What? Miss Earth is going virtual in 2020? Really? Yeah, really!
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So Carousel Productions, the organizers of the Miss Earth pageant
based in the Philippines has decided not to skip a year
despite the pandemic even though the other rival pageants like Miss Universe,
Miss World and Miss International have all decided to cancel their 2020
editions and reconvene instead in 2021.
From a safety and health perspective, this is a wise decision because the
Coronavirus has not yet been totally eradicated and there has been an
uptick in new COVID-19 cases in many parts of
the globe. However Miss Earth, perhaps seeking to be
consistent with this yearly production or perhaps seeking
to distinguish itself from the rival pageants by becoming the first
major pageant to go virtual in 2020, is taking a huge
risk. What if the virtual show fails? Will the pageant become a laughing stock
of the industry? What if it succeeds? Will the rival
pageants change their minds and produce their own virtual shows?
Only God knows. On this vlog i'd like to discuss the
pros and cons of a virtual pageant focusing
primarily on Miss Philippines Earth 2020 that took place last July 5th
and on Miss Earth 2020 scheduled for November 28th.
First, let's talk about the pros. At number one - well the most obvious
reason is that a virtual pageant can take place
anytime despite a pandemic or any other acts of god as long as
technology is available. In case of pageants the participants do
not have to travel and can perfectly compete virtually from
their own home. This also saves them the trouble of
having to wear a mask or observing social
distancing.
A poster on a pageant forum wrote that "virtual pageant is still better than no
pageant at all." Well, it is true to a certain extent,
but we need to ask ourselves. "Who actually
reaps the most benefits from a virtual pageant
or is it a win-for-all situation?" A virtual pageant
may never be as good as a real-life pageant but it is a substantial
alternative. It's like drinking a decaffeinated
coffee or a non-alcoholic wine.
It's almost the real thing but good enough for the time being.
And number three l- ower costs. In other words
cheaper. With no need for a venue, food and beverage, travel and hotel rooms,
printed signage, or on-site production staff,
costs for an online event run substantially
lower than for in-person events. And of course,
the contestants don't have to fork out money to purchase
airline tickets because they're not going anywhere.
Four - no wardrobe stress. Depending on the demands of the pageant
the contestant doesn't have to worry about wardrobe
malfunction or another contestant sabotaging her
costume, cocktail dress, or evening gown. Why?
Because she's all by herself in a space where she can do
whatever she wants to look good for the video clip that she will submit to the
pageant organizers. Well, maybe with the help of fellow
quarantined family members.
Five - potential to reach a larger audience.
Practically anyone who has a mobile device or a laptop
and who can connect to the Internet can view the virtual pageant.
Number six - it's green! A virtual Miss Earth pageant eliminates the
transport of people and materials which reduces the carbon
footprint of the event. It also eliminates the production of
materials that will go to waste after an event such as ticket stubs,
signage, and program books.
And now let's talk about the cons. Number one,
networking and interaction seem limited. The contestants will never have the real
opportunity to bond with each other. They may bond virtually via social media
but knowing and meeting a person in virtual
reality does not have the same human impact that
physical reality offers. Virtual events are essentially
impersonal. Also, the Miss Earth brand fails to make
real connections with their target audience
through sponsorships as there is no face-to-face interaction with the
attendees to leave an impact on them.
Two - virtual events rely on technology, thus, attendance wouldn't be possible
without the use of computers and mobile devices when technology is
involved. It opens the door for a number of complications, so before
you start creating a virtual pageant, you need to
ask yourself these questions. Does your organization have staff
members that can support and manage the technical aspects of a
virtual pageant? Can you handle the bandwidth? How are you
going to engage your viewers to interact with the
contestants? And do you have a plan B in case
electrical power goes off?
Three - virtual events don't create a revenue stream like in-person events.
A pageant organization may choose to live stream the event but there's no
guarantee that the stream will flow smoothly
due perhaps to poor Internet connection on either
end. It is also possible that the live stream
could be permanently halted and if you're an
online viewer who paid money to watch the stream,
i am sure you'd be mad as hell and would demand
a refund!
Four - online attendees usually have a short attention span for online events.
Why? Because of distraction. If you're watching an online pageant
there's always the potential to be distracted by practically
anything like annoying notifications from your smartphone,
or direct messages, or people calling or texting,
or the dog barking, or kids fighting, loud music being played next door,
etc.
Five - less excitement. Compared to the grandeur which is
promised at live pageants, a virtual pageant is just another
browser opened on a laptop or mobile device.
If you're an attendee in a real life pageant,
everything is three-dimensional and you get the full
grand experience with your five senses. You can
feel the excitement building up in the venue from the introduction of the
contestants all the way to the coronation of the
winner. You get to take photos of the event, selfies with the
contestants, and perhaps even attend a coronation
party afterwards. i mean you can't do all that in a
virtual pageant.
Six - contrived script and lack of spontaneity.
i watched Miss Philippines Earth's 2020 virtual pageant
and even though Carousel did a decent job
overall with the production, I couldn't help but notice the reaction of the
contestants as they receive a special award or
are called to advance in the finals. Now watch these two segments.
First up is the Eco Angel award which goes to the delegate who made the
most number of relevant and meaningful activities
and sharing these online during the pageant season
and she is Lal-lo, Cagayan - Lyka Chamberlaigneh Lagasca!
Up next is the special award for the delegate who has captured the admiration
of our friends from the press and bloggers alike.
This year's Darling of the Press is Baguio City -
Roxanne Allison Baeyens
Do these women's surprised reactions look genuine to you?
Or was it scripted? I also couldn't ignore
the obvious, that practically everyone spoke English
perfectly without any struggle that is sometimes pervasive in live
pageants. I wonder - were these contestants reading
from a teleprompter on their computer screen?
Were they reading from a cue card? Did they write their own statements
or were the statements written by the scriptwriter?
If this had been a live pageant, would they have expressed themselves
this smoothly or would they have been nervous and possibly
choked on their answers? I mean the contestants
all looked beautiful and near perfect but
most of them made little impression on me.
Most of them sounded fake. Sorry!
Seven - time difference. Since each contestant will be competing
virtually from her home country this means
that she needs to be totally prepared before the online show begins.
Considering the different time zones, assuming that the online pageant will
start at 8pm on a Saturday, Philippines time,
this means that the contestants whose countries do not
share the same time zone with the Philippines will have to synchronize
their clocks to match the time in the Philippines. For
example, let's say Miss Earth USA comes from New
York City and New York City s 12 hours behind the Philippines. This
would mean that she will have to turn her
clock ahead for 12 hours while being aware
that the actual time in New York City is eight in the morning,
Saturday. Ugh. This is just getting complicated,
but but you know what i mean.
And number eight - feeling shortchanged. Since the organizers do not have
overhead production costs that would otherwise
be spent on the real stage lighting, choreography, stage design, photographers,
security staff, hair and makeup, walking coach,
wardrobe assistants, etc. the national director who has paid good money for the
franchise may feel resentful knowing that they're not
getting their money's worth, not to mention that their contestant is
not getting perks that one would usually get in a real
pageant like sponsors gifts, opportunities to model and promote a
product, invitations to sponsor events, opportunity to appear on TV or to be
interviewed by traditional and social media outlets.
A handful of several directors requested Carousel Productions to
postpone the pageant until 2021 like what the other pageants are doing
but their request was dismissed. Carousel
needs to realize that being a national director is a real
job that requires hard work and a decent salary.
There are directors who are well-off and who can finance the whole production
themselves or are lucky enough to get support
from lucrative sponsors but unfortunately, most directors
struggle to finance their pageants and one way to sustain their pageants
is to require an entry fee to the applicants.
The entry fee pays for the production cost, the preparation of the winner,
providing for her wardrobe, travel expenses to the venue of her international pageant,
and other miscellaneous expenses. Besides charge an entry fee,
the directors also have to sell tickets and if the event is streamed live they
can charge for online viewing. However, since Carousel decided to hold a
virtual pageant this year, some national directors are thinking of
boycotting because they don't believe in a virtual pageant
that deprives their contestants of the real pageant experience.
Some directors do not think it's fair that Carousel
will hold a virtual pageant and not give them a refund of this year's franchise
fee - which literally gives the impression
that Carousel is "stealing their money." But the saddest
part is that the contestant who has always dreamed of proudly
representing her country and shining on stage in front of a live
audience will never get to fulfill that dream.
And there you have it. The pros and cons of a virtual pageant.
Do you agree or disagree? Comment below. If you're a national director, have you
decided whether or not you want your representative to
participate in Miss Earth's virtual pageant in November? I would be
very interested to hear your views. Please comment below
or direct message me. Until the next time guys!
Bye!