New format of Miss World: Is it a good news?
Always so innovative Miss World pageant presents a new format this year and interestingly they are declaring in much in advance this time, unlike recent years. This year, like before, 5 contestants will make the cut by winning fast-track events (Top Model, Sports, Talent, etc.), 15 will be chosen by judges and 20 will be chosen via public vote! Now public vote will not be in the usual manner. The 120+ contestants will be divided into 20 groups which will be presented one by one and after each presentation, people will be asked to choose their favorite from the group and this favorite will be revealed at the time of presentation of the next group. So basically there will be a Top 40! Is it really a good news? Let’s examine both sides of the coin.
Also read: Miss World 2017 contestants
Pluses: Top 40 means 40 girls will get recognition. The presentations will ensure that the fans stay interested in the pageant for the whole month. By the time finals come, 20 of the Top 40 will be surely known. The presentations will ensure that all the girls get good coverage. This method of selecting winner will mean massive engagement of fans and also of course will only work in favor of Miss World org. Since the fans will know many contestants well, perhaps the whole event will be more fun to follow. The win of the winner may be more convincing since there will be more visibility. And yes, if a contestant doesn’t get public vote, she will have chance to make the cut by the virtue of judges’ selections and even the fast-tracks. Even the girls (contestants) should be excited since now they have more chance of being noticed. This is perhaps the maximum number of placements any major international pageant has offered to it’s contestants in the finals. And it makes sense because Miss World always has the highest number of participants.
Minuses: But wait, the recognition would be only in form of announcement perhaps. The 2 or 3 hours long finale event will not have enough time for the 40 girls to have at least 1-2 min of exclusive air-time where they can individually show at least some of their strengths. Also the smaller countries or countries where pageants are not popular will suffer in public vote. Like in recent years, the selection of Top 10/20/5 (or whatever it may be) and winners will not be much transparent, where is the time to have actual rounds! Also, to place in Top 20 is definitely a bigger feat than placing in Top 40. Even with Top 40, some relatively less deserving girls will make cut over deserving girls due to public vote.
The fans want to see proper finale format too. They want to see some rounds where the finalists get a chance to show their strengths. Fans want some transparency and visibility in how judging is done once Top 40 is chosen. Let’s hope these wishes are fulfilled in this year’s finals!
Conclusion: Overall we feel this format is better than recent years due to more action in pre-finale period and more recognition for contestants. But there is huge scope for further improvements.