The 2010 Miss World contest was marred by a political dispute between Norway and china. For more facts & information on what happened read our guide…
Although favored to win the Miss Word Beauty Pageant, Miss Norway was not even chosen as a runner up. Instead the crown was awarded to Miss USA, Alexandria Mills. The pageant was held in Sanya, China and many believe that Miss Norway was deliberately denied the crown because of a bitter political dispute between Norway and China.
The Oslo based Nobel Peace Prize was awarded earlier this year to imprisoned Chinese dissident, Lui Xiaobo. China viewed the award as an insult to their government and a political statement by Norway. While prestigious, the Nobel Peace Prize has been controversial in the past, most recently when it was awarded to U.S. President Obama in 2009.
The Nobel Prize winners are chosen by a committee of five judges who are appointed by the Norwegian Storting (national parliament). While many of the winners have made outstanding contributions to world peace and human rights, some of the winners seem to have been chosen as a blatant political statement which is how China views the award to Lui Xiaobo.
Many believe that the Chinese government put pressure on the pageant judges to keep Miss Norway out of the running for the title in retaliation for Norway’s political insult to their government. Certainly it would not be the first time that world politics played a role in the selection of the pageant winner. Unfortunately for Alexandria Mills, the controversy has tainted her victory with many people feeling she was a second choice at best.
This is not the first time that the Miss World pageant has been marred by international politics and it is unlikely to be the last. The five judges for the finals were all former Miss World title holders, but they may have bowed to political pressure from the Chinese government. Miss Norway was a hands down favorite to win with odds of 6/5. Although she did make it to the top twenty finalists, she was not in the top 5.
The controversy between Norway and China continues with the added fuel of the beauty pageant. It is unfortunate that both countries should have used coveted prizes as platforms for political statements. The use of the Nobel Peace Prize as a political commentary cheapens the accomplishments of past winners and the use of the Miss World Pageant for political retribution makes the contestants nothing more than pretty political pawns.
It is a shame that Alexandria Mills, who worked as hard as the other contestants, should have her victory labeled as second best simply because of a dispute between the governments of Norway and China.
