GB Awards 2012
This is it. Our 15th year selecting the World’s Best in Pageantry! It seems like yesterday when we started our awards in 1998, and even if time passes by, most ‘pageant’stuff remains the same. Are you ready for the announcement? Here are the winners in our Pageants’ category:
INTERNATIONAL PAGEANTS
-Best Host City
WINNER: Okinawa, Japan (Miss International)
2nd place: Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China (Miss World)
3rd place: Las Vegas, Nevada (Miss Universe)
GB comment: The city of Okinawa really stepped out of its way to make a memorable event for Miss International. They were not only active in tourism and activities, but also in the social networks. The competition never had so many photos before, not even when it was held in China. Our Gold Yulia goes to all organizers in Okinawa who made this event happen and who took good care of all the contestants, as well as planning the logistics behind the event, which are very important points on a “Grand Slam” event. Kudos.
Silver and Gold medals went to Ordos (China) who did a magnificent job, and the city of Las Vegas (USA) with its amazing entertainment facilities.
-Best Official Website
WINNER: Miss World
2nd place: Miss Universe
3rd place: Miss International
GB comment: Miss World took the edge in 2012 with its redesign and constant updating of the event, impressive media gallery, updating of news and links to social media networks. A job well done. Miss Universe took the silver Yulia; a pioneer website with the best information, in 2012 it suffered from lack of information due to the organization redirecting most of their updates to its Facebook page. However it is still one of the best. Miss International gets the Bronze Yulia for the site created by the Okinawa organizing committee, which has done an outstanding job.
-Best Pre-Pageant Activities
WINNER: Miss World
2nd place: Miss Universe
3rd place: Miss International
GB comment: The People’s Republic of China always steps up when it comes to celebrating international events. Miss World 2012 was a festival not only of beauty, but also of Tourism with lots of events, galas, and visits to Shanghai, Ordos, a colossal opening ceremony, a more-than-perfect fashion show, a designer dress gala, a cruise, among others, making the pre-pageant events an unforgettable experience. In 2nd place, the Miss Universe pageant always offers the most competitive spirit and the preliminary event is the major highlight before the event, as well as the photo ops and tours around Las Vegas. Miss International comes in 3rd, with lots of activities filling the contestants’ calendar.
-Best Stage of 2012
WINNER – Miss World
2nd place – Miss Supranational
3rd place – Miss Universe
GB comment: Miss World outdid itself with the biggest stage ever produced for any beauty pageant in history; a massive, impressive 1,200 sq meter LED HD screen, 12 Barco HD30 projectors, 24 LED high-beam PG lights are among the technical aspects of this gigantic, modern stage which earns, without a doubt, a Golden Yulia. In 2nd place, Miss Supranational which always strives for the best in bringing its spectators the latest in technology, LED effects and amazing lighting. In 3rd place, Miss Universe; which always have beautiful stages but still have to modernize them and bring them into this decade.
-Best Television Pageant Production
WINNER: Miss Supranational
2nd place: Miss World
3rd place: Miss Universe
GB comment: No question here, Miss Supranational’s production values and entertaining quality is at its finest, delivering an upbeat, interesting and easy-to-follow format; the lights, the stage, the pre-pageant videos, all adding to the great job this pageant has been doing for the past years. They get the Gold Yulia for entertainment and innovation. In 2nd place, the Miss World competition although with some technical glitches, managed to delivered a great quality show with an impressive stage and some welcomed changes in the competition’s format. Miss Universe gets 3rd place, as entertaining and controversial as it has always been, we have seen way better productions in the past from this giant competition.
-Best Soundtrack
Winner: Miss Supranational
GB Comment: Miss Supranational gets again, the Golden Yulia for its choice of music which keeps the show trendy and lively, as well as delivering catchy choreographies. 2nd place goes to Miss Universe, which delivered a decent selection of music including hits by One Direction, Avicii, the presentation of ‘Train” as well as its official soundtrack which has been the buzz of many fans; in 3rd place is Miss World, which brings us music inspired by the host country as well as a global approach to all kinds of music of the world.
-Best Group of Candidates
WINNER: Miss World
2nd place: Miss Universe
3rd place: Miss Supranational
GB Comment: Miss World, once again and not surprisingly, takes the award for the best overall group of candidates, followed by Miss Universe and then Miss Supranational in 3rd place. Miss International, which has always been an excellent indicator for world beauties, suffered a decline in its quality of contestants in 2012 perhaps due to changes with some national licensees.
-Best Presenter
WINNER: Andy Cohen (Miss Universe)
2nd place: Jason Cook (Miss World)
3rd place: Giuliana Rancic (Miss Universe)
GB comment: Andy Cohen did extremely well during his 2nd year at Miss Universe, earning the Yulia for his upbeat enthusiasm and charisma. Jason Cook did also well in Ordos during the Miss World competition, and Giuliana Rancic, also from Miss Universe proved why she is an excellent host/commentator.
-Best Media and Press Promotion
WINNER – Miss Universe
2nd place – Miss World
3rd place – Miss International
GB comment: In terms of media promotion, Miss Universe still remains unbeatable. Not only it knows how to use its website, Facebook page and twitter like no other pageant, but it also organizes a series of press conferences in the weeks preceding the pageant’s final event, and makes photos and press releases available to the general media and wire agencies. Miss World is more protective of its press information, however, being the most popular pageant in over 70% of the countries in the world, it naturally attracts press attention. Miss International comes next, followed by Miss Supranational, which is growing fast, but needs a hand from international news agencies to make it better known to the general world media.
-Most watched show on television
WINNER – Miss World
2nd place – Miss Universe
3rd place – Miss Supranational
GB comment: Miss World is watched live in over 120 countries, in all continents, followed by Miss Universe, watched live in the whole of the Americas, but not in most other continents (with exceptions like the Philippines and a couple of other countries in Asia and Europe). Speaking of delayed broadcasts, Miss World may reach over 170 countries and territories, Miss Universe 100, and Miss Supranational 90 (a great number for the youngest Grand Slam pageant around). Miss International was not on TV in 2012 (a webcast was produced instead), hopefully things will change for this year. A live Television Show is a MUST for a Grand Slam pageant.
-Best Candidates’ Official Photos
WINNER – Miss Universe
2nd place – Miss Supranational
3rd place – Miss International
GB comment: As usual, Fadil Berisha delivers excellent work and the Miss Universe 2012 pageant was no exception, with its high quality of delegates. Miss World, on the other hand, does not have official pictures; Miss Supranational comes in 2nd, and in 3rd Miss International, where for several years they have been taking official photographs but do not publish all of them.
-Most Outstanding Social Work
WINNER – Miss World
2nd place – Miss Universe
Julia Morley’s Beauty With a Purpose keeps on raising millions of dollars for needy children and people in general worldwide. Miss World encourages young ladies in all of its 120 participating countries to do voluntary work and embrace important social causes. In this category, it won the trophy by unanimity. Miss Universe comes next, supporting noble causes like AIDS awareness.
-Pageant of the Year
WINNER – Miss World
2nd place – Miss Universe
3rd place – Miss Supranational
GB Comment: Miss Universe remains in 2nd place; it is the most exciting and most commented pageant no doubt; the organization has stalled in time. Miss Universe used to change its format completely every 3 years, and now we have been watching the same show since 2003, with little or no change at all. The inclusion of the popular vote or changes in music are nice things to look at but the final telecast, as a whole, needs a complete overhaul for this year if they want to keep on top; and we know they can do it.
In overall terms, two pageants actually fight for the biggest award of the year: Miss World and Miss Universe. Miss World remains by far the most watched beauty pageant on global television, it had the strongest group of competitors, therefore, it deserves to top this category once again. However, it must improve its tv production even further, bringing back more exciting stage competitions to the final show (seeing the top 15 competing in equal gowns was a huge improvement though). Although Miss Universe has the most exciting format, unfortunately it did not bring any new or surprising elements to its production in 2012, except for the “Final Look”. The Christmas vibe at the pageant was a nice plus, though.
Miss Supranational keeps on growing strong; 4 years into the pageant arena and its production has reached incredible levels; but it needs more coverage from the general media (AFP, AP, Reuters) and an improvement in some other elements like the website and pre-pageant events. It also needs a proper script and (much) better presenters. But it has gotten amazing results in such little time. Miss International’s 2012 final was a complete disappointment. After several years in China, it went back to Japan and it was not on TV and a 5-hour show with no specific script and a confusion with the judges’s scores that stretched the show to no end. Such a pageant needs to be careful with detail and fight to keep their brand on top. Miss Japan’s victory was not welcomed or even understood by most fans a pageant followers around the world…
NATIONAL PAGEANTS
And the Yulia goes to…
-Best National Director
WINNER – Madame Stella Marquez de Araneta (Binibining Pilipinas) For her EXCELLENT contribution in 2012, to the world of pageantry
2nd place – Osmel Sousa (Miss Venezuela)
3rd place – Paula Shugart (Miss USA)
-Best National Pageant Website
WINNER – Miss France
2nd place – Miss Universe Italy
3rd place – Miss Venezuela
-Country of the Year
WINNER – USA
2nd place – Philippines
3rd place – Brazil
-Best National Pageant Production of 2012
WINNER – Miss Polski 2012 (to Miss World 2013)
2nd place – Miss France (to Miss World and Miss Universe 2013)
3rd place – Miss USA
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WINNERS!