Pageant News Bureau - Miss Universe 2000

All photos from Cyprus courtesy of Miss Universe Organization

Melting the hardest hearts

By Michael S. Arnold
Special to the Pageant News Bureau

NICOSIA, CYPRUS — As the fateful hour approached, the lobby of the Hilton Hotel in Nicosia slowly filled with journalists and hangers-on eager for a glimpse of some of the most beautiful women in the world.

Just before 1 p.m., the doors of the elevator opened to reveal Miss Mexico, Letty Murray, a 20-year-old student of business administration whose victory earlier in the week in the competition for best national costume had made her one of the crowd favorites to become Miss Universe early Saturday morning [late Friday night East Coast U.S. time].

Mexico

Clad in green satin pants and a turquoise halter top, Ms. Murray parted the crowd on her way to the lobby alcove, where a bevy of Spanish-language journalists posed her before television cameras and peppered her with questions about her hopes, dreams and career aspirations.

Shortly after Ms. Murray's grand entrance, many of the other 78 young women vying for the Miss Universe crown hit the lobby floor and were quickly engulfed by the pool of journalists searching for the one question that would penetrate the contestants' studied poise to reveal what really makes them tick, what they hope and fear as their extraordinary journey approaches its culmination.

Dressed in styles ranging from contemporary to elegant to slightly hippie, the contestants milled about the lobby like statuesque goddesses set loose for a few hours among mere mortals.

Many of the male journalists put aside their notebooks and begged their colleagues to photograph them embracing the women who focused their eyes and attention on the awestruck men for a few brief, intense moments, before being dragged off to other interviews.

India

A rough pecking order soon became apparent: Mexico's Ms. Murray could hardly find a free minute to have a bite with her entourage; Miss India, Lara Dutta, was swept from one television network to another; Miss Israel, Nirit Bakchi, high-fived one young man carrying a birthday balloon and was swamped by admirers attracted to her sense of humor and earthiness; Miss USA Lynnette Cole's exceptional poise and articulateness made her a coveted interview.

Others, such as Miss Chile, Francesca Sovino, Poland's Emilia Raszynska or Miss Estonia, Evelyn Mikomagi, appeared to generate much less buzz and sat chatting with one or two friends from their home countries.

Chile

Poland

Estonia

The collection in one place of so much beauty certainly was dazzling, but one thing quickly became apparent: Despite the claims of some cynics, these young women are not empty-headed objects exploited by an industry interested primarily in their looks and the curves hanging out of their bathing suits. Just a few words of conversation were enough to reveal that most of the contestants are not only focused and polished, but ambitious and quite intelligent.

In an age when the very notion of a "beauty contest" might seem archaic, the Miss Universe contestants appear determined to combine their looks and charm with a drive to succeed in today's business world.

Miss Japan, Mayu Endo, studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is now working on her Master's degree at Harvard. Claudia Moreno, Miss Venezuela, is close to receiving her degree as a dentist. Miss Ghana, Esi Acquah, hopes to become a journalist in a continent where the trade carries inordinate personal risks. Israel's Ms. Bakchi can hardly wait to finish the contest so she can continue studying for her high-school matriculation exams, just before joining the Israeli army, where she will learn to handle a weapon while some of her pageant colleagues are pursuing modeling or acting contracts.

Japan

Jamaica

Ghana

While many of the journalists present were placing their bets on classic beauties like Mexico's Ms. Murray, India's Ms. Dutta or Spain's Helen Lindes, Ms. Bakchi was rooting for Miss France, Sonia Rolland, a lesser-known contestant who Ms. Bakchi said was among the most impressive and well-rounded personalities she had gotten to know at the pageant.

Spain

France

Many of the contestants said that the Miss Universe Pageant was a platform for them to push for an improvement in the status of women worldwide. Whoever wins will dedicate much of her year as queen to the global battle against AIDS, the chosen cause of the Miss Universe organization.

"Pageants for me are a kind of sport," said the USA's Ms. Cole, a 22-year-old substitute teacher from Columbia, Tenn., who plans to go to law school. "This is a way for me to get money to go to school. It's also a way to promote women and their issues, their health and fitness."

Cyprus, May 12, 2000

Melting the hardest hearts