Did the eventual winner Miss Venezuela get hand-picked by The Donald? (PHOTO: AP)
The choreograpaher for the Miss Universe pageant, Michael Schwandt, said in an interview that Donald Trump hand picks six of the 15 Miss Universe finalists, and that the judges are only responsible for the final nine.
"His reason for doing so, as he told me and he’s told the girls before, is that he left it all up to preliminary judging in the past and some of the most beautiful women, in his opinion, were not in the top fifteen and he was kind of upset about that," Schwandt told the website Guanabee.com. "And he decided that he would pick a certain number and let the judges pick a certain number."
But according to the Miss Universe Organization, the information the choreographer gave was "inaccurate and incomplete."
"As disclosed at the top of each broadcast, members of the Miss Universe Organization play a role in the selection of the Top 15 semi-finalists. In the 2009 Miss Universe competition, a preliminary panel of judges selected nine of the Top 15 and members of the Miss Universe Organization, including owner Donald J. Trump, selected the remaining six," MUO President Paula M. Shugart said in a statement to FOX411. "A separate panel of judges, introduced live at the Finals telecast, is solely responsible for the selection of the Top 10, Top 5 and the ultimate winner of the pageant."
Shugart also stated that the system (which has been in place since 2005) is "fully disclosed" to all those associated with the pageant and that the procedure is overseen by the accounting firm of Ernst & Young and NBC Program Standards and Compliance.
"To in any way call into question the integrity of the judging process or suggest the pageant is somehow orchestrated or “rigged” is utterly false and misleading," she added.
He finances it - I presume he can rig it if he wants. After the manner in which the organization treated Carrie Prejean, I hope it goes completely bankrupt anyway.
I used to love to watch these pageants back in the day. Now, it's a big joke.... everything is fake!! It should be changed to a "Best Plastic Surgery Pageant".
The Donald has made it no secret that he appreciates beautiful women and their sexuality, so don't act so surprised that he would want to make sure beautiful women are included as finalists in a beauty contest?
Like anyone is surprised by this? Trump has to control EVERYTHING, & probably figures if he's financing the pageant he should get a say in who wins. I'm surprised the judges actually get any decision making ability at all!
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Iron Jaw
He finances it - I presume he can rig it if he wants. After the manner in which the organization treated Carrie Prejean, I hope it goes completely bankrupt anyway.
tg
I used to love to watch these pageants back in the day. Now, it's a big joke.... everything is fake!! It should be changed to a "Best Plastic Surgery Pageant".
WhyRUSurprised?
The Donald has made it no secret that he appreciates beautiful women and their sexuality, so don't act so surprised that he would want to make sure beautiful women are included as finalists in a beauty contest?
MP
Of course it's fixed... all the winners are from earth.
Tina
Like anyone is surprised by this? Trump has to control EVERYTHING, & probably figures if he's financing the pageant he should get a say in who wins. I'm surprised the judges actually get any decision making ability at all!
Conner
Duh!
PRO
I WISH DONALD WOULD FIRE ALL THE JUDGES AND PICK THE WINNER HIMSELF. HE SEEMS TO KNOW BEAUTY PRETTY WELL INSTEAD OF SOME JEALOUS LUDGE.
Emma
OMG! Call the cops. A fixed beauty pageant? How tragic!
Chail
If its all about beauty, why is there a talent and q&a segment?
tex
I agree with tg- it should be about natural beauty, not who is the most fake and caked up.