in the remote town Odros City in China's Inner Mongolia district for the annual Miss World Pageant.
Representatives from countries around the world, including South Sudan, Guatemala, The Netherlands and the U.S., formed a kind of United Nations summit on bathing suits and ball gowns.PHOTOS: The weirdest beauty pageants in recent history
So it stands to reason, when China's Wenxia Yu was crowned as the winner on Saturday, not everyone was in agreement.
"I was not surprised at all to see that the winner of the pageant was Miss China given that it was held in a Chinese city with Chinese hosts and a huge group of screaming Chinese fans that erupted into applause every time she was mentioned," one commenter wrote on a Huffington Post article announcing the winner. He also added the hashtags: "#Rigged #Fake #SecondPlaceOlympicsRebound"
A Daily Mail reporter also caught the Olympic connection, cheekily congratulating China on its Miss World win over the U.S., after its London losses last month. Was this really a staged win or are we all just sore beauty pageant losers? A request for a comment from Miss World's London-based staff wasn't returned at press time.
After Wenxia's win, the Miss World Facebook page practically lit up with angry commenters accusing judges of pandering to politics.
"MWO you sold miss world for the Chinese! They poured MILLIONS into the contest, so it is not very surpris[ing] that they won," wrote one commenter among a chorus of hundreds slamming Yu as a "fake" winner.
Wenxia is the second winner from China in the contest's history, after Zhang Zilin's win in 2007. Both Yu and Zilan won their titles when their home country served as host to the awards. For that reason, critics wonder whether Miss World's judges were swayed by China's hosting duties.
Although news of the Miss World pageant may have passed many Americans by, the contest remains as popular as Donald Trump's Miss Universe across Asia.
Established in 1951 in the United Kingdom, it's the oldest major international beauty contest on the planet with Oscar winner, Halle Berry and Wonder Woman Lynda Carter, among its alumni.
To enter Miss World, contestants in the U.S. and in many other countries are selected by modeling agencies, rather than pageant judges, in order to participate. This year's representative, UCLA student and exotic bird collector Claudine Book, competed in all five categories -- talent, fitness, swimwear, evening wear and the charity-driven "beauty with a purpose" division- and won zilch.
Wales' Sophie Moulds, a Kate Middleton lookalike, took second place. If skeptics are questioning China's win, they should also consider the fact that Moulds and the contest's creators share a British commonwealth bond. The BBC broadcast the contest more prominently, than any network in the States. (It aired on E! On Sunday at 8 am.)
Before the crowning event, Miss Mexico had been the bookie's pick for winner with Miss Philippines earning her own fan base, after her beat-boxing performance during the talent competition went viral.
But it was 23-year-old Wenxia, a music student and dumpling fanatic according to her Miss World profile, who won the talent competition with her vocal performance, and ultimately the year-long Miss World tenure.
The real winner of the competition may have been the host city Ordos, a resurrected "ghost town" that fell short of being "the next Dubai" with the global financial crisis. "I had never heard of Ordos, but I've been very impressed by it so far," said Tapiwa Anna- Marie Preston, Miss Botswana in a press conference.
With the world watching, the largely unpopulated area drew international attention, despite controls on media access.
"It seems Ordos, which has made global headlines for building a giant new city with hardly any residents, is now intent on controlling exactly how it is seen by the rest of the world," writes Women's Wear Daily's Kathleen E. McLaughlin. The fashion trade paper was on location covering a portion of the contest when, according to McLaughlin, "a contingent of threatening men in plainclothes and uniformed police followed and chased a reporter from WWD to the Ordos airport after just 48 hours in the city." Authorities also questioned contacts and sources McLaughlin interviewed for her story.
It's unclear what exactly city officials were trying to protect from the media. But one thing is apparent: Both the city of Ordos, and the new Miss World, have gotten more attention than they bargained for. It's a lesson so many scandalized pageant winners homegrown in the States have learned in years past. Winning isn't everything.
News source: yahoo
Five celebs who share way too much
LL Cool J captures intruder in his house
LL Cool J (Getty Images)Burglars take note: It's not a good idea to break into the home of someone who wrote the song "Mama Said Knock You Out."
Early Wednesday morning, LL Cool J busted a burglary suspect who had broken into his Los Angeles home. The actor-rapper, whose real name is James Todd Smith, discovered the man just before 1 a.m., when the alarm system in his Studio City residence was tripped. A scuffle ensued, but the "NCIS: Los Angeles" star — whose arms (and abs!) are legendary in Hollywood — took down the trespasser and detained him while one of his daughters called 911.When officers arrived, they took the man — whose name has not been released — into custody. The suspect, who will be arrested on suspicion of burglary, had minor bruises.
It's really no surprise tough guy LL Cool J — who has shared his fitness secrets in books including "LL Cool J's Platinum Workout" and has one of the most chiseled bodies in the biz — was uninjured during the fracas. Further, nothing was taken from the home, which he shares with his wife, Simone, and four children: a son Najee, 22, and daughters Italia, 21, Samaria, 17, and Nina, 11.
When reached for comment about the incident, a rep for LL Cool J told omg!: "LL Cool J and his family are safe and thank everyone for their thoughts and concern. As a father, husband, and citizen, he is committed to keeping his family safe and is cooperating with authorities on this private matter."
News source: yahoo
Teen athlete devastated by prison sentence
Instead of sifting through scholarship offers, selecting a school and launching his college basketball career as he originally planned, an Ohio high school standout will have to put his dreams on hold.
Tony Farmer, an 18-year-old senior at Garfield Heights High School, received a three-year prison sentence on Tuesday as a result of pleading guilty to kidnapping, felonious assault and other crimes.The 6-foot-7 forward had been hoping to receive probation after teachers, coaches and family members testified on his behalf. When he learned he'd be going to prison as the judge read his sentence, he crumpled into the arms of a sheriff's deputy and collapsed to the ground in anguish.
In an odd twist, among those in the gallery sobbing in reaction to the judge's decision was the victim herself, Farmer's ex-girlfriend Andrea Lane. Even though the two remain separated since Farmer attacked Lane last April after she didn't want to reconcile their relationship, Lane had previously asked Judge Pamela Barker not to put Farmer in prison.
"I know he was a good person," she said, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "I hope he still is."
The entire courtroom scene is depressing and painfully hard to watch because Farmer had such a bright future prior to this incident. Before video cameras caught his altercation with Lane on tape last April in the lobby and parking lot of her apartment complex, Farmer was a consensus top 100 prospect who had drawn interest from the likes of Ohio State, Xavier, Dayton and Michigan State.
The punishment he received from Barker is just yet severe. Unless Barker reduces Farmer's sentence when she reviews it in 180 days, his hopes of playing major college basketball are likely now over.
News source: yahoo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)