Starvot: December 2008

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Dr. Reita Faria Powell

Dr. Reita Faria Powell (born Bombay, date unknown) was the first Indian woman to win the Miss World title of 1966. After winning the Miss Bombay crown earlier that year, she won the Eve's Weekly Miss India contest (not to be confused with the Femina Miss India competition won that year by Yasmin Daji.) She was the first Asian to win Miss World.

After her one year tenure, she refused modeling and films and instead concentrated on medical studies. She lives in Dublin, Ireland with her husband David Powell, and has two children and five grandchildren. Reita was a judge at Femina Miss India 1998, and has come back to judge the Miss World competition on a few occasions.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

MISS WORLD

Miss World Pageant was first held in 1951 in Lyceum Ballroom of London by Eric Morley as the Festival Bikini Contest. However, it adopted the name Miss World later. Even today the event remains under the control of the family. It is a fine amalgamation of glamour and charitable activities.

Miss World was originally planned as a one-off event. However, when Morley learnt about the upcoming Miss Universe pageant, he made it an annual event. The motive behind the event was to cash the popular swim wear of the time and hence it was named Festival Bikni. It was called Miss World by the press and it was later adopted by the organizers.

After the first contest, the bikinis were replaced by swim wear. With the advent of television, the popularity of the pageant grew constantly. The BBC began broadcasting the competition in 1959 while Channel 5 aired it in 1998. The organizers decided to reposition the pageant with the slogan Beauty With a Purpose in the 1980s to keep the event in sync with the times. The tests of intelligence and personality were added. The objective was to make the event politically correct.

In 21st century the event saw its first black African winner, Agbani Darego, in 2001. Miss World came with a new marketing strategy and it was successful too. The organizers introduced You Decide television special, featuring the delegates behind the scenes and on the beach. Viewers could now either phone in or vote online for their favorite contestants.