(Reflections on Venus and the Miss Universe contest)
By MYLAH ROQUE
I WIPED my eyes after the Miss Universe 2010 host announced Venus Raj was 4th runner-up. Coming from watching the coverage of the tourists’ hostage taking the day before, I felt that we were a nation hungry for a break, for a spot of good news, that her loss was like a kick to one already down on the ground.
It was, however, not fair to pin so much on a woman who had already fought her own battle and won. She flipped what previously could have been a humiliating personal setback into an inspiring story. In the midst of mounting her successful challenge to retrieve her Binibining Pilipinas Universe 2010 crown, it was revealed that she is an illegitimate child born of a parent who was then an overseas Filipino worker in Qatar.
The question asked by the actor and pageant Judge William Baldwin was: “What is one big mistake that you’ve made in your life and what did you do to make it right?”
It was a textbook Miss Universe question. My knee-jerk reaction was it was also the perfect one for Venus, considering her personal circumstances.
Her response: “Thank you so much, sir, for that wonderful question. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Good evening, Las Vegas!
“You know what, sir, in my 22 years of existence, I can say that there is nothing major, major, I mean, problem that I have done in my life because I am very confident with my family, with the love that they are giving to me. So thank you so much that I am here. Thank you, thank you so much.”
One wire report referred to her response as the night’s major social gaffe.
With only minutes away from the announcement of the results, possible alternative responses rushed through my mind, and the one that stuck, the one I thought could seal her win with the gallery and the judges was: That I stand before you now is proof that I did not only survive but made the right choices against the many challenges I faced to get this far. I fought a good fight for social acceptance, against circumstances beyond my control such as my birth and my poverty. I am here, and if only for that, I am already a winner.
I think with Miss Universe, you don’t need to make a specific reply – vague can work. Unfortunately, allayed against the responses of her four other competitors, hers stood out for clearly not answering the question.
A friend who watches pageants zealously, and who is familiar with Venus’ history of question -and-answer performances, said her response this time was actually already her best. Youtube videos of her previous responses support this.
To Binibining Pilipinas 2010 judge Claudine Barreto’s question on March 6, 2010, “How far would you go to achieve your dreams?” Venus replied, “Thank you so much, ma’am. I think to achieve my dreams, I will really do my best—everything that I can do to really achieve what I want in life because at the end of the day it is only me whom I can lean on, it is only myself whom can help me a lot so I think I would prefer to be with myself and to have God within me so that I can achieve every dream that I want. Thank you.”
At the Miss Philippines-Earth 2008 question-and-answer portion on May 11, 2008, the question was: The lack of awareness is a primary reason why the degradation of our environment continues, if you win tonight how will you teach the ignorant and the illiterate about the ill effects of global warning to our environment?
Her reply: “If I will win tonight, I will teach … (looks at the question printed on paper held by the host) if I will win tonight, I will teach the ignorant and the illiterate about the ill effect of global warming to our environment by educating them first and foremost. First, in their homes it should start in their homes because once they are aware of what they are doing they can … they can … they can… do away of those things that they should not do. And second, aside from the family, next is the society. And in the society it should be the government who will teach, who will educate the people on how to preserve, conserve our environment because if we want a ten year of prosperity we should let’s say plant corn. But if we want 10 years of prosperity let us plant trees. But if we want hundred years of prosperity, we should educate people.”
The two competitions were only two years apart, but they showed a person markedly improved in her looks, poise and confidence. Gone is the unruly hair that detracted from her features, her meandering answers have become shorter though no less vague, and her catwalk has evolved from the rice paddies of Bato, Camarines Sur in Bicol to the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas.