Some people are speculating that Riyo Mori, the newly crowned Miss Universe from
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The double-eyelid procedure is the most popular cosmetic surgery performed on Asians in the world, as it creates a crease in the eye for individuals born with a mono-lid.
8:40 a.m., Thursday
The Better Business Bureau of New Orleans is warning consumers about scams that may be associated with beauty pageants.
Many parents spend thousands of dollars on pageants in hopes of launching their child's modeling career. But few people are discovered through these pageants, according to the BBB.
Updated with video (14:35 EDT).
On Wednesday’s "Good Morning America," the ABC program attempted to justify and explain away the booing that Miss USA, Rachel Smith, received in Mexico City during Monday night’s Miss Universe pageant. In a tease for the segment, GMA anchor Diane Sawyer even wondered aloud, "Was it fair?"
Video (1:21): Real (2.19 MB) or Windows Media (2.49 MB), plus MP3 (376 kB)
Reporter Dan Harris insisted that the rude heckling and yelling must be understood in a broader context. He explained, "By all accounts, the booing was actually not personal. It’s actually a sign of the increasingly intense relationship between the U.S. and Mexico at a time when the immigration debate is very hot." Harris later elaborated, saying that "many Mexicans feel that U.S. uses its power to get its way in world politics and also in competitions such as this one..."
At no time did time during the segment did Harris feature anyone who disagreed with this so-called political statement from the crowd or even anyone who simply called them rude for booing a beauty pageant contestant.
He did, however, interview a left-wing Green Party activist who attempted to validate the boorish behavior:
Dan Harris: "The tensions were evident back in 2004 and 05 when Mexicans booed during soccer games against the United States. Some even chanted Osama. The resentment has only grown since then as the U.S. has sent the National Guard to help beef up border security and build a wall to keep out the immigrants. Many Mexicans are also anxious about the new immigration bill in Congress supported by President Bush that many fear would split Mexican parents from their American born children."
Yes he leans left. But MSNBC host Chris Matthews was manifestly offended by the Mexican audience at the Miss Universe pageant that booed Miss USA. The Mexicans were adding insult to injury, since the lovely and gracious Rachel Smith of Tennessee had earlier slipped onto her derrière during the evening gown segment of the competititon.
When the producers showed, yet again, the footage of Rachel Smith tripping, a miffed Matthews interjected:I think MSNBC ran this 4,000 times today. Let's not us do it again. Can we stop this joke? Let's stop now. Let's stop doing that picture. Somebody seems to get a kick out of that, somebody who doesn't like women or something.ASIDE: During a subsequent panel, Patrick Buchanan described the Mexicans who booed as "a bunch of bums."
The reason the predominantly Mexican crowd was booing Miss USA's selection into the final five following Rachel Smith's nasty fall on stage during the evening gown competition probably had less to do with a US immigration policy towards Mexico than the star-studded assembly of US-born judges that helped boost her into the final five.
Some conspiracy theorists have even suggested that these judges settled for an Asian woman to win knowing that Miss USA could not possibly take the crown while punishing the Mexican crowd by ensuring that the two Latin American representatives would not win either (heavily favored Miss Venezuela and Miss Brazil). That theory doesn't come into play with the other Asian delegate, Miss Korea (Honey Lee) who was also among the favorites compared to big 22 to 1 underdog, Miss Japan.
Riyo Mori was acting very confidently right from the beginning and this is something that the jury was looking for in presentation, as announced by the show hosts, and this is something that contributed greatly in her becoming the winner of the Miss Universe 2007 Pageant.
Top Five places were shared between Miss.
Venezuela
USA
Japan
Korea
Brazil
However in the eyes of the judging panel Miss Japan was the most beautiful and the panel named Miss Riyo Mori as the winner of Miss Universe 2007 Pageant.
MISS USA Rachel Smith made the top 10 today in her bid to reign as Miss Universe 2007, but her chances may have been dimmed when she slipped and fell to the floor during the evening gown competition.
Smith was vying to become the first American winner since Brook Lee in 1997.
From Tennessee, the journalism graduate carried a guitar and wore a white, Elvis-style suit during the opening parade of nations.
Other contestants sported costumes featuring colorful native dress, decked out in feathers, sequins, fur, and huge headpieces.
But her dramatic slip on stage was regarded as near fatal by local experts who said judges valued highly contestants who retained their style and grace on the set.
Stephanie Hunt was incredulous when she received an invitation several years ago to compete in a beauty pageant for married women.
Sure, she had competed in beauty and talent pageants as a teenager. They even helped pay her way through college.
But she thought those days were behind her. She was an adult with a family, a job and a young son suffering from a rare disorder.
Miss America 2007 Lauren Nelson attended the US Dream Academy's 6th Annual Power of a Dream Gala in Washington, D.C. on May 22. The mission of the US Dream Academy is to provide at-risk children with mentors in order to maximize their potential both academically and socially.
Also in attendance was Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2007 Maria DeSantis. MAOTeen is a partner with the US Dream Academy and its contestants are guided by the Academy's mission to empower at-risk children through supportive "Mentor Clubs" that encourage literacy along with social and value enrichment.
The theme of this year's gala was Breaking the Cycle and was hosted by comedienne and star of the Rush Hour movies, Chris Tucker.
Senator Orrin Hatch, Miss America Lauren Nelson, and US Dream Academy
Founder Wintley Phipps
The Miss America Organization is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. Last year, the Miss America Organization and its state and local organizations made available more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance. For more information, go to www.missamerica.org.
That's the glam shot of Viktoria Azovskaja, the Estonian contestant for the title of 2007 Miss Universe. The contest is now underway in Mexico City with the finals to be broadcast on Monday. As Publius Pundit readers well know, Russia is attacking Estonia for daring to move a war memorial involving Russia to a new location within its own country (even though Russia has recently done exactly the same thing to a Ukrainian memorial in Russia). Russia is inserting the Nashi youth cult to provoke criminality on the streets, boycotting Estonian goods and waging a massive cyber war of terrorism against Estonian servers. Wouldn't it just be too sinfully delicious if Miss Estonia were to win the competition this year?
Click the jump to see the swimsuit photos of the girls from Estonia and some of the other nations waging cold war with Russia.
Lucie Hadasova, Miss Czech Republic (cold war over NATO missile defense)
Viktoria Azovskaja, Miss Estonia (cold war over war memorial)
Anna Giorgelashvili, Miss Georgia (cold war over pro-Western president)
Ildiko Bona, Miss Hungary (cold war over NATO missile defense)
Dorota Gawron, Miss Poland (cold war over NATO missile defense)
Lyudmila Bikmullina, Miss Ukraine (cold war over pro-Western president)
Lucia Senasiova, Miss Slovak Republic (cold war over NATO missile defense)
Now, we ask you, don't all these girls deserve some kind of prize for having to live under the threat of Russian imperialism, anti-democracy and aggression? In light of that threat, doesn't it make Miss Poland look even hotter?
Where do Russians get the idea that their girls are so awesome? If you looked at them through dicatatorship-colored glasses, as all these girls are forced to do, they'd look pretty horrifying indeed.
The Russian daily Noviye Izvestia recently published a map, shown above, that graded relations between Russia and countries on its borders. The newspaper concluded that Russia had provoked conflict with virtually all of its western neighbours and enjoyed good ties only with Armenia and former Soviet republics in Central Asia.
MEXICO CITY (AP): This year's Miss Universe pageant is missing one of its most noted contestants: Miss Sweden, a statuesque blonde whose country is one of the few to win the crown three times.
Isabel Lestapier Winqvist, 20, has dropped out because Swedes say the Miss Universe competition, airing live Monday night from Mexico City's National Auditorium, is degrading to women and weighed down by scandals.
"We're taking a big beating by being linked to it,'' said Panos Papadopoulos, the organizer of the Miss Sweden contest, which scrapped its swimsuit competition and allowed women to apply for the position like any other job after heavy criticism from feminists.
Participants in the pageant also are breaking the mold.
Miss Jamaica, 25-year-old Zahra Redwood, is the contest's first Rastafarian and the first to appear in dreadlocks. She wants judges to see her as a "Rastafarian promoting the message of peace, love and unity throughout mankind.''
Miss Tanzania, Flaviana Matata, an electrical technician whose country is participating for the first time, is also challenging stereotypes of beauty with her shaved head. "I never let anyone define me neither by hair nor clothing as I believe God made me perfect as a pure, natural African woman,'' she said.
Donald Trump, who now co-owns the contest with NBC, says the Miss Universe Organization has redefined beauty pageants.
"With each passing year our ratings continue to get better because of the beautiful and intelligent women who participate in our competitions,'' he declared.
The Miss Universe 2007 pageant takes place Monday night 9 pm ET in Mexico City and already it is among the hottest betting events of the week with demand growing as we get closer to show time.
"The bets are coming in fast and furious ever since we released odds on Miss Universe 2007," Reed Richards of BetUS.com disclosed to Gambling911.com on Saturday.
BetUS.com (see website here) accepts bets from gamblers worldwide, including the United States. At press time, Miss Venezuela - Ly Jonaitis - was a big 4 to 1 favorite (odds also listed at +400).
But what it all boils down to is the swimsuit and evening gown competition. For example, we know Miss USA has a brain, but does she really look better than Jonaitis in a swim suit?
We've delved into the annals of Miss Universe 2007 to uncover true beauty, finding photos of various contestants.
Miss Mexico - Her country is hosting this year's
Miss Universe competition. She is listed at
+1300 or 13 to 1 odds of winning.
Miss Korea Honey Lee ranks among the favorites
to win this year's Miss Universe 2007 pageant.
BetUS.com (see website here) anticipates her
finishing among the top 5 finalists with +950 odds.
Miss Tanzania is likely to be the only
bald headed Miss Universe 2007
contestants this year - perhaps
taking a cue from Britney Spears.
At +1150 odds, the folks at BetUS.com
believe she has a legitimate shot of
landing within the top 5 finalists. It is
the first time that Tanzania will be
represented in Miss Universe.
We ask you all: Do they get any
hotter than in Venezuela? It's as if
God planted a special seed in that
country. Venezuela, incidentally, is
among the biggest exporters of
television Novelas....so you can
always catch these beauties on
your favorite Spanish speaking
television station. Miss Venezuela
is a +400 favorite at BetUS.com
Miss Puerto Rico is certainly stunning
in her evening gown. Why she is
listed with long 27 to 1 odds in this
competition remains a mystery.
That's a $2700 payout on a $100 bet
for those of you who think she could
be crowned.
Just some of the sights we'll be seeing Monday night
The Gambling911.com crew is hoping
to see Miss Bahamas at this year's
CAP SPRING BREAK This striking
Caribbean beauty is listed with +500
odds (only because she's among the
nonspecific "field" category).
Miss Cuba 2007. Well, not really. This is actually Miss Gambling911.com Sparky Collins, who just happens to have swam some 90 plus miles to
US shores from Cuba many years ago and will be our correspondent for
Miss Universe 2007 betting all weekend long.
Miss Jamaica will be the first ever Miss Universe
contestant to sport dregs and the interest
surrounding her could make this Caribbean beauty
a sleeping dog....and we are not referring to
her looks. At +4000 she's a long shot but there
are some who believe she could make the top 10.
That's a $4000 payout on every $100 bet should
Miss Jamaica go on to take the crown. How are
they going to fit it though?
 Miss Dominican Republic +1600 Odds |  Miss Estonia 2007 +1450 odds |
 Miss Australia +3200 odds |  Miss USA +1150 |
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Payton O'Brien, Gambling911.com
Originally published May 26, 2007 11:03 am ET
