GB Gets to Know: Nawat Itsaragrisil, President of MGIO
Mr. Nawat Itsaragrisil, President of the Miss Grand International Organization
The 5th Miss Grand International will be crowned tomorrow night and Global Beauties has been bringing you exclusive news and updates from this year's spectacular event in Vietnam. This, of course, included predictions, behind the scenes news and interviews with the reigning Miss Grand International and the Vice President of MGIO. Today, we are honoured to share another interview with you and this time we got to talk to the man behind it all, the President of the Miss Grand International Organization, the incredible Mr. Nawat Itsaragrisil. Read what he had to say about the year's pageant, the organization's goals, and the reigning queen in this Global Beauties exclusive:
GB: Mr. Nawat, please tell us what is new for this year. Is there anything information can you share with us?
Mr. Nawat: Well, ok... the most important new thing is the host country. I want to make Miss Grand International more famous in the world, so one of the conditions I explained to the host country before we reached an agreement was that we didn't just need a fee, hotels or food. I told them we needed some special events to turn our contestants into celebrities. This is the most important... until today I am very happy because the host country Vietnam made it happen. And they helped to improve the quality of Miss Grand International. This is very special for me. For the event, expect similar things, but this year we have a very special host. He is American Filipino-Chinese and he is a great host. He posted that he was getting ready for Miss Grand International and almost a million of his followers took notice of that. So it got people talking about Miss Grand and that is very special.
GB: About the final night... anything new this year in the production, anything you can share with us?
Mr. Nawat: We will try to maintain the standard of our production. It should be at least the same as in the past or higher. We are working together with our VIetnamese production team and we are learning by doing. I believe that there must be some surprises for the final night - it will involve Vietnam and their wonderful culture. That is a good way to celebrate the beauty of this nation, its people, its fashion and make a great show of international quality.
ON WHAT IT TAKES TO BECOME MGI: 'Everyone is beautiful on the outside. We are looking for someone who can show her inner beauty too.'
GB: Are there any changes in the selection process? Will we still have a top 20, top 10, top 5?
Mr. Nawat: Yes, we are keeping it the same. You will see a top 20, a top 10 and a top 5. And then we will announce the results from the 4th runner-up to the winner.
GB: Let's talk about this year and Ariska. Is there anything you want to highlight?
Mr. Nawat: She is one of our perfect queens. She reached a lot of our goals and she was a great representative for our organization. Ariska is a very smart woman, just like all our other queens. One thing I have to say is that she was ready to work all the time and at any time. She never said no, even when she had to wake up at 4 to leave for the airport at 6 to catch early morning flights in Thailand or even outside. She traveled a lot and she never ever complained. There were never any conditions or any excuses. She was always ready to go and ready to work. The best of all for me is that she was never moody. That's why I had a great year with her.
ON ARISKA: 'I had a great year with her. She was always ready to work, she never complained and she was never moody.'
GB: What are you looking for in the new winner?
Mr. Nawat: It's very hard to describe it. I want someone different. We have had quality queens and I want to find someone like that. Someone with a good heart. Someone with a good being. We hope we can find someone like this. A beautiful women in every sense of the word. Everyone is beautiful on the outside but we are looking for someone who represents their inner beauty, too. We are looking for someone who can sparkle and catch people's attention. I hope we can find that special one. But you know... I am very happy with the girls this year. Many of them can win. It's very difficult. Every continent has good representatives. (Sighs) How will we choose only one? How can we even get to a top 5? It's really so difficult and I say that with all the sincerity in my heart... this year it is so difficult. There are many girls who I can see wearing the crown this year. So many of them are extremely beautiful, smart... so many know how to handle themselves in an interview. Many of this year's girls speak excellent English. Almost all of the Latinas can speak English for the first time we are doing this. The same goes for all the countries.
GB: Last year, you announced that this year Vietnam will be the host country. Are you going to announce the next host country during this year's final?
Mr. Nawat: We have found a host country already but we are not ready to announce it just yet. The truth is that we are still finalizing the details. We must just get the final authorization from the governor. Some countries have a lot of rules regarding international business. It's not only about money and fees. In some places, it is even more important to get the support of the government. We will definitely make a formal announcement in the next few weeks, before the end of this year. But it is done though.
ON THIS YEAR'S SHOW: 'Expect some surprises. We want a high quality production that celebrates the amazing culture of our host country.'
GB: Not long ago there was a fake Mister Grand International? Are we going to see the real Mister Grand International soon?
Mr. Nawat: (pauses) Uhm... for me, no I am not interested in doing it now. But if someone wants it and want to make it official, I can definitely arrange it for them. It must be handled by themselves, done by themselves but it will be under my brand name, so I will support them and I will look forward to see what they can do. Male pageants and female pageants are very different. That is why I want to focus on one. When I take on a goal, like Miss Grand, it is a long term commitment for me. There must be long term benefits for the winners and organization. If someone wants to run a Mister Grand International. they can contact me personally and directly. If I agree, I will give them a contract for 5 or 10 years to do it. There will be conditions though because it's under my name, so we need some sort of control. You know, to make sure it is good qaulity. So, no... there will be no official Mister Grand International... for now. But I can announce again, the one that just took place had nothing to do with my organization. I don't like what they did. They sent e-mails to many countries saying they were part of us. They contacted a lot of our franchise holders. I did not watch this competition but someone saw me photos from this event... for the final... it looked like a restaurant party... I have to say it...
GB: Anything else you would like to say?
Mr. Nawat: I want to say thanks so much and a special thanks to Global Beauties and all the fans around the world who are supporting us. I am very happy to do this pageant and I am trying to make it better all the time. Not just myself, but also the quality of the contestants and the support from all the world. I understand that when there's a new event some people might not believe in us or trust us, so to get them to believe in us, I have to win their trust. I am working hard to do that and to get better. I work very hard to make it a fair pageant. The girls come from very far to be part of this... it is their dream... they want to win... everyone is. There is one final thing I want to promise: I will run a fair pageant for the girls. I will not crown a winner for other reasons. So I want to invite all the fans to support Miss Grand International and please enjoy our show.
Global Beauties would like to thank Mr. Nawat Itsaragrisil for his time and honesty. It was an honour to learn more about the pageant from the man who started it all.
Interviewed by: Henrique Fontes
Written by: Andre Sleigh