Miss U organizers admit spelling error on Miss Philippines' sash

By REYMA BUAN-DEVEZA

abs-cbnNEWS.com

The Philippines' bet for Miss Universe, Jennifer Barrientos was given an official Miss Universe sash that misspelled her country's name. "Philippines" was spelled with two Ls instead of one.

In a photo published in seattlepi.com's Miss Universe Gallery, picture number 22 shows that Barrientos wore the misspelled sash, while sitting with Madina Taher, Miss Germany; Charlotte Labee, Miss Netherlands; and Vera Krasova, Miss Russia, during a party on June 20th.

Reports said it took almost three days for the Miss Universe Organization to correct the error. Other reports say the error remains in the official program book.

In an exclusive statement sent to abs-cbnNEWS.com by Lark-Marie Antón, the spokeswoman of the Miss Universe Organization, she admitted that a mistake was committed but said they instantly rectified it.

"Unfortunately, there was an error which was immediately corrected," Antón said.

Antón didn't explain further regarding who was responsible for the error.

She just appealed to all Filipinos to support Barrientos by tuning in to the pageant.

"We hope the Philippines will be watching as Jennifer competes for the crown on July 13th on NBC," Antón said.

Names of countries are occasionally misspelled on official pageant sashes, sometimes causing ill feelings.

During the 2006 Miss Earth pageant the official sashes for Guadeloupe and Bosnia & Herzegovina were misspelled- Guadaluope, Bosnia & Hercegovina.

All set for Miss Universe 2008

Two weeks from now, viewers will be fixing their eyes on television screens as 80 beautiful candidates from all over the world compete for the 2008 Miss Universe crown.

Vietnam will play host to the event, to be held at the Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa.

Prior to the final night the candidates have already been presented to the press. They have also finished their pre-pageant show, for the parade of their national costumes.

The Miss Universe Organization has already announced that the host of NBC’s hit summer show, "America’s Got Talent," Jerry Springer and actress-singer Mel B will host the 2008 Miss Universe Pageant live on NBC.

The announcement of the show's hosts was made by Paula M. Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization. It was published on the official Miss Universe website www.missuniverse.com.

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