I've always loved the beauties from Venezuela. For me they are the standard by which beauty queens should be judged. Granted, there are times when their stage "get-up" appears to be a bit drag-queenish, but anyone that knows anything about work on stage and television will tell you that make-up and wardrobe needs to be exaggerated to be effectively captured on tape. True to form, my favourites for the last 3 editions of the Miss Universe pageant have all hailed from Venezuela. Backing Miss Venezuela every year might be seen as a "cop out", but even though I support them as a rule, there have been a number of exceptions through the years. There have been some WTF years for me as far as Miss Venezuela at Miss Universe is concerned, and unfortunately, this another one of them.
After Ly Jonaitis (3rd), Dayana Mendoza (1st) and Stefania Fernandez (1st), I firmly believe that Venezuela's run will end this year with the drab and unspectacular Marelisa Gibson. Osmel Souza probably has a few tricks up his sleeve, but the truth is that nothing short of Avatar technology is going to be required for Venezuela to crack the Top 5 at Miss Universe this year.
It's all well and good transforming the contestant for pageant night, but one needs to see past all the cosmetic gadgets and gizmo's and imagine what the contestant will look like when the last ounce of make-up is removed to be able to identify a true beauty. In Marelisa's case, the result is pretty boring. She is ordinary to the extreme.
If Venezuela is hoping for a third win in a row, my response is "No way in hell, Uncle Osmel".