THIS SATURDAY, THE MUCH AWAITED MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT TOOK PLACE IN NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA. WITH 84 CONTESTANTS FROM ALL AROUND THE GLOBE, THE PAGEANT’S 71ST COMPETITION HAD EVERYTHING – FROM HARD TO BELIEVE OUTFITS, CONTROVERSIAL TAKES AND A PRETTY VIRAL MEME.
THE NIGHT ENDED WITH THE CROWNING OF MISS USA R’BONNEY [ARE-BONE-EY] GABRIEL AS THE WINNER, WITH MISS VENEZUELA AS THE FIRST RUNNER-UP AND MISS DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AS THE SECOND RUNNER-UP. THIS HAS SPARKED LOTS OF BACKLASH AND CONTROVERSY. WHILE SOME CLAIM THAT SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE WON DUE TO HER HEAVY AND AWKWARD COSTUME OR BECAUSE HER ANSWER WAS TOO LONG, THE MOST NOTORIOUS CLAIM THAT HAS BEEN SWARMING THE NEWS IS THAT THE COMPETITION WAS RIGGED IN HER FAVOR SINCE THE MISS USA PAGEANTS. SOME BELIEVE THAT MISS UNIVERSE OWNER ANNE JAKKAPHONG [JA-KAH-PONG] JAKRAJUTATIP’S [JAK-RAH-YU-TA-TIP] INVOLVEMENT WITH THE MISS USA PAGEANT AND THE COMPETITION’S TAKING PLACE IN THE US WERE IMPORTANT FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTED TO MISS USA’S CROWNING SUCCESS. THESE CLAIMS HAVE NOT BEEN CONFIRMED.
SURPRISINGLY, NOT MANY NORTHWESTERN STUDENTS WATCHED MISS UNIVERSE, BUT TIKTOK ALERTED THEM TO THE FACT THAT THE PAGEANT WAS GOING ON. AT OUR WEEKLY WNUR STAFF MEETING, I ASKED MY FELLOW REPORTERS WHAT THEY KNEW ABOUT THE PAGEANT AND WHAT WERE THEIR THOUGHTS. CO-DIRECTOR HELEN BRADSHAW SAID SHE SAW THIS ON TIKTOK:
Helen Bradshaw: It was Miss Portugal and Miss Brazil dancing together and it was really nice because I feel like sometimes you’re like “Oh my god, they probably all hate each other cause they’re trying to win” but they were just having fun!
A VIRAL VIDEO, HOWEVER, DID LEAVE ITS MARK AND WAS THE MAIN TAKEAWAY FROM THE COMPETITION.
Margot Amouyal: I’m Margot Amouyal. So, I have not seen Miss Universe, but I have seen some of the intermittent discourse about it and I feel like this one meme I’ve been seeing a lot is when the French woman introduced herself in kind of like a comical way. It’s just all the other countries and then there’s her. So, I’ve kinda seen that meme like repurposed.
Paz Baum: I saw a TikTok with all the contestants saying the names of their countries and it was making fun of the girl who said France. And that like, not to make fun of someone, but it was really funny.
THAT WAS OUR EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, PAZ BAUM.
FOR CONTEXT, THE TIKTOK, WHICH SHOWS THE CONTESTANTS ANNOUNCING THE NAMES OF THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNTRIES, SOUNDS A BIT LIKE THIS:
[CLIP]
AND THIS WAS THE INFAMOUS CLIP OF FRANCE:
[CLIP]
Emily Stull: I kind of feel bad for the girl who said France because she might have just been really nervous and then it kind of blew up and everyone started making fun of her. And, honestly, when they play the clip where she comes at the end and says France, all the other people yelling their countries don’t sound that much better. Like they all kind of sound a little weird.
IF ONE THING’S FOR SURE, THE CONTESTANTS DEFINITELY MADE SOME
NOISE – WHETHER THEY WON THE PAGEANT OR NOT.
FOR WNUR NEWS, THIS WAS MARIA CAAMAÑO.
