The MSM will very likely miss the Kiwi connection on this one, but it deserves a mention. Starnow.co.uk, an English company founded by New Zealanders, is an official sponsor of Miss England, taking place at the end of this month. I sadly had to turn down their kind invitation to attend this year, due to judging the Cadbury Dream Model Search here the following week. It’s just too darned hard to do a string of competitions these days.
   In 2004 and 2006, StarNow casting clients took home the Miss England crown.
   One of the judges this year is Wellingtonian Cameron Mehlhopt, who will accompany Hollyoaks actor Chris Fountain and former actress and model, Lizzy Cundy, on the panel. Cam and StarNow were featured in Idealog late last year, and the company just keeps on growing these days.
   According to StarNow, 60 of the 91 finalists are on its books.
   The winner of Miss England goes on to Miss World. I still have bad memories of the years a widowed Pierce Brosnan and, later, Jerry Springer hosted; the show has not been seen on our shores for some time.
   I’ll be interested to learn from Cam when we are both back in Wellington just how the pageant there is structured. The top prizes are, expectedly, more substantial than the ones here, but what interests me is the media coverage, and whether it will contrast the tall-poppy reaction some had to Laural Barrett’s win in late March: will the English, indeed British, media be patriotic? The qualities, perhaps, but what of the tabloids?
   From that we may gauge where our broadsheets are positioned. Posted by Jack Yan, 07:49  permalink

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