Indepth Analysis on Miss World Competition

Update

The below article refers to the Miss World 2004 competition. This years finals is - of course- to be held in Poland on September 30th. Bookmakers such as Blue Square, PaddyPower and VC Bet are the places to bet on Miss World 2006. Claim your free bet on Miss World now!

This article relates to Miss World 2004

For the first time ever, Miss World will be decided entirely by a public vote, with the show and results being broadcast live from Sanya in China on Saturday 4th December.

Voting via the internet has been open for several weeks and will remain so right up until the show has been completed. The organisers will then take some time to collate the results before announcing the winner later in the evening. It is also possible to vote by phone, text or through the television.

There are points allocated for each voting country using a system similar to that of the Eurovision song contest. Each country gives ten points to the country for who they have the most votes, which can include themselves, with nine points for the second placed nation, eight for the third and so on, all the way down to one point for the country with the tenth highest number.

The theory behind using this system is that there should be no advantage given to those with the higher populations, meaning that the winner is the favourite from all the interested nations, from all around the world.

Although 108 contestants made the trip to Hainan at the beginning of November, there will only be fifteen entrants in the final itself.

Five of these are predetermined and we know the identity of four. Miss Mexico was crowned Miss World Top Model, Miss Antigua was Miss Talent, Miss USA Miss Beachwear and Miss Wales a surprising Miss Sport.

The fifth automatic qualifier will not be announced until the night of the show and is the winner of a poll taken from all of the initial entrants in the weeks leading to the final. The poll asked simply who they thought would be the most deserving Miss World, after spending three weeks in the company of one another.

Ten others will join them in the final stages, and these are determined by the ten countries that have amassed the highest number of votes at the start of the show, so long as they are not one of the five already through.

Miss USA is a clear favourite at 11/2 and the Brazilian born beauty has been at centre stage ever since taking the Miss Beachwear winner on the opening day of proceedings. This is a short price however, and we would expect several countries not to vote for her simply because of America’s controversial place in the world from a political and military standpoint, with particular reference to the war in Iraq.

Second favourite is Miss Mexico, and winning the Miss World Model award should bode well in what is essentially a beauty contest. 11/1 is the best price to be found and it could also be an advantage that Mexico is a Spanish speaking country, which should help her popularity among South American voters, and Europeans too. There are no other South American countries assured of a place, and the continent is notoriously fanatical about Miss World. If political voting is to exist as it does in the Eurovision, then we believe Yesica Meza has a fine opportunity.

Of the four known entries, Miss Wales is the outsider at 33/1. She may well have the entire UK voting for her but the region is not especially keen on the whole Miss World phenomenon, even though Miss Ireland was crowned champion last year. We do not feel her prospects are particularly good.

Miss Antigua, who blew the judges away with an energetic singing display in the talent competition, is seen as a 14/1 chance but as good as her singing voice may be, the wider public are more likely to be concerned with other attributes.

Trinidad and Tobago are rated very highly considering their non-qualification at this stage, and 12/1 seems short. Kenisha Thom has come third in both the beach and the sport categories but this is not enough to draw in our support at this price.

If coming close in the individual categories is a reason to back, then Sarah Davies of Australia holds some appeal at 33/1. She came second in the beach and the sport contests. She also appears to be well travelled, having been born in Malaysia, and was once the gymnastics champion of Queensland, and these are traditionally appealing qualities. It is interesting to note that one bookmaker has her as short as 12/1 which makes her third favourite on their book. The 33/1 can be taken each way with Sporting Odds, which pays out at ¼ odds if she makes it into the top four.

The only other two countries which we can see demanding consideration are India and China. No nation takes the competition more seriously than India, for whom the selection of their entrant is a major event in itself. They have taken the prize four times in the last eleven years, but this system of voting is likely to work against them. 10/1 can be found at BlueSq.

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