I’ve had the pleasure of exchanging correspondences with Christopher Vincent, CEO of Miss Multinational Pageant – a recently-founded UK-based competition aiming to break barriers in the pageant world starting with the holding of its inaugural edition in 2014.
The man was gracious enough to agree to an exclusive interview after I made an initial feature about the brand new pageant last May 21.
Foreword from Mr. Vincent:
“Thank you for taking the time to write about The Miss Multinational Pageant on your website. We appreciate being recognised by a website that follows the pageant industry and this recognition is why we were more than happy to give an exclusive interview to you and your readers.”
NB: Pageant followers would like to know what makes Miss Multinational different from the rest and why it deserves our time and attention.
CV: The pageant industry is booming, but sadly most of the new emerging pageants are copies of what already exists. The Miss Multinational Pageant, however, has been completely redesigned to provide a whole new concept to the pageant industry and its devoted fans.
We focused on what we felt the world needs and wants; a positive role model for girls and women around the world. Instead of finding yet another pretty face, we wanted to find a young woman who is passionate about making a difference in the world. Other pageants claim to be looking for the same – but actions speak louder than words – which is why we have introduced new rounds such as The Final Speech, which sees each representative that makes it into the “Top 5″ present a speech to the judges and viewing audience about the chosen cause and charity they wish to be a spokeswoman for during their reign.
Overall, we want to find a young woman that will be active in making a difference around the world, not just a pretty woman who can strike a pose in front of cameras with a crown and title.
NB: If Miss Multinational intends to break barriers beyond the usual beauty pageant norms, what is the most important qualification you are looking for in a candidate, or an eventual winner for that matter?
CV: Passion for change. Our slogan is “An Ambassador for the World”, and that’s exactly what we’re looking for. Representatives from each nation should be ambassadors for their countries so that they can make a significant difference to their countries, even if they don’t win the Miss Multinational crown.
NB: What is your initial 3 year-plan, if any, for The Miss Multinational Pageant?
CV: We can’t tell you all our secrets, but our vision for The Miss Multinational Pageant is for countries around the world to recognise that we are not a “beauty” pageant – because we’re not focused on, or scoring on, beauty. Our pageant aims to find representatives/ambassadors from each country who will then compete to represent the whole world. By removing many of the superficial aspects of beauty pageants, we hope that many countries will see the benefits of these events and endorse their representatives.
A new concept The Miss Multinational Pageant is introducing is the hosting system. Unlike the other major pageants, which host the final of their pageants in the country of origin/ the country who offers the most money/ the country who can afford the massive hosting fee, The Miss Multinational Pageant has joined the various other global events that open themselves up to Hosting Bids. This means that every country has an equal opportunity to host The Miss Multinational Pageant, generating interest and tourism for developing or overlooked nations.
NB: Let’s say I want to compare Miss Multinational with the long-established beauty competitions around the world, what will it be a cross-breed of?
CV: Our aim for The Miss Multinational Pageant is for it to be as entertaining and vibrant as Miss Universe, with an important focus like Miss Earth and be as respectable and honest as Miss World. We would also throw in The Olympic Games as well, as our hosting system and hopes for generating national pride for all participating countries is inspired by this event.
NB: Is Miss Multinational open to accepting transgender applicants?
The Miss Multinational Pageant isn’t open to transgender applicants, but we absolutely love the transgender community and are currently developing a partner-pageant specifically for transgender women. The Miss Multinational Pageant is our primary pageant at the moment, but we are also in the process of getting the following partner-pageants ready to be unveiled; Mister Multinational (for men), Miss Teen Multinational (for girls aged 15-18), Mr Gay Multinational (to find a role model and advocate for gay rights) and Miss Transnational (for transgender women, to find a role model and advocate for transgender acceptance).
NB: A beauty competition without a swimsuit/bikini portion is like being asked to eat a bland spice-less meal. How will the organization be able to elevate the interest level in its objective/s?
CV: As The Miss Multinational Pageant isn’t focused on beauty, it seemed irrelevant for us to have a swimsuit round. This round has often been controversial, with various people and groups feeling it is outdated, demeaning to women and promoting “size zero” to young girls. With Miss Multinational becoming a role model to girls and women around the world, we felt it important to show that there is more to being a woman than having a perfect bikini body.
We also want to find strong independent women from as many different backgrounds and cultures as possible, and this includes from the Muslim community and from Muslim-based countries. The removal of the swimsuit round allows these women to participate now.
The Miss Multinational Pageant believes audiences will appreciate that we genuinely want to make a difference to the world; highlighting various issues from environmental issues, social issues, poverty, disease, and inequalities. The world is becoming more aware of issues around the world, with campaigns such as Kony 2012 proving how much people want to be part of a bigger change.
NB: Southeast Asians (Filipinos, Indonesians, Thais and Vietnamese in particular) are among the most avid pageant fans. Do you have a special message to them in support of Miss Multinational?
CV: I love that you asked me this! I absolutely love South-East Asia and their passion for pageants. It never fails to amaze me how supportive South-East Asians are at global pageants; their representatives always get the biggest cheers – it still makes me smile when I see Maria Venus Raj introduce herself at the start of Miss Universe 2010 and the huge applause she gets. I’m really glad to say we have already received a lot of requests to purchase National Licences for countries such as; The Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, and I hope we see them at The 2014 Miss Multinational Pageant. After all, it wouldn’t feel like a proper debut without one of those countries participating.
Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Vincent. More power to Miss Multinational Pageant! 
