TICK......TICK........TICK....TICK.......TICK.......

WILL THE TIME BOMB....BE DEFUSED....OR...DETONATED...?

Founder and Director Eric Morley was anxious in 1975, the 25th anniversary of the pageant, to salvage the prestige of the pageant after two scandal-ridden years.  Perhaps in an effort to help ensure a suitable winner, he decided to chair the judging panel, a situation that shocked several sponsors.  Mme. Genevieve De Fontenay, the sponsor of Miss France, exclaimed, "Mrs. Morley would have been far more acceptable!  Everyone was amazed when they discovered he would be chairman of judges."  Eric’s spouse, Julia, had organized the pageant for many years (she is credited with coining the Miss World motto: "Beauty with a Purpose").  The Paris-based, internationally known photographer Gunnar Larssen, who sponsored three girls in the contest, grumbled that Eric "has too many fingers in the pie."  Eric claimed self-defensively that "we didn’t  have an experienced man to stand in.  Experience is vital to get the results through quickly for television."

The Biggest Non-Event of the Year

On November 18, two days before the final event, Julia Morley, speaking on BBC radio referred to the pageant as "the biggest non-event of the year."  She asserted that "it is purely a publicity stunt for Mecca and a very successful one at that.  The show itself means nothing.  It is not erotic, not artistic, not anything else.  With so many ‘nots’, it must be a non-event."  Eric roared, "How can it be a non-event when twenty-six million people watch it on television?"  The Morleys returned  to their hotel suite and had "a blazing row."  In an effort to smooth over the episode, Eric later asserted that "in a way my wife was trying to get things in perspective.  People get so hot up about it, saying it’s just for the dirty mac brigade and things like that.  She was trying to say for ‘God’s sake don’t set your knickers in such a twist.’"

To drum up interest in the 25th anniversary of the Miss World pageant, previous winners were brought in as special guests. They were Kerstin "Kiki" Haakanson of Sweden (1951), Denise Perrier of France (1953), Susana Duijm Zubillaga of Venezuela (1955), Penelope Coelen of South Africa (1958), Corine Rottschafer of Holland (1959), Rosemarie Frankland of United Kingdom (1961), Carole Crawford of Jamaica (1963), Ann Sidney of United Kingdom (1964), Reita Faria of India (1966), and Belinda Green of Australia (1972).

 The ill-fated reunion. Front row, left to right: Kiki Haakanson; Denise Perrier; Carmen Duijm Zubillaga; and Penelope Coelen. Back row, left to right: Corine Rottschafer; Rosemarie Frankland; Carole Crawford; Ann Sidney; Reita Faria; and Belinda Green.

These illustrious past winners, who all reigned relatively scandal-free, had to find their own way from the airport to the Europa Hotel, where there were no welcoming flowers in their rooms.  Penelope Coelen remarked wistfully that "it would have been a nice ‘Welcome Back’ gesture, but I suppose we can’t expect everything."

Marjorie Wallace was also in town, ostensibly for movie negotiations, but was NOT a special guest at the pageant.  She pretended not to be upset about it during a press conference in her suite at a neighboring hotel.  Her advice to the new winner: "Get yourself a good lawyer!"

The judges for Miss World 1975 included actors Oliver Reed and Susan George, middle-weight boxing champ John Conteh, the Prime Minister of the Seychelles, Sir James Mancham, and Kiki Haakanson.  Oliver Reed became furious when he discovered that his judging fee was sent directly to the Variety Club of Great Britain (Miss World’s charity of choice), which had been distributing the money raised by Miss World.  He complained loudly that his fee should have gone to a less prosperous children’s charity.

The host for the pageant was 40 year-old David Vine, a BBC sports commentator.  He replaced Michael Aspel, who had hosted for seven years.  Chaperones were glad to see Aspel gone - one commented that "he was all smiles on the camera, but off it he was smug and supercilious." However, they bemoaned the fact that David’s technique in interviewing the contestants was "stilted."

The Contestants

Sixty-eight contestants prepared for the finals at Royal Albert Hall.  Seven of them had competed in the Miss Universe pageant held in El Salvador four months earlier.  They were from Austria, Belgium, Bermuda,  France, Luxembourg, Malta, and Vicky Harris, who as Miss England was a semi-finalist at Miss Universe and now appeared at Miss World as Miss UK

Miss South Africa, Rhoda Rademeyer, was actually second runner-up at the Miss South Africa contest.  She went to Miss World pageant because the winner, Vera Johns, was disqualified by the Miss World organizers when it was discovered that she was really from Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).  Vera’s Rhodesian nationality evidently did not violate Miss South Africa rules.  The first runner-up, Crystal Coopers, went to London, but her father would not allow her to compete there because it was discovered that Vera Johns was not going to be officially stripped of her title.

Miss Italy, Vanna Bortolini, was a replacement for the original Miss Italy, Anna Vitale, who had to return home because her mother was ill.

The Cuban embassy objected to the presence of Miss Cuba, Maricela Clark, a naturalized American discovered in Miami.  "It is the official policy of Cuba," a Cuban aide snapped, "not to give materialistic things to a girl simply because some people may think she is beautiful."  Miss World organizers allowed Maricela to stay in the contest.

After an announcement that General Francisco Franco, ruler of Spain, had passed away the morning of the pageant, Miss Spain, Olga Fernandez Perez, promptly withdrew from the competition.  Pageant organizers said that the 18 year-old person had been "too upset" by Franco’ death to appear in the finals.  Olga competed next year, in 1976, at both the Miss Universe and Miss Europe pageants.

Place Your Bets

As usual, the British public wagered money on their favorites.  Betting-shop runners stood in the foyer of the swank Britannia Hotel and tried to determine what odds to set on the contestants.  "They come right up to you," Miss Canada complained, "look at your badge to identify the country you represent, then step back and eye you up and down before scribbling something into a notebook.  You feel like a prize cow."

Ladbroke’s, the London betting agency, gave the best odds (7-1) to two contestants - Miss USA, Annelise Ilschenko, a 17 year-old dark-haired beauty from Middleburg Heights, Ohio, and Miss UK.  Miss Australia was the next favorite at 10-1, followed by  Miss Cuba and Miss Finland.  The SUN tabloid picked United Kingdom, Australia, Israel, Venezuela, Finland, Puerto Rico and Germany.

The Contest Begins
 

 On the evening of Thursday, November 20, BBC 1 aired the contest live, from London’s Royal Albert Hall, beginning at 9:25 pm.  As the contest got underway on television,  Julia Morley tripped on a backstage staircase and gashed her leg badly.   Her evening dress for the finale covered it as she tried not to hobble too much around the stage.  The past Miss Worlds were introduced to the audience, paraded in front of the television cameras, and then quickly hustled offstage.  Most of them felt bitter because they had imagined a more significant role in the proceedings.  "It was a total waste of time," one of them exclaimed.

Shake Your Booty, You Sexy Thing

The first sign of trouble from among the competitors came during the unscreened preliminary judging in the swimsuit event.  All the contestants had to face the judges in lines of six, and then were supposed to wheel round to stand with their ankles together while the judges studied them from behind.  Four of the French-speaking competitors - from Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Mauritius - had enough of being regimented.  They had earlier agreed among themselves to remain facing the judges.  "It is degrading for a girl to have to show her bottom to the judges," declared Miss Mauritius. "We refused to be treated like slave girls."  Eric Morley said through clenched teeth: "Of course the girls must be seen from behind."  One of the judges, Susan George, later supported the four rebels when she said that "they were justified in making a demonstration."

Mme. de Fontenay, Miss France’s sponsor, claimed that "all four were penalized and down-graded because of Mr. Morley."  Eric retorted: "The judging was made in a hall with 4,000 people watching.  It is absolute rubbish to say that Miss France, or any of the other three girls who refused to turn their backs on the judges were penalized."  However, in capitulation to the mutiny, the Morleys said that the turn would not be included in future pageants.  1975 also turned out to be the last year in which the winner would be crowned in her swimsuit.

Both the mutiny and the Morleys' capitulation could be interpreted as a sign of the times.  At that point in the 1970's, women's movements throughout the world were gaining significant strength and were advocating for equal rights.  In the U.S., the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), having passed the U.S. Congress in 1972, was being considered for ratification by all 50 state legislatures.  And in the UK, the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equal Opportunities Act came into force in 1975.

Beauty School is surprised more of the contestants didn't mutiny!  And while we are sure that the four who did mutiny would have had no problem being called "You Sexy Thing" by some cute guy and being asked to "Shake Your Booty" and "Get Down Tonight" at a discotheque (disco music began to take off in 1975), we can understand why the four refused to do it in front of the Miss World judges.

The fifteen semi-finalists were announced in alphabetical order.  On the morning of the pageant, the SUN tabloid presented a picture gallery of all 68 contestants, citing their odds and their measurements, among other things.  Here is what the tabloid had to say about the 15 women who would in the evening be announced as semi-finalists:

Miss Australia  - "Anne Davidson, 21.  35-24-35, odds:  10-1.  She's the weather girl on Australian television, but wants to be a model."

Miss Cuba - "Maricela Clark, 22.  35-25-36, odds:  12-1.  Lives in Florida and speaks with an American accent."

Miss Finland - "Lorena Kaarina Vaino, 23.  35-23-35, odds:  14-1.  Classy looking model who speaks Swedish, English, French, and some German."

Miss Germany - "Marina Langner, 22.  35-23-35, odds:  20-1.  Stands out from the rest.  She has a marvelous face and figure, lovely long hair, and real poise."

Miss Haiti - "Joelle Apollon, 20.  33-26-35, odds:  100-1.  Joelle is studying jewelry, but wants to be model."

Miss India - "Anjana Sood, 22.  33-25-35 & ½, odds:  66-1.  Anjana is studying mass communications and wants to be a journalist."

Miss Lebanon - "Ramona Karam, 19.  36-24-35, odds:  100-1.  Terrific figure and very sexy.  A model who likes dancing."

Miss Mauritius - "Mariella Tse-Sik-Sun, 23.  34-23-34, odds:  100-1.  A tall, serious bank receptionist."

Miss Puerto Rico - "Wilnellia Merced, 18.  34-24-36, odds:  16-1.  A dusky beauty who could win a place.  She has appeared in television commercials."

Miss St. Lucia - "Sophia Saint Omer, 19.  35-24-37, odds:  20-1.  A super-looking girl.  She's a textile artist who enjoys painting, poetry, and folk music."

Miss South Africa - "Rhoda Rademeyer, 20.  36-24-36, odds:  33-1.  Has a great figure and lovely long legs."

Miss United Kingdom - "Vicki Harris, 22.  34-24-35, odds:  7-1.  Model girl Vicki has a good face and figure, and a warm personality.  Reached the last 12 in Miss Universe contest."

Miss Uruguay - "Carmen Abal, 22.  32-23-34, odds;  20-1.  A lively girl who looks great in tight jeans."

Miss Venezuela - "Maria Conchita Alonso, 20.  35-23-35, odds:  16-1.  Very vivacious."

Miss Yugoslavia - "Ladija Verkovska, 19.  36-23-36, odds:  66-1.  A shy girl, not a likely Miss World."

In the same picture gallery feature, the SUN had asked each contestant to give her choice for the winner that evening.  Two of contestants who would that evening be announced as semi-finalists, Miss Haiti and Miss Uruguay, actually predicted the ultimate winner.

After the evening gown, interview and swimsuit segments, Eric Morley announced the names of the seven finalists - from Cuba, Germany, Haiti, Puerto Rico, United Kingdom, Venezuela and Yugoslavia.  He had voted for Miss Germany in every category, wanting her to win.  He was surprised that Miss Puerto Rico, Wilnellia Merced, whom he did not vote to place in the top seven, had amassed enough votes from the other judges to do so.  Perhaps they were impressed with her final interview  - and with her nod to British cuisine.  During the interview, she answered "No entiendo" to almost everything host David Vine asked her.  When Vine asked her if she spoke English, she said, "A leetle Eenglish" and when he asked her if she was enjoying London, she said, "A lettle Eenglish."  When he asked her - in Spanish - if she liked English food, she said, "Yes."

Miss Puerto Rico, Wilnellia Merced

As was customary at Miss World, the finalists - still in their swimsuits - were placed backstage immediately behind the stage.  Standing in a semi-circle around the entrance to the stage, they tried to maintain their balance on their high heels as they shoved back against more than 50 non-finalists who jostled each other to crowd next to the finalists.  A few years later, the organizers partitioned off the backstage area with temporary walls to separate the finalists from the rest of the contestants.

"And Miss World 1975 is..."

Eric Morley in his usual deadpan delivery style announced the results "in reverse order, as is customary."  Each finalist walked onstage as her name was called.  Fourth runner-up was Miss Cuba; third runner-up, Miss Yugoslavia; second runner-up, Miss UK, and, first runner-up, to Mr. Morley’s chagrin, was Miss Germany.  That left three Caribbean beauty queens - from Haiti,  Puerto Rico, and Venezuela - standing backstage.  The audience were oblivious to the mounting excitement among these three, and often missed dramatic moments.  In 1967, for instance, when Miss Peru, Madeline Hartog-Bel, was named as Miss World, she fainted backstage and had to be revived by smelling salts.

If you had been watching at home, here is what you would have seen: on the left of the TV screen stood Miss Haiti. She had her hands in front of her, clasped together. She looked off to the left. In the middle was Miss Venezuela; Miss Puerto Rico was on the right of the TV screen. Miss Venezuela and Miss Puerto Rico were holding hands. Miss Venezuela had her head down and like Miss Haiti, was not smiling. Miss Puerto Rico, however, had a big grin on her face (did she know?) and was looking around, especially at the noisy crowd of contestants behind her and the other two finalists.

Eric, hiding his displeasure, announced Wilnellia Merced of Puerto Rico as the new Miss World. Wilnellia opened her mouth in surprise and gave a little jump before she was mobbed by the excited crowd behind her. She was shoved back and forth several times and almost lost her balance. Because of all the commotion, it took the "sash bearer" three tries to get Wilnellia's just-won sash around her. Once he did, though, he quickly pushed her off, and she stepped onstage into the glare of spotlights to be crowned by the outgoing queen, Anneline Kriel.

Anneline was glad to be rid of her title, declaring that she would never go through the experience again - "And age another twenty years?" - and had threatened to appear in blue jeans at the finale before calling a last-minute truce.
 

Eric Morley’s choice, Miss Germany on the left.	Wilnellia and her Court.

Reading the SUN the next morning, Eric Morley must have let out a big sigh of relief that Miss Germany had not won after all ... voluptuous Marina Langner unabashedly appeared half-nude in that tabloid.  Her photograph was given to the SUN by photographer Gunnar Larssen prior to the finals in the hope that her picture would have been worth more money had she been picked Miss World.  The DAILY EXPRESS head line that morning was "Island Girl's Sunniest Day," an obvious reference to Elton John's song, "Island Girl", which was 25th and climbing on the list of top songs on the radio in the UK.

Two days after the pageant, the SUNDAY MIRROR revealed that the three contestants sponsored by Gunnar Larssen - from Germany, Sweden and Denmark - were all professional models based in Paris and had never won national titles.  One of them had walked through the door of his Paris studio and Larssen liked her looks so much that he asked her if she would like to compete in the Miss World contest.  "There is nothing in the Mecca rules that says a girl has to be crowned a beauty queen in her own country," Larssen explained.  "Anybody can sponsor a beautiful girl."

Julia Morley, in an effort at damage control, claimed that there was indeed a competition to choose Miss Germany - in heats run photographically.  "Very many countries run their competitions in the same way," she explained.  "Miss World is certainly the most international beauty contest, and the fact that this photographer was sponsor to three of the girls doesn’t mean that they didn’t represent their own countries."  Even Wilnellia Merced was chosen by photograph by three judges in Puerto Rico

Larssen was astonished that he might have upset Mecca.  "I don’t know why Mrs. Morley was under the impression I had run national contests because I really thought she knew I hadn’t."  Julia Morley hissed, "Next year there will be national contests in these countries - I will personally vouch for it."  Larssen then dropped another bombshell - Miss Denmark had married just before the contest, but "forgot" to mention it.  Julia threw up her hands and said that Larssen had broken the contest rules not once, but twice.

Mme. De Fontenay (sponsor of the Miss France contest), declaring that the contest "had been nothing more than a charade," demanded that it be re-run with properly accredited national beauty queens.  Miss Gibraltar, who thought that her 36-23-36 figure gave her a shot at the title, complained that she should have been among the semi-finalists and "it must have been a fix."  Julia Morley contemptuously said: "Even a pretty face is ugly when it is complaining."

Since Wilnellia didn't speak a word of English, Eric Morley was going to make her take a crash course in English.  Six days after the contest, Wilnellia had her homecoming in Puerto Rico, where she expected a warm reception.  She had hardly stepped off the aircraft when local model Kary Molina asserted that the title should have been hers because she "finished first in the national contest on the original count."  "I wanted my homecoming to be so happy," Wilnellia pouted.  "Not spoilt by a controversy like this."

After this brief homecoming ruckus, Wilnellia’s reign was pretty calm, compared to previous years especially!

Thus, Miss World 1975, which opened with great fanfare and potential for explosion but then creaked ponderously along like a bruised and battered Titanic, ended with a whimper.  The denouement, Wilnellia’s election and reign, basically defused the time bomb.

Wilnellia must have truly liked British food a lot - she lives there now, speaks the language perfectly, and is  married to popular British game show host, Bruce Forsythe.  She has judged several Miss World Pageants.  We last saw her at Miss World at the 1995 event, radiant and  stunning in a strapless gown.  She was there with her husband, who was serving as a judge that year.

Since 1975, the Miss World Pageant has faced other time bombs.  The resignation of Miss World 1980, Gabriella Brum of Germany, and the protests of such organizations as the Forum to Awaken Women at the 1996 pageant in India come to mind.  But we here at Beauty School believe the events of the 70's effectively inoculated the pageant from excessive damage by future time bombs.  In fact, Miss World can now rightfully claim to be the "premier pageant of beauty."  In recent years, it has attracted far more delegates to its contest than has Miss Universe.

Sources:
Vancouver Sun, Vancouver, Canada
Sunday Mirror, London, UK
The Sun, London, UK
Daily Express, London, UK
The Times, London, UK
El Mundo, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Jamaican Weekly Gleaner, NY, USA
"Miss World: The Naked Truth"
By Don Short
Everest Books Limited, 1976

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