Despite economic crisis, Venezuela's beauty pageants remain popular

mention Venezuela and many people will still think of this the beauty pageant [Music] something this country is very good at and not at all ashamed about [Music] many young women here still do dream of one day becoming a beauty queen and all this despite the fact that Venezuela right now does have little to smile about [Music] this is a country in the deepest recession in the world [Music] what's more scandal has recently hit these competitions with allegations that some of those sponsoring the participants expect sex in return we spent several weeks filming the Miss Venezuela Intercontinental competition it's a stepping stone for the prestigious Miss Venezuela and then [Music] putting on these shows televised to massive audiences requires a cast of hundreds not just the prospective beauty queens but makeup artists choreographers and nobody hides it the plastic surgeon maria lara lopez is representing Tatura state in the far west of venezuela she allowed us to follow her in the grueling process most of the way today is the eve of her first major beauty competition the preliminary round of the event so how is she feeling can I get that Juanita while many people are leaving Venezuela right now Maria Lara is somewhat unusual she's returned from living abroad in Mexico to try to fulfill her dream of becoming a Miss Venezuela s 2 n Mexico's i-news trabajando como Modelo pero Yo Ma regress a no se hace la única low cabeza Soto an Akita Tondo a salir y por que tengo por todas estas buscando que aqui no I no me importa even a yo siempre y ou know me poem or a simple no Venezuela taranta F is our new nullity okay the preparation for this competition begins three months before the televised final this is the choreography class for the 23 participants each represents one state of Venezuela [Applause] [Music] Maria Lara like many of the girls here seem sure of one thing this will all be worth it come the final [Music] there's training for everything here and that includes the answers these young women have to give in front of an audience of millions to what might seem basic questions be yourself and be honest is what the candidates are taught here talking politics we were told it's allowed in la situación que Viva Venezuela penned area ant el mundo El Torito penance hola no para que la gente non visit a las condiciones movie viendo creo que hacen las mejores experiencia yo creo que el mundo necesitas a verdict a Venezuela CA cierto que esta pasando por momento vasila pero también creo que Venezuela tiene con que no important a difficult a pienso que que viene so la no Puebla in darle a Lextran hair o coneja visit our a seal hasta pasando mal una sonrisa character isa entonces yo creo que a las personas que en el exterior vengan visi Technos tenemos playa hermosa no segi important couch on en el exterior casey cierto pero aquí Laguna Serrano's [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Maria Lara is acutely aware that the reality of present-day Venezuela is a world away from the sugar-coated image of the beauty contest to participate in the competition she and several other girls have rented an apartment in the downtown area of Caracas this neighborhood is cheap but it's dangerous the city has been ranked as the most murderous capital in the world and most nights there are reminders of that wound my Segura una zona peligrosa the llama drogas me / todd oh poor case when auntie rose a las tres la mañana es usted porque su a man Casey aquí el frente y la gente me me a soma a gente corriendo it cause I see and then there's the problem of shortages for someone who's lived abroad the decline of living standards here has been a shock in a Khmer I'm Mucha gente que la calle market work in Caracas I paint a mini market oh no very similar to recommend no a la vez una cosa que no siree yeah the models diet is mostly that Venezuelan staple the arepa whatever you know know already you know better when I wrote a novel [Music] the image the miss intercontinental Venezuela competition gave this year was perhaps deliberately otherworldly [Music] part of the reason these contests are popular and still command huge television audiences is that they are a few hours of escapism a chance to show another face of this troubled nation to itself and to the world outside despite minuscule wages here we saw no shortage of effort in the pursuit of beauty [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] the televised show itself is sponsored by advertisers the competitors somehow have to find the money for everything clothes training cosmetic surgery that can be a real challenge in the midst of an economic collapse earlier this year a scandal hit the Miss Venezuela competition its organizers briefly suspended the event and put in place new safeguards after contestants on social media accused each other of receiving money from businessmen and even government officials in exchange for sexual favors there has been no suggestion that that was the case in this competition I asked Maria Lara about the issue of sponsors for competitors another side to this that some people have their sponsors Boonen open era for como hacen para pagar and what about the surgery it is the norm not the exception amongst participants we are also for example jonathan go see you here thank me Nerys i mucho que no lo hacen para ir the time ago for como todos en tacoma many of the contestants here love is Bolivar analyst on o op le in their 20s but they've spent half their lives training to be in gracias Alana sir meas pero cuando NOS Incognito's a commensal participar en con Coulson la escuela y no let o me amorous ah me up says yo nee pora si si blow palabra pero Menem era tanto que tiene esta mi vida y esto pasa tiempo know if para me it's a media service again - or a new era but some are new to this [Music] Jennifer March owl representing 2 kilo state is a 25 year old civil engineer she thought she'd try her luck as a beauty queen a stand-in she has had almost [Applause] [Music] so what is the incentive to put yourself through this many say the exposure career move one of the presenters of this event is cherish akan a former Miss Venezuela competitor who went on to become an actress solana Venezuela como la plataforma para lograr la cosa que queremos y cuando participant in Venezuela la gente de dmoz todo el viene Solano la noche many souls kappa god o Antilochus or bien Doce Concorso y la que se de esta a la que ohonta hablar larson Fatiha poison pierson-el amar para caste de télévision e sin do de alguna tabret una Puerta no quiere decir que esta Segura pero SI te abre Ted stead una pantalla para mostrar cultural yes parte de la cultura del Venezuela no y como hemos tenido tanto éxito afuera en dos y como si tuvimos algo tan bonito que queremos refers our lowest economy el mundo travilana pero si a lo que se trabajado lago los años en demostrar que su mujeres completa tambien nothing she says no crisis will ever stop this iconic our hammer Savannah carraclough por ejemplo en el concurso que no es tan importante como mi Venezuela pero Bacary Sagna Dora cada product or hacen suma yo ref we're so T la cuenta Uno's vestido a - ah jana que tienen demostrar c talento de seguir adelante y pienso que te lo conclusive aha Masonic our porque lo Yahoo injector after five hours recording the show the final result was approaching Maria Lara was one of the finalists [Music] [Applause] [Music] and the winner was [Music] [Music] [Music] Thank You uncle bye mr. C julep oh you are the enemy Granito Arena okay Cinderella rainy represent van Gogh awareness whele a new pie's another 500 from here just before we left we had the opportunity to speak to one of Venezuela's best-known Plastic Surgeons yes of course we try to do our best because many women's needs breast augmentation this is the first surgery that we did here in Venezuela and of course Reno classy or some another liposuctions or sometimes otoplasty because they have their years this is the first the first five surgeries that we did and that's not cheating natural beauty it's okay yes it's okay because the beauty isn't only physical I feel that the beauty comes from inside from the soul but you need I feel that with the surgeries the woman feel more confident and have more security and this is really really important to have a crown in the contest because they have a questions they have a lot of things that they have to do and if you give it something that they feel that they are more beauty they feel more confident and more secure and this is the way the day after the contest we caught up with Maria Lara and her family watching the competition was it worth it father William was sure it was Nina Nina siempre lakita a lost economist pause a llama my su Camino Porto La Casa la Isla Grande de algo cultura yes oh come on for my car lol we are super colorful Emma Cooper cerveza he plays la muchacha que tengan alguna algún puesto importante pueden project Arsenal internationally tender una Carrera this is a country with an uncertain future but something that seems to give many people here a sense of continuity even Pope is this

Channel: CGTN America

Views: 107,780

Rating: 4.7065325 out of 5

Keywords: @cgtnamerica, CGTN, China news, Beuty pageant, Venezuela, Latin America, Crisis, Americas Now

Id: ZdjZurhPpYU

Length: 19min 13sec (1153 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 21 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/noonesaidthat]

Starving hot. It's a thing.

[u/rider1encore]

What the hell is a difference between Miss World and Miss Universe???