I'm so glad to be rid of Trump -- well actually, his "people"... since Trump's involvement was really restricted to usually the two days before the pageant (if that) to meet the girls and marketing to pretend to the whole world that he is involved in some way. A few times he does not even remember which one of the two ladies is Miss USA or Miss Universe or even remember they are the winners of his pageants (kept forgetting who Ximena was, kept calling Leila "Miss Africa", thought Alyssa was a staff member, etc... and didn't care about Teen USA at all). Well, it doesn't help his cause that I find him so creepy... stemming from the first time I met him. In 2010, a few of us consultants joined Paula and her team for a meeting with Trump to discuss that year's Miss Universe pageant. After I was introduced, the first words out of his mouth was "You should be a contestant in one of my pageants. Imagine you in this meeting in a swimsuit. Or did you join before but lost?" Ugh. I've met with him several times since then, either in New York for the preliminary meetings or backstage during the Miss Universe show, and every time he'd say "Are you a contestant now? We have a spare swimsuit. " To Trump: good riddance! Ding dong, the jerk is gone.
I always loved consulting for the Miss Universe Organization to help out with the Miss Universe pageant (still don't do Miss USA) as it is a reunion of sorts with the management staff and crew that I only get to see every year. Paula is so nice and lovely and I'm glad all this drama did not change her. She's my hero! Most years, I can't believe that a year has gone by already and here we are again.
WME/IMG -- who we started calling "Whamming" to make the acronym easier to pronounce -- now owns the organization but because this year is "the transition year", there are not a lot of changes yet. So, thankfully, aside from a few tweaks to inject something fresh into the show, everything is business as usual for the most part. However, we have already been advised that new changes will be implemented when it comes to the pageant requirements and show format that will be rolled out in the next two years. This will give the national directors time to implement these changes in their national level. Supposedly, you will already see some of these changes at next year's Miss USA (I'm not involved with the production of Miss USA so you'll just have to watch that pageant next year).
Anyway... we'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, let's deal with Miss Universe 2015.
I was hoping to get a few days of peace before the delegates start arriving next Tuesday... but it doesn't look like it. Meetings, meetings, meetings! There's not a lot of free time but I'm glad to be able to spend those few times with my parents and friends who are driving from Los Angeles this weekend.
Seeing a new batch of lovely young ladies every year vying for the Miss Universe title always make me feel so old... but I do enjoy getting to know them. Each one has their own stories, journeys, dreams and aspirations. It always amazes me that these ladies from all over the world are so different yet so similar. Now that this Miss Universe season is upon us again, I look forward to meeting this year's batch in a few days and doing this all over again. It never gets old.
Okay kids. Like every year, I'll try to post as much as I can. It will be crazy busy so forgive the typos and grammatical errors as many times it will be rushed. Just like the other times, I may not reveal the delegate's name or country in my blog if I find it necessary to do so (depending on the sensitivity of the subject matter). But you guys are smart and can usually figure it out. Also, as you guys already know like in previous years, I will not be revealing who I am as I don't want management, the crew and the ladies, who I will be interacting with daily, to know who I am and that I'm blogging about them. It's just better and more fun that way. Though some of the crew already knows. And some of you already found out and know too -- thanks to that televised interview with that Top 5 contestant from last year. Hahaha!
Now time to get back to the hotel and get some much needed shut eye.
