Love it or hate it, Miss Universe makes for good entertainment. I watched it last night for the first time in years. While the whole concept is blatantly ridiculous (“you can represent your country because you look good in a swimsuit!”), I still managed to learn a few things.

Poise is important
Even though Miss USA fell over during the “evening dress” segment, she recovered admirably. I have always thought that the real test of someone’s character is to see how they behave when they’ve been defeated, or when something goes wrong. It’s certainly when you learn the most on a personal level. Miss USA was obviously shaken when she fell over — as we all would be — but she got up again, shot us a personality-laden smile & all was forgiven. I was totally impressed by her.

Your personality doesn’t just appear when you open your mouth
Your personality — what I would say is the most important part of a person — is evident at all times. It is obvious in the way that you hold yourself & the way you look at other people. It shows in your grace, or lack of! Some people enter a room & even before they introduce themselves, you know you’re in for a sleigh-ride to Boredomville. In Miss Universe, you could tell the girls who had a little something going on upstairs — their eyes sparkled, they smiled mischievously, they walked with a purpose — & that made them far more attractive.

Learn how to project an image without saying anything
As a follow-on from the above, think about the things you do which tell the world about you. I wrote a piece at the beginning of the year asking What Does Your Clothing Say About You?, but this goes further than that. You could be wearing a garbage bag & still walk in a way that says you mean business. What kind of impression do you get from somebody who chews their nails, twirls their hair around a finger, jigs their leg constantly or sits with a smile but is constantly looking around elsewhere? Learn to be of the moment & present yourself the way you think you would be in an ideal world.

Real, healthy bodies are still sexy
After all the Size 0 hype, I was amazed to see that the contestants had real, bangin’ booties! Their thighs actually moved when they walked! Some of them even had little bellies! But the point is this — they all looked incredibly healthy & quite frankly, really hot. There is no way a runway model could have won it, & that pleased me. I’m glad our (by which I mean the current Western version of “our”) vision of beauty isn’t all skeletons, which you can almost begin to believe if you are too closely involved with fashion.

If you’re not sure about your outfit, ask someone
Miss Poland was wearing a chiffon prom dress with a fur hat, & Miss Serbia was wearing a “sexy” MILITARY outfit! ‘Nuff said!