( Spanish) — The Miss Venezuela beauty contest returns to the Poliedro de Caracas this Wednesday, November 16 at 07:00 pm local time, to celebrate 70 years in style. This, after 8 years of being carried out with a tight budget in a Venevisión television studio, a local channel that has broadcast the traditional contest since its inception.
For this 2022, the participation of 24 candidates representing the 23 states of the country and one from the Capital District is expected, who will parade before a capacity of about 7,000 people in a space whose maximum capacity is about 20,000. The organizers of the contest reported that six renowned former Misses will join the opening of the event and that they estimate that the contest will last for about four hours.
Among the novelties is the realization of a concert by the Colombian vallenato interpreter, Silvestre Dangond, who will have a special participation in the contest and that at the end of the contest will offer a show that is expected to last for about two hours. For Venezuela, artists such as Victor Drija, Victor Muñoz and Huáscar Barradas will take the stage. The public will be able to enjoy the show with tickets ranging from US$50 to US$470.
The organization of the most popular beauty pageant in the country, directed by the former beauty queen, Gabriela Isler, highlighted that not only is the usual scenario resumed, but also the participation of the Venezuelan entertainer Maite Delgado, as well as the prize for the winner of a vehicle new, a gift that has not been given since 2010. As part of the recent changes, it maintains the search for integral beauty as part of its purpose of “making beauty a movement that empowers Venezuelan women.”
Candidates from 23 Venezuelan states and a representative from the capital district contenders for the Miss Venezuela title pose during a rehearsal at the Poliedro de Caracas in Caracas, on November 14, 2022 (Photo by YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
What is known by many as “the most beautiful night of the year”, as the emblematic song of the event says, will once again be produced by Hugo Carregal, who will work with Erick “El Pollo” Simonato, who has been in charge of the conduct of the contest. In charge of the choreography will be Brian Úrea Fajardo. One of the great absentees of the day will be Osmel Sousa, also known as the Czar of beauty. The organization reported that he was invited but the expert on beauty queens publicly expressed his decision to decline the invitation.
The contest returns to the space where it starred in its golden age after two years taking place amid the limitations of the pandemic, with a minimal audience present and the candidates in separate spaces, as well as after suffering the ravages of the economic crisis. Also after the scandal that in March 2018 led to an internal review of the structure after a series of complaints about financing and even about alleged prostitution within the contest. At that time, the Cisneros Group, in charge of organizing the contest, reported the cessation of activities for a review and verification stage on whether “activities that violate the values and ethics of the contest” had been incurred.
Miss Venezuela is a traditional beauty pageant that has become a franchise and has great international recognition due to the success of its winners in competitions such as Miss World, Miss Universe and Miss International. The Miss Venezuela Organization has seven crowns of Miss Universe, six of Miss World and eight of Miss International. In 2009, Miss Venezuela was the first representative of a country that handed over the crown to a compatriot in Miss Universe.
