Guanabee Interviews Miss Universe President Paula Shugart About Donald Trump

At a benefit attended by Miss Universe President Paula Shugart, Guanabee publisher Daniel Mauser couldn’t resist asking for her comment regarding the revelation that Donald Trump hand-picks six of the fifteen finalists for the Miss Universe pageant.

Last month we published the exclusive interview with Miss Universe choreographer, Michael Schwandt, in which he told Guanabee that it is a well known secret that Donald Trump doesn’t leave the six finalists to the rest of the judges.

Then he does do something that’s a bit odd. At all the shows, he pops in the day before the telecast and we line up all the girls in alphabetical order behind microphones. And they say their name, age and country. Then we line them up in alphabetical order in one single file line across the stage. And he basically walks by and has an assistant that takes notes on all the girls. And it’s just kind of common knowledge that he picks six of the top fifteen single-handedly. So, the other nine of the top fifteen are judged in a preliminary show the week before and picked by those judges, but he picks six of the top fifteen.

The story was picked up by several news agencies such as Fox News and CNN, and the Miss Universe Organization was quick to respond. They stated that it is true that the top finalists are chosen before the broadcast, but that Mr. Trump does not have a singular role in that process. Ms. Shugart also gave a statement which read that, ”In the 2009 Miss Universe competition, a preliminary panel of judges selected nine of the Top 15 and members of the Miss Universe Organization, including owner Donald J. Trump, selected the remaining six.” In spite of this, many people were surprised to learn that the contestants are not picked by the judges during the telecast.

At the benefit, Shugart told Daniel that the reason that the contestants are prejudged is because the winner of the pageant will represent the organization in their charitable works and as an ambassador of hotness to all the world’s less beautiful folk. They can’t very well have some loon running around saying whatever comes into their crowned heads at an AIDS benefit or at a children’s hospital. This is understandable from their point of view and, the truth is, they do disclose this information before the show begins, however subtly.

Watch Miss Universe President Paula Shugart Comment On Donald Trump’s Policy Of Picking Six Of The Fifteen Miss Universe Finalists

The vagueness begins when we try to ascertain how much of a role is played by Trump in the choice of the finalists. From what our sources have said, he is more than just “involved,” as one of many who decide the finalists’ fates, he is the de facto final word. Miss Universe is supposedly the most beautiful woman in the world, and besides the fact that this is completely impossible and subjective, the crown holder has come to represent one of the standards by which we, as a society, judge beauty. That seems like a lot of power for one man to hold, picking the most beautiful woman in the world. Trump is a very rich man, but as he’s illustrated through his personal history, money doesn’t magically give you good taste in women. If Trump simply picks the top contestants, it takes some of the credibility from the pageant. He becomes the ultimate arbiter of beauty on the planet, a dictator of hotness if you will. Only time will tell if the pageant is going to change this practice.

Besides, do you want a guy that looks like a bulldog wearing a squirrel hat telling you what’s beautiful?