Monday, November 26, 2007

Beauty pageant gets dirty...


CNN reports from San Juan, Puerto Rico, that "beauty pageant organizers were investigating Sunday who doused a contestant's evening gowns with pepper spray and spiked her makeup, causing her to break out in hives.
Beauty queen Ingrid Marie Rivera beat 29 rivals to become the island's 2008 Miss Universe contestant, despite applying makeup and wearing evening gowns that had been coated with pepper spray, pageant spokesman Harold Rosario said.
Rivera was composed while appearing before cameras and judges throughout the competition. But once backstage, she had to strip off her clothes and apply ice bags to her face and body, which swelled and broke out in hives twice.
"We thought at first it was an allergic reaction, or maybe nerves," Rosario said. "But the second time, we knew it couldn't have been a coincidence."
Rivera's clothing and makeup later tested positive for pepper spray.
Someone also stole Rivera's bag containing her gowns, makeup and credit cards. And a bomb threat forced pageant officials to postpone the last day of competition on Thursday, said Magali Febles, director of the Miss Puerto Rico Universe pageant.
Pageant organizers said the hoped to catch and expose whoever was responsible for the pranks. They said, however, they were handling the investigation themselves and police are not involved.
Beauty competitions in the U.S. Caribbean territory -- which boasts five Miss Universe titles, second only to the U.S. -- are fierce, drawing boisterous audiences and accusations of rigged results.
But the pranks under investigation this year are a first, Rosario said.
Rivera, who won Miss World Caribbean in 2005, had been a target of controversy from the start of competition, as rivals complained she was too experienced and should be disqualified.
Local media touted her as the likely winner, stoking jealousy among contestants, Rosario said.
When Rivera won, rivals accused her of buying the crown, Puerto Rico's El Nuevo Dia newspaper reported.
A tearful Rivera recounted her ordeal at a news conference Sunday, acknowledging she had wavered about staying in the contest.
"At one point I said, 'Am I a masochist?"' she recalled, her voice breaking. "But I said, 'I am with God and this is my goal, regardless of the results."'"
It sounds like they needed Sandra Bullock in this pageant to keep people honest...

15 comments:

waliz said...

yes...some peoples are willing to do dirty job just to get want thy wanted...

etomyam said...

I wish I can work at the bauty pageant backstage...so colorful..he he

HeyShae! said...

Wow, beauty contestants gone wild.

Shelia said...

LOL! I'm laughing, but I feel terrible for her. I have highly sensitive skin and am very sensitive to certain scents so I can definitely imagine how she must have felt. Poor baby.

Oh well, she won anyway, that ought to rub the perpetrator the wrong way!

Anonymous said...

how horrible and unfair..what possess people to do these things..
envy is a terrible thing...


mauniejames

GorillaSushi said...

Nothing like a hard-core beauty queen to mix things up...

The All Seeing Eye said...

Thanks for your comments, Waliz, Etomyam, Shae-Shae, Shelia, Gorillasushi, and Anonymous. This story got to me blog before the networks. Pretty cool...

Anonymous said...

i saw this mess on CNN. beauty pageants just aren't what they used to be. between stupid-_ss chicks on the podium and broads hittin' up each other with pepper spray; it is some madness. all i can say is that i wish a muthaf_cka would! lol.

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Dimas M said...

but she's so beautiful..

mellowed blues said...

Apparently, she got pranked twice. So, fooled her once, shame on the pranker, fooled her twice, shame on her.

Bilbo said...

Quite a story. Speaking as one who suffers from hives anyhow, I really feel for Ms Rivera. It's just a shame that people take all this pageantry so seriously that they would try to harm someone in this way.

The All Seeing Eye said...

Thanks for your comments, Marcus. It's amazing that she was still able to fight through everything and win.

The All Seeing Eye said...

Thanks for your comments, Dimas.
You're so right, Mellowed Blues.
Thanks for your comments, Bilbo. And she fought through it all with a smile on her face in the end.

BAMBOO BLITZ said...

You obviously don't want to come between one of these contestants and the crown--things just may get ugly!

Anonymous said...

She is so pretty. Can't wait for the outcome of the police investigation. Whoever did the dirty job will surely pay high price.