Ivan did not win the Mister International 2008 pageant that was held in Tainan, Taiwan (ROC)
last November 24th, much to the disbelief of many pageant fans and supporters - myself included. Ivan did not even make the
top five. I do not even wish to make any assumptions as to why he did not make the finals, but having visited several message boards
and having received input from a pageant insider in Taiwan as well as from Ivan himself, I have learned the following:
- that the local coordinator (that Taiwan's national director had hired) failed to accomplish most
of her contracted responsibilities such as providing adequate stage hand or coordinating ample activities to entertain the candidates
or to keep them busy
- that seven of the eight judges were all Chinese, including China's national director Lan Tian (although this has yet to be
confirmed by Alan Sim, the owner of Mister International)
- that there was a tremendous disgust among the delegates from Brazil, Angola, Belgium, Venezuela, Luxemburg and USA over the
official results of the pageant (a sentiment that is illustrated in several of Ivan's Facebook pics showing him and the other
guys "giving the finger" after the pageant)
- that many delegates felt that Mister Lebanon Mohamad Chamseddine had already been pre-selected to win because one of the
judges was Wissam Hanna, Mister International 2006 from Lebanon, that a high Lebanese politician had been invited
as one of the special guests, and that Hanna wants to bring the pageant to Lebanon next year (again, this has to be confirmed
by Alan Sim)
- that Angola's representative Claudio Furtado caused the organizers a lot of headache by being rude and not participating
in rehearsals, and also bullied other delegates and called them names (his roommate, Mister Brazil Marciel Moreno began to distance himself
from Furtado as soon as the latter's level of rudeness escalated)
- that Ivan was chewing gum most of the time even while talking to people - which is considered rude in Taiwan - and
that he got mixed with the "wrong" crowd (Angola, Belgium, Luxemburg)
- that some of the contestants were making fun of Mister Macau and his "unusual" walk
- that someone had drawn a moustache while signing a big poster with Mister International 2007
Alan Martini's face on it
- that half of the contestants did not want to win
- that most of the contestants - and even the Mister Singapore Organization staff - were fed up and just wanted to
leave even before the pageant was over
- that the most well-behaved candidates are the Asians (could good behavior, and not looks, be the most crucial
criteria in selecting the finalists?)
I have a few bones to pick, too, with the pageant organizers:
- since the pageant started on November 11th, the national directors - and the pageant community - were not getting updates on a
daily basis, which kept us in suspense (as such, it was difficult to cover or to promote the pageant)
- the official Mister International website was hardly updated, and the official photos of the candidates were not released
until two days before the finals (to this day, even the videos have not been put up)
- that the candidates were not informed of the official list of judges until a few days before the finals
- that there was too much wasted time, that rehearsals took like six hours when they should have lasted
less than an hour, and that the dance number was too complicated and stressful
- it would have been nice if the organizers had assigned a staff member, or a press liaison, in charge of communicating with
the national directors or transmitting updates to pageant sites (Ivan said that the Internet service in Taiwan is a "hit or miss,"
and thus I had to rely on his Facebook notes for updates)
WHAT NOW?
I had high expectations in Ivan to do very well in Taiwan, but his dismal placement in the competition
has left the both of us confused, dumbfounded and downright disappointed. The thing with pageants is that you can never be too sure
about anything; you just wish for the best. You just hope that the judges will like your candidate and that they will look past your
candidate's idiosyncracies - such as chewing gum while talking or rubbing his hands - even though such faults are not considered as
criteria for judging (at least, according to the Contestant's Handbook that was given to all the contestants and directors).
What now? Ivan is still Mister USA, and he is the best Mister USA so far. He has done an excellent job
in promoting Mister USA and for that, I am very proud of him. As far as producing a Mister USA pageant next year, hmmmmm... I am no longer
sure any more.
Posted on 12.01.2008
