Miss Earth to unveil new crown

By ROBERT R. REQUINTINA
October 28, 2009, 6:23pm

Organizers of the 2009 Miss Earth beauty pageant have announced that they will unveil a new crown to be worn by the winner as 90 contestants compete in one of the most prestigious beauty pageants which will be held at the Boracay Ecovillage Resort and Convention Center on November 22.

The new crown will be designed by Ramona Haar, an environmentalist jewelry designer from Florida, the official jeweler of Miss Earth pageant, the pageant’s website said.

“The new crown is made of 100 percent recycled precious metals comprised of 14 karat gold and argentums sterling silver. What sets the Miss Earth crown apart is the fact that the gemstones used both precious stone and semiprecious stone were donations from over 80 different participating countries. These are gemstones that each country is known for either as the origin or source. The gemstones were sent in various forms: Faceted, cabochons, beads , or rough. The designer travelled to Jaipur, India, to have these gemstones individually trimmed and faceted to the required cut and sizes,’’ organizers said.

“The flower in the center of the crown represents Mother Earth, as inspired by the statement of an American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson’s ‘The earth laughs in flowers.’ The recurring spiral motif has always been associated with ‘maternal power’ and ‘feminine prestige, the essence of Miss Earth. The gentle curves in the crown symbolize ‘unity’ and the ‘spirit of cooperation,’ ’’ they added.

Boracay, a resort known for its white sand and idyllic setting, won the rights to stage this year’s Miss Earth beauty contest. It was earlier planned in Cebu City, but the mayor reportedly declined due to the high financial cost of sponsoring the pageant.

Karla Henry of the Philippines is the reigning Miss Earth, the first Asian to win the title.

This year’s Philippine representative to the contest is Sandra Seifert, part-German and part-Filipino, the first non-native born Philippine delegate.

Countries and territories debuting in this year’s contest are Gabon, Malawi, Namibia, and Tonga while returning nations are Croatia, Curacao, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nepal, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Zambia.

Some of the contestants this year have earlier competed in other major pageants, the Wikipedia website said.

It reported that Dominique Peltier of Bolivia has competed in the 2009 Miss Universe pageant; Hamy Tejeda of Guatemala, competed in 2007 Miss World; Alejandra Mendoza of Honduras, was supposed to represent her country in the 2008 Miss Earth pageant but failed.

Inessa Nazarova, of Kazakhstan, competed in the 2007 Miss Tourism Queen International; Gabriela Rejala, of Paraguay, joined the 2008 Miss World; Dignelis Jimenez previously competed in 2003 Miss International but she was unplaced; and Amy Diaz, of USA, made it to the Top 15 in the 2008 Miss USA contest.

Aheu Deng, of Sudan, who stands 6 feet and 5 inches, is expected to be the tallest candidate this year.

http://www.mb.com.ph/