Latafale Auva’a questions the judging process of Miss World 2015.
Latafale Auva’a represented the island of Samoa at Miss World 2015. This girl came into limelight when she defied the order of her Prime Minister’s order to compete in Miss World competition. People thought that she was going to do an underdog but to everyone’s surprise, she stood out like no one else in the competition. She was noticed too well in her pictures of Dances of the World, her top placements in Talent round, Sports round and Beauty with a Purpose round. She was also our top pick in Web Interview, so we really wonder her not making to the Top 20 of interview. She thinks that the process of judging at Miss World also involves pageant politics and is not free from biases. In a recent interview with India and World Pageant Blog, on being asked about what went wrong with her performance at Miss World 2015, she said,
“Where to start with this question. Well, nothing really went wrong for me in terms of the fast-track competition rounds. I gave my absolute best, I trained hard to make sure I had great results which would see me place highly in the finale, and I actually had incredible support from girls in different countries who believed that I would do very well in the finale, having seen the effort I put into the competition. Top 5 in Talent and Top 5 in Sport, Top 10 in Beauty with a purpose which is meant to be double weighted points. It would appear to come down to this, and this is an issue that needs to be discussed. It doesn’t matter how well you do in the preliminary or fast-track events, none of the events dictate your place in the competition or the Top 20. We saw that first hand with Miss Namibia winning fast- track sport and not taking place in top 20. In terms of myself, the only thing that I would say could have changed my chances in placing in the top 20, or highly in this particular competition would be to change my country, the clothes I wore and to have had better modelling pictures sent in.
Sadly, I was very taken aback with not placing at all. My two goals were to win talent and to reach the top 20- any other high placing was a bonus. I went into the competition to compete fairly in all the activities, knowing I was representing a small island in the pacific but believing judging would be based on merit not on pageant politics. My heart goes out to those girls who enter into this competition in the future thinking they have some chance at competing fairly. Their Money, time and expenses are wasted culminating in a psychologically challenging month of practising for a 2 hour show. Disappointment taps on the door of every girls heart and the worst type of disappointment is from the injustice of not receiving what you deserved in a fair competition. I speak not just for myself, but for other girls who did very well with points and rightly deserved at least a placing in the top 20. Girls and pageant directors should understand the matrix of the competition before entering unless they are purely entering for the experience. Everyone of the beautiful girls I saw at the competition had a unique and exotic modelling look and could have made a fabulous Miss World. The competitions choice is purely 100% subjective.”
How much do you agree with her opinion? Do share your thoughts with us.