National Directors judging events in Int’l pageants: IS IT FAIR?

Liliana Tanoesoedibjo
Indonesia’s ND Liliana Tanoesoedibjo was judge in Top Model event of Miss World 2016 and her contestant finished 2nd. (Image: Instagram)

Recently Miss China PR Jing Kong won the title of Miss World 2016 Top Model.  1st runner-up in the competition was Miss Indonesia Natasha Mannuela.  No sooner were the results out than the speculation begun among pageant fans about the legitimacy of Indonesia’s placement.  The reason for speculation was the presence of Indonesia’s ND (National Director) Liliana Tanoesoedibjo, the president of Miss World Indonesia pageant. The speculations were fueled further by the fact that Miss World 2017 may be held in Indonesia.

Soon more details came out!

  • Liliana Tanoesoedibjo was judge in Beach Beauty of Miss World 2013, in which Miss Indonesia Larissa Vania surprisingly made it to the Top 11, although she wasn’t in the best shape.
  • She was a judge at Miss World finals in 2013 and 2015.  In both these years, Indonesia placed high.  In 2013, Indonesia was Top 10 finalist and in 2015, Indonesia was 2nd runner-up.  Vineet Jain, who is practically the owner of Femina Miss India, was also one of the judges of Miss World 2013.
  • As per the buzz, Liliana may be a judge at Miss World 2016 finals as well.  Rumours also say that national director of Miss World Puerto Rico may also be a judge in Miss World 2016 finals.

Within all this fuzz, one question clearly erupts within us – Should national directors be allowed to judge finals or events in the international pageant?  We try to be objective and look at both the sides of the coin.

Well, national directors have good knowledge about pageantry.  They have some general expertise in the field and hence if they do their job with integrity and honesty, they should be allowed to judge in events of finals of international pageants.  As such they will be just 1 of the many judges in the panel.  Hence their influence will not be that powerful.

Now let us look at the other side. When there can be more options, why pick national directors as judges?  It can be unfair to other national directors.  It can be unfair to contestants from other countries.  All the girls put their heart and soul, why should they suffer because of poor or biased judging?  It can be unfair to the contestant of the ND’s country as well because her success will not be respected and questioned by many due to the presence of ND in the jury.  Having national directors as judges puts a question mark on the integrity of the pageant.  It creates trust issues among the contestants, national directors and fans.  It is only professional and ethical to pick judges who would be 100 % neutral to the contestants.

Hence, in our opinion, any international pageant of repute (or aiming to be reputed) should not include national directors in judging panels of finals or even of smaller events.  The judging panel should be neutral and smartly picked.  It will help the pageant develop and maintain good respect.

Source (Featured Image): Okezone