Ever since I watched Miss Italia 2014 I was hooked. You might think it’s the parade of sexy young girls in swimsuits and evening gowns that are the draw. You’d only be part right. As I blogged about back in October 2014, the Italian version of our Miss America pageant is a brutal bloodbath if there ever was one. This year we’ve seen ads promoting the event on TV for weeks in advance, so there was no way I was going to miss it. Miss Italia is broadcast in two parts. The first aired on Sunday night and was pre-recorded. This was the semi-finals. The finals aired Monday night and was live. Here’s the blow by blow.
The Contestants: There are about 180 regional pageant winners from across Italy vying for the title of Miss Italia. Why so many if Italy only has 20 regions? Because most pageants are sponsored, so there can be multiple winners from the same region. For example, Carlotta Maggiorana won Miss Marche, but Laura Schiavoni won Miss Rocchetta Bellezza Marche (Rocchetta sells water) and Erika Franceschini won Miss Equilibra Marche (Equilibra sells vitamins). This is how the tiny country of Italy has more than 3 times as many contestants in their Miss Italia pageant than the U.S. does in Miss America.
Semi-Finals: We see the contestants arrive in Jesolo – a beautiful seaside resort area just north of Venice. The young girls, all excite to advance into the finals, are shown in various settings laughing and getting to know their competition. Before we see much more, the girls are loaded on to 3 buses and brought to a rugby field. They are each given an envelope that contains a colored sheet of paper – red, white, or green in the colors of the Italian flag. The buses are also colored red, white, and green. The contestants re-board the bus that matches their color, so about 60 girls in each bus. They’re then told that only 1 bus will be returning to the field with the girls that have advanced onto the next level, while the 2 other buses will depart with this round’s losers.
The girls immediately start to eye the girls on their bus. Are these the pretty girls or the ugly ones? Some are immediately sad, knowing that they boarded one of the buses with the ugly ducklings. Others are happy, thinking that their bus will advance. No one knows for sure, but there are cameras everywhere inside each bus to capture the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. The line of buses takes off down the road and immediately come to a circle. They enter the circle and the 1st bus exits...then the 2nd. Both watch as the 3rd bus rounds the circle and heads back to the rugby field. A bus load of happy girls are ecstatic to make the next round, but the real TV is made on the other two buses as young girls are broadcast in tears and states of disbelief. You never see the losers in Miss America, but Italy shows every second and their viewers eat it up. Cell phones emerge with calls home to family and friends retelling the carnage that is only the initial elimination stage of Miss Italia.
The next round is the talent portion. Very little is shown of our remaining 60 contestants. A few sing, a few play an instrument, a few dance, and a few act. Before we know it the group is shown outside of the building. Lists are posted at the far end of the building with each girl’s name followed by their status – advancing or eliminated. Only 33 girls will make the next cut. The girls are released and rush to find their names and read their fate. Again, the camera is there to catch it all. We see the happy girls, but focus on the losers and their pain – all captured and broadcast, as well as their calls home and teary hugs farewell.
Here are our finalists. Yup, they all look about the same -- tall and thin with no figure. The only three that stand out are #1 (our only black girl), #8 (she has a prosthetic leg), and #14 (very short white hair). Oddly enough, #32 is a mother, but not wed to her boyfriend, so she's still eligible to win the crown of Miss Italia. After watching the Semi-Finals on Sunday night, Cinzia's pick is #22, Antonietta Fragasso, and my pick is #4, Marta Murru.
Semi-Finals: We see the contestants arrive in Jesolo – a beautiful seaside resort area just north of Venice. The young girls, all excite to advance into the finals, are shown in various settings laughing and getting to know their competition. Before we see much more, the girls are loaded on to 3 buses and brought to a rugby field. They are each given an envelope that contains a colored sheet of paper – red, white, or green in the colors of the Italian flag. The buses are also colored red, white, and green. The contestants re-board the bus that matches their color, so about 60 girls in each bus. They’re then told that only 1 bus will be returning to the field with the girls that have advanced onto the next level, while the 2 other buses will depart with this round’s losers.
The girls immediately start to eye the girls on their bus. Are these the pretty girls or the ugly ones? Some are immediately sad, knowing that they boarded one of the buses with the ugly ducklings. Others are happy, thinking that their bus will advance. No one knows for sure, but there are cameras everywhere inside each bus to capture the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. The line of buses takes off down the road and immediately come to a circle. They enter the circle and the 1st bus exits...then the 2nd. Both watch as the 3rd bus rounds the circle and heads back to the rugby field. A bus load of happy girls are ecstatic to make the next round, but the real TV is made on the other two buses as young girls are broadcast in tears and states of disbelief. You never see the losers in Miss America, but Italy shows every second and their viewers eat it up. Cell phones emerge with calls home to family and friends retelling the carnage that is only the initial elimination stage of Miss Italia.
The next round is the talent portion. Very little is shown of our remaining 60 contestants. A few sing, a few play an instrument, a few dance, and a few act. Before we know it the group is shown outside of the building. Lists are posted at the far end of the building with each girl’s name followed by their status – advancing or eliminated. Only 33 girls will make the next cut. The girls are released and rush to find their names and read their fate. Again, the camera is there to catch it all. We see the happy girls, but focus on the losers and their pain – all captured and broadcast, as well as their calls home and teary hugs farewell.
Here are our finalists. Yup, they all look about the same -- tall and thin with no figure. The only three that stand out are #1 (our only black girl), #8 (she has a prosthetic leg), and #14 (very short white hair). Oddly enough, #32 is a mother, but not wed to her boyfriend, so she's still eligible to win the crown of Miss Italia. After watching the Semi-Finals on Sunday night, Cinzia's pick is #22, Antonietta Fragasso, and my pick is #4, Marta Murru.
Finals: It’s Sunday and the finals are broadcast. Will it be as brutal as the Miss Italia 2014 finals? The contestants are dress in solid red one-piece swimsuits. Our finalists are called out 3 at a time. One number is announced and the camera zooms in as her fate is determined by a mix of 50% from the judges and 50% from televoto (call-in votes costing €1,10 per vote). It’s announced that she continua (continues). They the camera focuses on the remaining 2 girls. Who will continua? Her number is called and we watch as the 3rd contestant is told that she is finisci (finish). This predictable pattern repeats itself 10 times with each threesome of girls – the first always continua. Only on the final set with contestants #2, #8, and #15 do they call out #2 first, she’s all smiles knowing that she’ll continua, until they announce finisci. Nice little dagger. We’re now down to 15 girls.
Next one of the pageant officials reads a statement. I’m not 100% sure what she said, but it had something to do with the Miss America pageant eliminating the swimsuit portion as times are changing. This is immediately followed by the 15 girls lounging around in a swimsuit of their own choosing (14 bikinis and 1 one-piece) while some seductive music plays. Ok, that was odd.
Next we have the girls come out in sequence, again in groups of 3, and they are joined by one of the judges. They are then presented with 3 short news stories and are asked if each are real news or fake new. Girls #3, #4, and #6 are the first set. Some are correct, others are incorrect. All are sports related and the judge assisting them is a popular Italian athlete. No one is eliminated. Next up are #8, #11, and #12 assisted by a TV food personality. All of the news stories are about food. The judge guesses at each and gets them all correct. Maybe this portion of the show isn’t going as planned. This is followed by the remaining sets (#13, #14, #16), (#18, #12, #22), (#24, #29, #30). The last has to do with animals and they are assisted by Maria Grazia Cucinotta. She had a guest appearance as Isabella on season 1 of The Sopranos. Don’t remember her? Maybe this will help.
Next one of the pageant officials reads a statement. I’m not 100% sure what she said, but it had something to do with the Miss America pageant eliminating the swimsuit portion as times are changing. This is immediately followed by the 15 girls lounging around in a swimsuit of their own choosing (14 bikinis and 1 one-piece) while some seductive music plays. Ok, that was odd.
Next we have the girls come out in sequence, again in groups of 3, and they are joined by one of the judges. They are then presented with 3 short news stories and are asked if each are real news or fake new. Girls #3, #4, and #6 are the first set. Some are correct, others are incorrect. All are sports related and the judge assisting them is a popular Italian athlete. No one is eliminated. Next up are #8, #11, and #12 assisted by a TV food personality. All of the news stories are about food. The judge guesses at each and gets them all correct. Maybe this portion of the show isn’t going as planned. This is followed by the remaining sets (#13, #14, #16), (#18, #12, #22), (#24, #29, #30). The last has to do with animals and they are assisted by Maria Grazia Cucinotta. She had a guest appearance as Isabella on season 1 of The Sopranos. Don’t remember her? Maybe this will help.
Anyway, as you might have noticed, Maria Grazia is more well-endowed than all 15 of our Miss Italia finalists combined (maybe all 33)! What happened to our idea of Italian beauty? Even the hostess, Diletta Leotta (you can look her up) would easily win the pageant if she entered. Oh well, back to the show.
Televoto is closed and once again they’re brought out in groups of 3 and told who is continua and who is finisci. For those scoring at home, here are the results with the 3rd girl being eliminated: (#8, #29, #21), (#18, #3, #13), (#11, #12, #4), (#22, #30, #24), and (#6, #14, #16). We have our final 10. Phone lines are opened for call-in votes once more.
This next round looks like it replaced the catwalk round from 2014. The previous Miss Italia draws 2 numbers from a bowl. Each girl comes out in the same red swimsuit, stands back to back, and a each host asks them a series of lightning round questions. I’m not sure what the questions are, or if the girls are answering them correctly, but you get a good look at their profiles. I am able to understand some of the questions from the next pairing. I hear “4 times 9” and the contestant answers “36”. Yup, some are simple math questions. I’m now sure how they determine which of the two girls is eliminated, but it’s not based on how many correct answers were given.
We arrive at our final 5 as #22 is picked over #14, #12 over #3, #29 over #18, #30 over #11, and #8 over #6. Yes, if you’ve been following our one-legged girl, #8, you’ve noticed her prevail at every stage of the contest. After a short dance routine dressed in outfits from the Golden Age of Hollywood, our 5 finalists are called out one-by-one and read their fate. #29 – continua. #30 – finisci. #12 – continua. This leaves us with #8 and #22 for the final spot in the top 3. #22 is a nice enough looking girl and was confident and poised in the various rounds. She really is the best of the final 33. So did they pair this beauty against the one-legged girl as an easy way to get rid of #8? No. For some unknown reason – possibly televoto – #8 joins #12 and #29 in the top 3. Phone lines are opened a 5th time! Yup, this pageant is purely a money grab.
They final round is something you will never see on U.S. television. The 3 finalists come onstage wearing only a slip. There are racks of clothes and rows of shoes and accessories for them to choose from as well as 3 changing screens for them to stand behind as they change clothes. Of course a spotlight shines from behind so we can see each girls in silhouette as the removes her slip and gets into her new outfit. The announcers do their best to fill the time, but some girls are flustered and others are taking too long. #12 is flustered and chooses to wear an overcoat over her slip with a pair of stiletto heels. She’s finished early and opts to help #29, who is behind the center screen, stripping and putting on an entire new outfit. She looks classy and the judges agree. Where’s #8? With no chair behind the screen to help the girls change, #8 is sitting on the floor struggling with her prosthetic leg as she changes into pants and boots. Finally she emerges. All very awkward.
Back in their swimsuits with call-in voting closed, #12 is called and told “continua”! Now we’re down to #8 and #29. Cameras zoom in. #29 continua and #8 finisci. We’re down to our two finalists and the phone lines are opened for a 6th time! Are you kidding me? The broadcast, which began at 9:15pm is in its 4th hour. Our finalists emerge wearing the same swimsuit, only in black this time. What? No evening gown when you get crowned? Suspense builds as the girls are joined by Maria Grazia as the winner’s name is announced. It’s #12, Carlotta Maggiorana, and it’s 1:30am! Oh lord. It could have been so much more ruthless. Come on, Miss Italia! If you can’t round up 180 hot girls to compete for the crown, at least make it a bloodbath. I’d done with you. Ciao.
Televoto is closed and once again they’re brought out in groups of 3 and told who is continua and who is finisci. For those scoring at home, here are the results with the 3rd girl being eliminated: (#8, #29, #21), (#18, #3, #13), (#11, #12, #4), (#22, #30, #24), and (#6, #14, #16). We have our final 10. Phone lines are opened for call-in votes once more.
This next round looks like it replaced the catwalk round from 2014. The previous Miss Italia draws 2 numbers from a bowl. Each girl comes out in the same red swimsuit, stands back to back, and a each host asks them a series of lightning round questions. I’m not sure what the questions are, or if the girls are answering them correctly, but you get a good look at their profiles. I am able to understand some of the questions from the next pairing. I hear “4 times 9” and the contestant answers “36”. Yup, some are simple math questions. I’m now sure how they determine which of the two girls is eliminated, but it’s not based on how many correct answers were given.
We arrive at our final 5 as #22 is picked over #14, #12 over #3, #29 over #18, #30 over #11, and #8 over #6. Yes, if you’ve been following our one-legged girl, #8, you’ve noticed her prevail at every stage of the contest. After a short dance routine dressed in outfits from the Golden Age of Hollywood, our 5 finalists are called out one-by-one and read their fate. #29 – continua. #30 – finisci. #12 – continua. This leaves us with #8 and #22 for the final spot in the top 3. #22 is a nice enough looking girl and was confident and poised in the various rounds. She really is the best of the final 33. So did they pair this beauty against the one-legged girl as an easy way to get rid of #8? No. For some unknown reason – possibly televoto – #8 joins #12 and #29 in the top 3. Phone lines are opened a 5th time! Yup, this pageant is purely a money grab.
They final round is something you will never see on U.S. television. The 3 finalists come onstage wearing only a slip. There are racks of clothes and rows of shoes and accessories for them to choose from as well as 3 changing screens for them to stand behind as they change clothes. Of course a spotlight shines from behind so we can see each girls in silhouette as the removes her slip and gets into her new outfit. The announcers do their best to fill the time, but some girls are flustered and others are taking too long. #12 is flustered and chooses to wear an overcoat over her slip with a pair of stiletto heels. She’s finished early and opts to help #29, who is behind the center screen, stripping and putting on an entire new outfit. She looks classy and the judges agree. Where’s #8? With no chair behind the screen to help the girls change, #8 is sitting on the floor struggling with her prosthetic leg as she changes into pants and boots. Finally she emerges. All very awkward.
Back in their swimsuits with call-in voting closed, #12 is called and told “continua”! Now we’re down to #8 and #29. Cameras zoom in. #29 continua and #8 finisci. We’re down to our two finalists and the phone lines are opened for a 6th time! Are you kidding me? The broadcast, which began at 9:15pm is in its 4th hour. Our finalists emerge wearing the same swimsuit, only in black this time. What? No evening gown when you get crowned? Suspense builds as the girls are joined by Maria Grazia as the winner’s name is announced. It’s #12, Carlotta Maggiorana, and it’s 1:30am! Oh lord. It could have been so much more ruthless. Come on, Miss Italia! If you can’t round up 180 hot girls to compete for the crown, at least make it a bloodbath. I’d done with you. Ciao.