The road to the Miss Russia beauty queen crown
Natalia Gantimurova — a 19-year-old Muscovite and international relations student at the Russian State University for the Humanities — was crowned Miss Russia beauty queen-2011 in a National Beauty Pageant held on March 5 at the Barvikha Luxury Village Concert Hall, an opulent hideout popular among Russian billionaires on the Moscow outskirts. In this exclusive interview, the new beauty queen talked about her road to the pageant crown, her plans and social agenda to fight rising drug addition among the youth.
A victory in such a national beauty competition such as the Miss Russia contest means a turning point in any girl’s life. Seen in this context, how would characterize the taste of victory and your relatives and friends’ reactions to this pleasant news?
Actually, it is difficult for me to say that I have already 100% felt the ‘sweetness’ of my victory. That is, I’ve yet to understand and fully believe that this has actually happened to me. And, with regard to relatives and friends, I must say that they are very happy and exceedingly delighted, in short, they are extremely happy, much happier than me. Indeed, I’ve never seen such reactions and emotions before generated by events that happened in the lives of my relatives, friends and acquaintances.
As the winner of this year’s Miss Russia competition, you’ve been granted an opportunity to go to any university of your choice anywhere in the world. Have you already thought about which university to choose or are offers already flowing from the institutions themselves?
So far, there are no concrete offers, but my university, understandably, does not want me to leave it. Of course, I’m considering the perspectives of studying abroad. Most likely, this will be one of Italian universities as I’m currently studying Italian.
Who was the initiator of the idea to participate in this contest, you, your relatives or friends, and were there people who were against the idea, and if yes, what was their key reason?
I can’t say that someone was categorically against my participation, but there were people, who were very skeptical about it, just as they are skeptical to any beauty competition. Their main argument was that the contest outcomes were predetermined or it was something immoral, but on the whole, nobody was, if may repeat, categorically against it. In any case, everyone understood that whatever the outcome, it is a good life experience to get. It is such a page in a biography of any girl to be in this atmosphere, be directly involved in such a high-profile beauty pageant featuring 50 most beautiful girls in Russia. And as to the initiator of the participation idea, it was my course mate, one of best girlfriends, who had challenged me to go for the casting, and I went for it.
Participation in a beauty contest such as Miss Russia is a dream for many Russians, a dream that became a reality for you on March 5. How would you describe the road to the Miss Russia crown, what difficulties and challenges did you encounter?
One of the difficulties was month-long preparation, when it was impossible to meet relatives and friends. In this respect, I, as a Muscovite, was bit luckier, in the sense that I was closer to my family, as the contestants were accommodated near Moscow. In this case, one can also say I had the so-called ‘home advantage.’
"Actually, it is difficult for me to say that I have 100% felt the ‘sweetness’ of my victory. That is, I’ve yet to fully understand and completely believe that this has actually happened to me."
But all the same, it was still difficult, despite the fact that I had regular phone contacts with family and friends. For one, it was a complete change of lifestyle, and I can even say that we actually fell out of the society during this period. Nevertheless, I can’t say that the difficulties were insurmountable or that they were so complex that I couldn’t handle them. It is quite the contrary, as the results of that contest meant that I actually handled them well.
To become a Miss Russia is a dream for any girl. But one of the pageant conditions stipulated a height of not less 175cm. Doesn’t this, in your opinion, mean discrimination against girls with less than the so-called ‘standard modeling’ features?
It is difficult for me to answer this question. But my opinion is that I don’t consider the ‘modeling standards’ requirements from potential beauty queen contestants a discrimination against any categories of girls. This is because no one is saying, for example, that girls with shorter heights are not beautiful, but the Miss Russia crown, in my opinion, should be worn by only tall girls that meet the modeling standards.
A total of 50 girls from all over Russia took part in this contest, each of whom was unique in her beauty. But the crown in a hotly contested competition was won by you. In this regard, to what do you attribute your triumph your over co-contestants, who equally also deserved the title?
I think the determining factor was my sincerity. I was 100% sincere in everything - in all my acts, words, actions and deeds, and, in general, I’m always sincere in my everyday life, just the way I was during the month of contest. By this, I’m not implying that that someone among the contestants was not sincere. I don’t have such information nor was I in a position to judge others, but for myself, I can say 100% that I was totally sincere in everything. Besides, another factor was luck, which was very much on my side.
Have you previously participated in beauty contests before, and if yes, what do contests mean for you - self-affirmation or something else?
Actually, I love disputes, challenges and all sorts of betting, making friends to call me a great disputer. In the past, I never took part in any beauty contests, as I believed that they were not for me. But before the Miss Russia pageant, I took part in the Miss Moscow Studentship beauty contest but, unfortunately, I did not win anything. The jury there probably undervalued my beauty, which was adequately valued in this contest of a much higher-profile status.
There are myriads of national female beauty contests, such as Miss Russia, Russian Beauty, etc., as well as regional and international competitions. Why, in your opinion, are there no analogical handsome contests for men?
It is difficult to answer this question. But, in my opinion, men by nature are not supposed to be necessarily handsome. For them, other more valuable qualities are needed rather than physical handsomeness.
By the way, what do you plan to do with the contest’s financial prize, a check for $100,000, which is traditionally awarded to all Miss Russia pageant winners?
The check has not been cashed and I have not spent the money, despite the fact the Internet is full of blaring headlines claiming that I had already drawn out plans for the money or said how I planned to spend it. Once again, I have to reiterate that I presently don’t know on what and/or how I’m going to spend it. But I still have time to think over how to spend the cash in a good way.
What type of advice would you give younger Russian girls that are contemplating on participating in Miss Russia pageant in subsequent contests?
I can only wish such girls ‘iron patience,’ as this is the only thing that can enable them to go through all the difficult processes and pressing requirements demanded from all the participants taking part in such high profile beauty pageant such as Miss Russia contest.
There are several negative stereotypes and prejudices against beauty contests. Some see it as a source of sexual fun for the organizers, while others believe victory in them is predetermined or out of reach to honest girls. How justified are such opinions, judging from your experience at the recent contest?
Honestly speaking, till my March 5 victory, I was also absolutely believed that this was the case. That is, I had no doubts that such contests, to put it meekly, were absolutely deceitful events. But today, my position is totally different. This is because, from my personal experience, I can unequivocally declare that all the widespread negative opinions about the Miss Russia contest winners are completely false, far from the truth and absolutely have nothing to do with reality. At least, I know this very well.
Which other widespread negative myths and baseless rumors would you like to dispel, and going forward, what needs to be done, from a moral point of view, to stop such contests from being negatively perceived by society?
The main negative myth that I would like to dispel is the myth that co-contestants are very unfriendly to each other, plan intrigues, dirty tricks, etc., against one another. This is completely untrue, at least, in our case, as all the contestants were very friendly, helped each other, etc. With regard to what to do to change the negative opinion about beauty contests, I can only say that at the moment I honestly don’t know what to do. But one thing that I can today is I shall try – via my behavior as Miss Russia-2011 - to create a positive image for the title and our country as a whole.
A victory in such contests does not only bring the winner instant national glory, but also responsibilities, such as being a ‘role model’ for younger Russian girls. In this regard, how do you see your role as the officially anointed most beautiful Russian girl in 2011?
The image of Miss Russia contest winner, for me, has always been positive, being a person worthy of emulation by young girls. However, this is a difficult role, as the overall opinion about a Miss Russia is not always the same for different people, as some have critical attitudes, and this is normal, because it is impossible for a person to be liked by everyone. But a beauty queen needs to have absolutely irreproachable conduct to be a role model for younger girls in a society. For example, I plan to participate in social advertisement as it is a real way passing across vital information, via visualization, to intended addressees. In this context, one of the issues on my agenda as Miss Russia-2011 is to activate the campaign against illegal drug use and addiction among the Russian youth.
Later this year, you, just like your predecessors, will represent Russia in such prestigious beauty pageants such as Miss World and Miss Universe. How do you and your team currently see your chances, considering the fact that Latin American girls have won most of these contests?
With regard to the feats of the Latin American girls, I would say such a tendency certainly exists and is obvious. But with regard to our chances, I can’t say anything at this moment, especially as I can’t objectively evaluate my chances, but I would like to note that it would strive to worthily represent our country at these prestigious events. Let’s wait and see; there is no need guessing what the future holds, and besides, I don’t think that is necessary at this moment.
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