Miss_Belgium

Miss Belgium

Miss Belgium

National beauty pageant competition in Belgium

The Miss Belgium is a national beauty pageant in Belgium. The winner of Miss Belgium automatically represents her country at the Miss World and Miss Universe pageants if the dates do not overlap.

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History

Queen of the Beach

The first contest looking for the most beautiful girl in Belgium was in 1928. It was journalist Jean-Jacques Fortis who organised the contest "La Reine de la Plage" - "The Queen of the Beach" as a promotion for the journal Piccolo, now Le Soir. It was Anne Koyaert who won the contest in Blankenberge.[1]

Miss Belgium

Following the success, Fortis was allowed to organise a bigger election. In 1929, Jenny Vanparys was the first girl officially crowned Miss Belgium. She participated in Miss Europe. The next year, Netta Duchâteau was the winner. Duchâteau participated and won the International Pageant of Pulchritude in 1931, earning her the title "Miss Universe 1931". Duchâteau became an instant celebrity and the Miss Belgium contest got a lot of attention.

In 1968, Cécile Muller took interest in the contest. In 1969 she organised for the first time Miss Belgium. Muller, who thought herself to be a feminist, took the contest very serious. She demanded the participants of the contest to be bilingual - being able to talk Dutch and French, the two main languages of Belgium. Muller gave the participants training how to handle interviews. She also followed and guided the winner of the Miss Belgium-title very strictly. Thanks to the guidance of Muller, the contest became bigger every year.[2] Muller saw the contest as an act of feminism and tried not to find the most beautiful face of Belgium but a modern young woman who could represent Belgium in every way.[3] She succeeded on launching the contest at television. In 1993 the contest was broadcast on VTM for the Flanders region and at RTL for the Walloon region. A million viewers saw the elections of Miss Belgium that decennia. Many of those winners - including Goedele Liekens, Lynn Wesenbeek, Sandrine Corman, Dina Tersago and Julie Taton - had successful careers in television. For the election of 1994 a new golden crown was made by a crown maker of Paris.[4]

In 2005, business woman Darline Devos became the new organiser of the election. She organized the election further. She succeeded in changing the preliminary provincial elections and applying the same rules in those contests. Every winner of those provincial contest was awarded one of the same eleven Swarovski-crowns.[5] A new crown for Miss Belgium was made, consisting of 500 Swarovski-crystals.[6] Devos also founded the Miss Belgium house, a house in the center of the country. It serves as the work place for the organisation of Miss Belgium and a place to stay for the reigning Miss Belgium.[7] She made a new deal for the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium with broadcaster VT4.[8] Although the girls of the next years were more successful at the Miss Universe and Miss World contests, the Belgian audience lost its interest in the election. Caused by declining viewership of the election, the contest was broadcast in the Dutch-speaking region by Vijftv, the small affiliate channel of VT4, in 2010-2011 and on digital broadcasters Life! in 2012, Studio 100 TV in 2013–2014, Ment TV in 2015, Fox Flanders in 2016-2018 and Eclips TV in 2019.[9] In the French-speaking region broadcaster RTL stopped broadcasting the election in 2012. It was succeeded by digital broadcaster STAR TV in 2012 and AB3 in 2013–2018. Since 2019 the contest no longer broadcast in Wallonia. Additionally, the election also meets criticism in Wallonia because most winners are from Flanders.[10]

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the election of Miss Belgium 2021 was postponed from January 2020 to March 2021.[11] A new crown made of white stones and some pink stones as finisher debuted at the election of Miss Belgium 2021.[12]

The Reigning Miss Belgium, Chayenne Van Aarle, had a major car accident during her last week of her reign. Since she was still recovering she wasn't able to be present at the election of her successor.[13] The Miss Belgium 2023 pageant show was postponed due to suspicions of a terrorist attack. A suspect was arrested, weapons were found in his car and after the venue was fully searched, the show started with a delay.[14][15]

Controversy

The Miss Belgium was met with controversy at different occasions. Miss Belgium 1952, Anne-Marie Pauwels refused to part from her boyfriend during the contest of Miss World 1952. She was disqualified and Belgium wasn't allowed to participate at Miss World 1953.

In 1971, the Dolle Mina's jumped on stage during the final of the election, yelling “We are not cattle!”.[16]

Miss Belgium 2002, Ann Van Elsen, was one of the candidates who refused to participate in the Miss World competition held in Nigeria in to protest the conviction of Amina Lawal.[17] This was against the wishes of the Miss Belgium organisation. Van Elsen was replaced by her first runner-up Sylvie Doclot.

Miss Belgium 2006, Virginie Claes, was accused of buying her title. No proof of this was found.[18][19]

Alizée Poulicek, Miss Belgium 2008

The election of Alizee Poulicek, a native speaker of French and Czech, has even been linked to the 2007–08 Belgian government formation. The reason is that, during the traditional language test, she failed to speak or understand Dutch. The audience even booed her for this.[20] The behaviour of the audience was noted across Europe,[21][22] and the Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws sarcastically put the headline "Miss Belgium doesn't speak Dutch. Our country is in a deep crisis".

Miss Belgium 2017, Romanie Schotte, was accused of racism because of a post at Instagram. An investigation was started by Unia (the Center of Equal Opportunities) on 17 January but it was already closed on 19 January.[23] In 2018 however, Miss Belgium 2018 Angeline Flor Pua, was met with much racism after winning. The Secretary of State of Equal Opportunities Zuhal Demir disapproved the racist comments and applauded the new Miss Belgium.[24] The reaction of Flor Pua was well received and even broadcast on the BBC.[25]

Titleholders

La Reine de la Plage

More information Year, Province ...

Pre-World War II

More information Year, Province ...

Post-World War II

Annelies Törös, Miss Belgium 2015
Cilou Annys, Miss Belgium 2010
Zeynep Sever, Miss Belgium 2009
Véronique De Kock, Miss Belgium 1995
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Titleholders under Miss Belgium org.

Miss Universe Belgium

  •   : Declared as Winner
  •   : Ended as runner-up or top 5/6 qualification
  •   : Ended as one of the finalists or semifinalists
  •   : Ended as special awards winner
Miss Belgium has started to send a Miss Belgium to Miss Universe from 1952. On occasion, when the winner does not qualify (due to age) for either contest, a runner-up is sent. [29]
More information Year, Province ...

Miss World Belgium

  •   : Declared as Winner
  •   : Ended as runner-up or top 5/6 qualification
  •   : Ended as one of the finalists or semifinalists
  •   : Ended as special awards winner
More information Year, Province ...

Media

Television

In 1993, the election of Miss Belgium debuted on television.[49] Since then the election was broadcoasted every year.

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In 2002 and 2003, VTM aired the docuseries Miss België, achter de schermen about the candidates and the preparation for the election show.[53][54] In 2008, when the show was moved to broadcoaster VT4, a new docusoap Wie wordt Miss België 2008 aired.[55][56]

Books

In 1999, Miss Belgium-organiser Cécile Muller wrote a book about her 30 year experience of the contest and the 600 girls she guided.[57]

In 2007 a book Een leven als Miss België was released. It included a timeline about the contest, interviews of 15 ex-winners and the diary of Miss Belgium 2007, Annelien Coorevits.[58][59]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Miss België door de jaren heen in 4 minuten". VRT NWS (in Dutch). January 13, 2018.
  2. [2]
    "Miss België-boegbeeld Cécile Müller (81) overleden". HLN (in Dutch). July 10, 2012.
  3. [3]
    "Voor 'de kolonel' was Miss België verkiezen een daad van feminisme". De Morgen (in Dutch). July 11, 2012.
  4. [4]
    "Nieuw kroontje voor Miss België". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). December 12, 2007.
  5. [5]
    "Al 600 meisjes kandidaat voor Miss België". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). March 22, 2007.
  6. [6]
    "Nieuw kroontje voor Miss België". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). December 12, 2007.
  7. [7]
    "Miss België krijgt eigen huis in Brussel". De Standaard (in Dutch). August 22, 2007.
  8. [8]
    "VT4 rijft uitzendrechten Miss België binnen". De Standaard (in Dutch). January 24, 2007.
  9. [9]
    "Einde dreigt voor Miss België". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). September 1, 2011.
  10. [10]
    "31 Miss Belgique francophones en 90 ans seulement". La Libre (in French). November 1, 2019.
  11. [11]
    "Verkiezing Miss België definitief uitgesteld". HLN (in Dutch). August 31, 2020.
  12. [12]
    "Nieuwe blingbling: voor het eerst in jaren een nieuw kroontje". HLN (in French). March 31, 2021.
  13. [13]
    "Miss België Chayenne Van Aarle raakt gewond bij zwaar ongeval op E17, ze is buiten levensgevaar". VRT News (in French). February 7, 2023.
  14. [14]
    "Reconstructie van de verijdelde aanslag op de Miss België-verkiezing: 'Dit hebben we nog nooit meegemaakt'". De Morgen (in French). February 13, 2023.
  15. [15]
    "Verdachte van verijdelde aanslag tijdens Miss België is aangehouden en wordt verdacht van poging tot terroristische moord". VRT News (in French). February 11, 2023.
  16. [16]
    "3 best protests in Belgian history". The Bulletin. December 18, 2014.
  17. [17]
    "Misstoestanden: Ann Van Elsen (22) gaat niet naar Nigeria". De Standaard (in Dutch). November 15, 2002.
  18. [18]
    "Miss België kocht stemmen voor titel". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). January 6, 2006.
  19. [19]
    "Televoting kost Missen massa's geld". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). January 7, 2006.
  20. [20]
    Archived December 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  21. [21]
    I språkligt blåsväder | Nyheter | Aftonbladet
  22. [22]
    "Miss Belgium fails her first test". BBC News. 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  23. [23]
    "Unia neemt geen verdere stappen tegen Miss België". Knack (in Dutch). February 1, 2017.
  24. [24]
    "Nieuwe Miss België mikpunt van racistische reacties". De Morgen (in Dutch). January 14, 2018.
  25. [25]
    "BBC zoekt Miss België Angeline Flor Pua op: "Ik ben gechoqueerd"". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). January 18, 2018.
  26. [26]
    "Miss België 2022 is Chayenne van Aarle!". Miss Belgium (in Dutch). 2 November 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  27. [27]
    "Emilie Vansteenkiste volgt Chayenne op als miss België" (in Dutch). Het Nieuwsblad. 11 February 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  28. [28]
    "21-jarige Kenza Ameloot is nieuwe Miss België". VRT (in Dutch). 25 February 2024.
  29. [29]
    "Behaalde titels bij Miss Universe en Miss World". Miss Belgium (in Dutch). February 9, 2023.
  30. [30]
    "IN BEELD. De outfits van Miss België Chayenne Van Aarle voor Miss Universe". HLN (in Dutch). January 10, 2023.
  31. [31]
    "Voor het eerst ooit een Belgische Miss Universe? "Kedist Deltour maakt reële kans"". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). December 11, 2021.
  32. [32]
    "Dhenia Covens, als eredame naar Miss Universe: "Overal mooie herinneringen in Antwerpen"". GVA (in Dutch). May 15, 2021.
  33. [33]
    "Angeline Flor Pua topfavoriete bij Miss Universe". HLN (in Dutch). December 6, 2019.
  34. [34]
    "Belgische haalt de top 20, maar Filipijnse gaat met kroontje van Miss Universe lopen". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). December 17, 2018.
  35. [35]
    "Liesbeth (20) droomt van kroontje Miss Universe". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). October 25, 2017.
  36. [36]
    "Stephanie Geldhof naar Miss Universe-verkiezing". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). October 6, 2016.
  37. [37]
    "Annelies Törös tevreden met rangschikking op Miss Universe: "Ik ben zo gelukkig"". HLN (in Dutch). December 21, 2015.
  38. [38]
    "Laurence Langen haakt nu ook af voor Miss Universe". HLN (in Dutch). November 28, 2014.
  39. [39]
    "Noémie Happart als Rode Duivelin naar Miss Universe". HLN (in Dutch). November 5, 2013.
  40. [40]
    "Laura Beyne: 'Veel bijgeleerd voor Miss Universe'". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). August 21, 2012.
  41. [41]
    "FOTOSPECIAL. Miss België Justine De Jonckheere met blote buik naar Miss Universe". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). August 19, 2011.
  42. [42]
    "Miss Mexico wint Miss Universe, Cilou Annys 14de". DeMorgen (in Dutch). August 24, 2010.
  43. [43]
    "Zeynep Sever klaar voor Miss Universe". Standaard (in Dutch). August 23, 2009.
  44. [44]
    "Pakt Alizée Poulicek vannacht kroontje van Miss Universe?". GVA (in Dutch). July 13, 2008.
  45. [45]
    "Zweedse kandidate stapt uit Miss Universe". DeStandaard (in Dutch). May 27, 2007.
  46. [46]
    "Belgische missen op het hoogste schavot". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). December 6, 2004.
  47. [47]
    "Lenty Frans, mooiste miss van Europa". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). December 19, 2016.
  48. [48]
    "Lenty Frans uit Brecht stunt in Miss World-verkiezing". GVA (in Dutch). December 19, 2016.
  49. [49]
    "Miss België-organisatrice Cécile Müller overleden". VRT News (in Dutch). July 10, 2012.
  50. [50]
    "Francesca Vanthielen presenteert Miss België". Hbvl (in Dutch). November 8, 2001.
  51. [51]
    "VT4 rijft uitzendrechten Miss België binnen". De Standaard (in Dutch). January 24, 2007.
  52. [52]
    "Veronique De Kock na 12 jaar geen presentatrice meer bij Miss België". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). December 26, 2018.
  53. [53]
    "Achter de Marokkaanse schermen van Miss België". De Morgen (in Dutch). November 20, 2002.
  54. [54]
    "Na dreigbrieven massa's fanmail". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). November 5, 2002.
  55. [55]
    "'VTM heeft onze missverkiezing stiefmoederlijk behandeld'". De Morgen (in Dutch). November 15, 2007.
  56. [56]
    "Wie wordt Miss België 2008? een vierdelige serie op VT4!". Front View (in Dutch). November 16, 2007.
  57. [57]
    "Organisatrice Cécile Muller giet meer dan dertig jaar Miss België in boekvorm". Hbvl (in Dutch). December 16, 1999.
  58. [58]
    "De schonen en het beest". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). September 27, 2007.
  59. [59]
    "Boek "Een leven als miss Belgiëe officieel voorgesteld!". FrontView Magazine (in Dutch). September 26, 2007.
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