Because we apparently now live in an episode of Father Ted, the Ryan Tubridy show on 2FM has launched a quest to find a lovely girl to represent Ireland in the glittering world of beauty pageants. And not just any lovely girl. A lovely girl with a lovely "personality".
Yes, ladies of Ireland, if you have ever dreamed of winning the title of Miss Ireland, you are invited to enter the 2FM Miss Personality contest. Would-be winners will be interviewed live on the Ryan Tubridy show, after which listeners will vote for their favourite via text. All participants will be anonymous on air.
We do not want to identify contestants so therefore the finalists for 2fm’s Miss Personality will not use their real names. Instead they will use a “Miss Name”. For example if you are interested in say rugby or you have a hobby or something interesting or individual about you then you could use that as your name. For example “Miss Munster Rugby” or “Miss Tattoo”.You have to come up with your own “Miss” name.
Oh, the possibilities. I'm almost tempted to enter just so I can try and come up with the most ridiculous, inappropriate and possibly filthy "Miss" name imaginable. Maybe something like "Miss Adult Baby".
Possible footage from next year's pageantAnyway, the winner of Miss Personality will automatically participate in the final of this year's Miss Ireland competition, where, we are told, she will have to
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wear swimwear during the closed door judging on during the day section. This is one catwalk, in front of the selected judges...For all other elements of the interviews on that day they wear evening wear.
On the night of the final, there is a 'Beach' section which is usually themed (last year it was Tropical) the girls are given complete choice on this. No one wears anything that they do not themselves select. Last year some of the girls wore kaftans or sarongs- so basically, if someone wants to cover up, they absolutely can.
Phew! We wouldn't want anyone to think this was a competition where women are judged on what they look like in a swim suit or anything. A friend of mine suggested that maybe the beach theme will be "Donegal" so you could wear a nice warm jumper, but I think it'll probably be Saint Tropez or something boring like that.
Anyway, if anyone wants to enter or indeed run a beauty pageant, go for it. While I might find the whole industry tacky and embarrassing and demeaning (and I do), it's a free country so I'm not going to stop them. But I'm not sure that RTE, funded by licence-payers, should be part of the whole thing. When I first saw the 2FM website, I thought it was a parody. I mean, it seemed too ridiculous that 2FM, supposedly RTE's "youth" station, was participating in something like this. But no, it is all too real.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of people were gobsmacked by the whole thing (I first found out about it in a friend's tweet simply reading "Gross"), and RTE's response to criticism was, well, judge for yourself. They told the Daily Edge
We recognise that pageants aren’t everybody’s cup of tea; but this is a viable route into the Miss Ireland competition for women who are interested in taking part and would prefer be judged on their personalities rather than their looks.This is radio, what we do is all about personality, you don’t have to be a size eight to enter and any woman who is interested in representing their country on a global platform as Miss Ireland now has the chance.
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Ah, so they're actually being really progressive by making their participation in this ridiculous competition "all about personality"!
If I thought there was a real chance that Miss Personality would actually be chosen as Miss Ireland even if she were a size 18, there might be something cool or subversive about the whole thing, but I suspect this is unlikely to happen. Though I like the way they grandly say that you'd be "representing their country on a global platform" as if you're going to speak in front of the UN or something.
So what do you think about the 2FM competition? Is it a fresh approach to beauty pageants? Is it tacky and demeaning, or a fun way of representing your country? And most importantly of all, what would your "Miss name" be?
