`I'm just going to go out there and do my best. This is the best thing I think I can ever do for my country' - Miss Guyana Olive Gopaul

MISS Guyana Olive Gopaul sets out to defy 95 of the world's most beautiful, talented and intelligent girls tonight as she takes to the big stage competing in the 51st Miss World Pageant in Sun City, South Africa.

"I'm just going to go out there and do my best. This is the best thing I think I can ever do for my country. It's a real honour for me to promote my country in this way. The days can be frustrating, but feeling confident that everyone home is supporting me - that's what keeps me going," Gopaul said yesterday.

An excited, but calm Gopaul spoke with the Chronicle via telephone from her room at the Tastades Hotel at one of Sun City's exotic resorts.

The newspaper caught her just before she called it a day after a hectic grand rehearsal for the pageant. Guyana is six hours behind South African time.

The Guyana queen says her trainer/chaperon, Derek Moore, is nervous, but she said: "I'm not."

Miss Guyana, who has attracted favourable reviews for being "beautiful, funny and extroverted," can't wait to jump into her body-fitted ivory and gold evening gown today. Giving a sneak peek, she said the dress is trimmed with gold handpaintings, while the trail is decorated with little turtles in keeping with her platform on marine turtle conservation.

Gopaul said she got through "okay" with her interview on Wednesday. Among other "simple" questions, she said she was asked to tell the judges a little about herself and about how she finds South Africa.

"About South Africa, I explained that I'm comfortable, because it's just like home," Olive said, recalling that she mentioned the similarity between the huge mountains and the animals that are still surviving here and are living in the wild.

Olive was most pleased to learn that Guyanese at home are rallying behind her, but in the audience in South Africa she looks forward to seeing the Guyana flag in the air.

She said she has met some Guyanese, among them, Eric Phillips, adding that besides that, "I have managed to secure a lot of fans over here."

Gopaul, who teaches both English and Spanish at Saint Stanislaus College in Brickdam, Georgetown, secured her participation in the Miss World Pageant on September 8 when she easily won the crown and title of Miss Guyana at the National Cultural Centre in the city.

The second-year marketing student of the University of Guyana wants to become a marketing executive.

If all goes well, Guyanese will be among the some 2.5 billion viewers worldwide watching the pageant from their living rooms.

RBS Channel 13 was the only local television station which confirmed yesterday that it will be airing the contest at 21:00 hrs.

Miss World pageant titbits
By Marina Robles
From Global Beauties magazine
** MISS Ukraine looked really impressive yesterday, and she is being talked about as "the one to beat" in this year's pageant.

** Priyanka Chopra, Miss World 2000, is here. So are many of the national directors, like Lupita Jones of Mexico, Osmel Souza of Venezuela and Boanerges Gaeta of Brazil. Family members and friends of some girls have also been arriving in the last few days. ** Half of the delegates were interviewed yesterday. They were presented to the panel of judges in groups of three delegates. Each had three minutes to speak. Most left the room where they were interviewed confident and relieved. There were also a few tears from those who did not feel as well...

** The interviews' scores count for 50% of delegates' final scores. The other 50% will come from the swimwear video voting (25% from phone votes and the other 25% from judges' votes).

** Phone votes will be counted in a fair way. Even if millions of people vote in a certain country, and only a couple in other nations, they will have the same weight at the end. Each country will have the right to one vote, which will be determined by the results of phone votes received in the past week.

** Next year's pageant shall be held in Latin America. Mexico, Puerto Rico and Chile are all major contenders for hosting the event.

** My personal favourite for the crown is Miss Lebanon, followed by Miss Tanzania. Others who should be finalists are Ukraine, Venezuela, Brazil, Yugoslavia, South Africa, Bosnia, Nicaragua, Croatia and Czech Republic.

Miss World takes stage in `Kingdom of Pleasure'
By Steven Swindells
SUN CITY, South Africa, (Reuters) - The Miss World pageant, the love-it or hate-it global beauty gala, is set to celebrate its 51st anniversary in this self-styled South African Kingdom of Pleasure.

The 96 contestants competing for this year's crown will be watched by an expected television audience of 2.5 billion when the theatrical showcase reaches its climax today.

The show is attacked as a sexist cattle market and defended as harmless entertainment, but its organisers believe weary viewers will switch away with relief from wars and disasters to the less demanding sight of smiling models.

Official bookmakers Ladbrokes make Miss USA, 19-year-old blonde Carrie Ann Stroup, a 3/1 favourite to land the title -- followed closely by Miss Chile Christianne Balmelli, aged 22, and Miss India Sara Corner, 21.

Carrie Ann, who wants to be a model and actress, attracted excited photographers by putting a model of the Statue of Liberty on her head to complement her blonde, Bay Watch-like figure.

The contest, attacked for years by feminists as demeaning to women, is keen to distance itself from the ``bimbo'' image, preferring to emphasise contestants' serious career aspirations.

This year's hopefuls include a chemistry lecturer, but of course many of them are eyeing a career in modelling and television.

And racy previews showing bikini-clad hopefuls bouncing on trampolines show that not much has changed, as does the choice of host -- ``the King of TV Tack'' Jerry Springer.

Trademark heels, lip-liner, heavy make up, pink catsuits and a love affair with cameras are still the order of the day.

NAKED AMBITION
Media interviews with contestants include the tried and tested formula of flashy smiles and commitment to work with orphans and the needy across the world.

Ambition there is no shortage of. Commitment to the Miss World ideal plenty.

Miss India from Bangalore says she would use the winnings to further her career as a student of tourism to work with orphans, buy her own airline and her father a Mercedes.

Dig deeper and ask what purpose a Miss World contest has in today's politically-correct world and Miss India tries philosophy: ``What is the purpose of existence if you are going to die anyway?''

Blonde and athletic Miss Chile, who has seen late strong backing at bookmakers to come out top, enthusiastically says she will use the title to help people around the world.

So tempting is the crown that Miss Venezuela, 19-year-old Andreina Prieto Rincon, has undergone plastic surgery on three separate occasions to add to her stunning looks.

Asked about this, Miss Rincon comes up with her own philosophy: If plastic surgery makes you feel good, then why not?

FUN MISS WORLD
After all this is just a bit of fun, say organisers.

``It's fun. We're not asking to be politicians or serious diplomats...I'd be terrified if I thought we could change the world,'' said chief executive Julia Morley, whose late husband Eric, a legendary British entrepreneur, organised the first contest 51 years ago.

Organisers are trying to modernise the event by giving viewers the chance to phone in their votes and even email questions to the hopefuls.

Criticism of the show reached its peak in the 1970s when enraged feminists stormed the stage and pelted the host, comedian Bob Hope, with flour bombs.

Two decades later, Hindu fundamentalists and feminists staged massive protests when the event was held in India in 1996.

But the event goes on undaunted and the number of contestants is still growing, with entries from China and Malawi for the first time.

And Morley expects to attract more than 100 for next year's show.