Is Fiji Ready for a Free Press
VOLUME 17. No.1I/MAY, 2012 ISSN 1029-7316 Pageant scrutiny by EDWARD TAVANAVANUA and PARIJATA GURDAYAL scheduled for the panel to view and assess the contestants. Hoerder, who has experience as HE Miss World Fiji 2012 Pageant is under a Miss Hibiscus judge, said the fact that they scrutiny following a plethora of allegations, only had one meeting with the contestants including that the winner was pre-deter- T was extremely irregular. The assessment also mined well before the judging panel deliberated. was confined to their life story or experiences. Although the pageant concluded about two Blake has since confirmed in a press state- weeks ago, the Miss World Organisation has ment that no judging criteria or points system yet to add the winner of the Fiji franchise, was used to judge the contestants. Torika Watters, to the list of winners on its official “If you are asked to be a judge for Miss World, website. The organisation has yet to respond to then you should come with the mindset of hear- queries e-mailed to it last week. Extra ing genuine stories and not with the expecta- Fiji franchise director Andhy Blake refused requests tions of age, point’s tabulation,” he said. yards for an in-person interview. When asked over the phone He added that based on this fact that no judging whether Watters had been accepted into the interna- or points system was employed, any allegations of pay off tional competition, he said “it’s a surprise”. judging being rigged are false. He also declined to comment on whether the funds “I gave my own personal opin- raised from a charity ball, which was held to create ions on whoever I saw fitting for awareness on mental health, had been given to St Giles the title without influencing the Hospital.
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