IS THIS MISS UNIVERSE 2009?

A while back I started doubting my ability to "spot" the winner in a line-up of beautiful girls. There was a time when, apart from some really questionable decisions on the part of pageant judges, I could name at least 80% of the leading place-getters in any local or international pageant by merely looking at a couple of photographs.

Then it all went wrong. Whilst my international score only "dropped" by about 10%, my local score did a "freefall" and now hovers around 40%. The problem is I am still "old school" and judge beauty contestants for their physical beauty. The "inner beauty" cliche does not really feature in my decision making.

If a contestant looks like a winner and behaves like a winner in public, she is a winner. What she does in private or out of the eyes of the public is her concern, as long as what she does in no way infringes on the rights of others. Just as one should not mix business with pleasure, one should not confuse the role of a beauty queen with the work of the men and women that have dedicated themselves to improving society. If the beauty queen is actively involved in a social responsibility program, bravo! If not, at least she is beautiful.

I don't judge politicians on their looks, nor do I judge sportsmen for their social responsibility. Whilst a good-looking politician or a socially responsible sportsman are desirable, I am more concerned with whether the politicians achieve the objectives that the electorate has voted them into power for, or whether the sportsman runs, jumps, swims or scores to win the contest or match.

With all of this in mind, I must be honest when I say that I am more inclined to believe the results of the Miss Universe pageant than those of the Miss World pageant when it comes to identifying the best physical beauty at the pageant. South Africa's record at the latter may be better than at the former, but I am still convinced that a number of those results were achieved for reasons other that the intended purpose of a beauty pageant.

I have been very critical of the Miss World pageant of late, criticism that I don't think is unjustified. I do not believe that their choices are free of political and direct economic considerations at the best of times. Granted, a number of winners have been sensational in the looks department, but the pageant as a whole just looks so contrived and "correct" that integrity is questioned. Whilst the Miss Universe pageant is also guilty of manipulation of results to achieve certain political and economic objectives, it is not on the same scale as that of the Miss World pageant.

Over the weekend, the Dominican Republic crowned their representative for the Miss Universe pageant. Ada de la Cruz (pictured above) will represent the island nation in the Bahamas in August. Whilst Ada was the best looking of the Top 6, the other finalists made our most recent Top 5 look like a beauty pageant B-Team. Ada was Miss World Dominican Republic in 2007 and was one of the 16 semi-finalists at the international pageant. But for the fact that the Miss World organisation is currently obsessed with the "flat-chested, lanky model look" as well as the need to have every continent or geographical region represented in the finals, Ada should have been in the Top 5 at the pageant.

Although it is still to early to engrave her name on the Miss Universe trophy, I don't for a minute doubt that she will perform well at the pageant. She is the perfect universal beauty: curvy, dusky and gorgeous. Could she be Miss Universe 2009?