Jamaica, Vietnam bid to host 2011 Miss Universe

By ROBERT R. REQUINTINA
November 6, 2010, 3:37pm

MANILA, Philippines – Jamaica and Vietnam have been invited to host the 2011 Miss Universe beauty pageant, sources said.

If negotiations pull through, it will be the second time that the most prestigious beauty contest in the world will be staged in Vietnam, the first being in 2008. But it will be the first time for Jamaica.

A report by VietnamPlus said that President of the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) Paula Shugart has asked Khanh Hoa province in Vietnam to host the beauty pageant.

Shugart has reportedly met with Deputy Chairman of the central province of Khanh Hoa People’s Committee Le Xuan Than last June 30. “We are waiting for permission from Khanh Hoa province and the Vietnamese government,” she said.

Than welcomed the proposal of the MUO, saying Vietnam is capable of hosting the 60th edition of the beauty pageant.

The Vietnamese official told the MUO and its partner to draw up plans for the pageant which will be submitted to the provincial People’s Committee. Once approved, the plans will be submitted to the government for consideration.

Shugart said that the MUO has selected Nha Trang as venue for next year’s contest and at the same time, to celebrate the 60th year of the pageant. The official announcement is expected later this year, Globalbeauties.com also said.

The Wikipedia also said that Jamaican Minister of Tourism Mr. Bartlett has been approached by the MUO to host the most-publicized beauty contest.

Talks are ongoing that the pageant will be held in Montego Bay’s newly constructed Montego Bay Convention Center in Jamaica.

This developed as 14 countries have selected their representatives for the 2011 Miss Universe contest. At the same time, four countries and territories will return to compete in the pageant. They are Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Chile and Namibia.

So far, those who will compete in the beauty contest are Miss Bolivia Maria Olivia Menacho, Miss Bonaire Benazir Charles, Miss British Virgin Islands Sheroma Hodge, Miss Cayman Islands Cristin Alexander, Miss Georgia Eka Gurtskaya, Miss Indonesia Nadine Alexandra Dewi Ames, Miss Kazakhstan Zhanna Zhumaliyeva, Miss Korea Jung So-ra, Miss Mauritius Laetitia Darche, Miss Mexico Karin Cecilia Ontiveros Maza, Miss Namibia Odile Madeline Gertze, Miss Serbia Ana Saranovic, Miss Spain Paula Guillo Sempere, Miss Switzerland Kerstin Cook, and Miss Venezuela Vanessa Andrea Goncalves Gomez.

Other participating countries such as Puerto Rico, Colombia, Poland, France, South Africa, and Angola will select their representatives before the year ends. The Philippines will choose its representative during the Bb. Pilipinas beauty contest to be held sometime March next year.

Reigning Miss Universe Xemina Navarette of Mexico will crown her successor middle of 2011.

Courtesy: Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp.