Style :: Grooming
Behind the beauties, nips and tucks: A look inside the beauty pageant universeby Eric TalmadgeAssociated PressSaturday Mar 29, 2008 Ines Ligron is the ultimate Miss Universe insider, and she does not believe much in secrets. One of her favorite stories is of a contestant who could have won but opted for last-minute cosmetic surgery on her breasts, and thus was barely able to lift her arms when she went before the judges.
Even her own protege – current Miss Universe Riyo Mori – had work done. "But just a little plumper in the lips," Ligron says.
Hand-picked by real estate billionaire Donald Trump, who took over the Miss Universe pageant a decade ago, Ligron is possibly the world’s leading trainer of beauty contestants, having coached Mori to the crown last year- – Japan’s first since 1959- – and Kurara Chibana to the first runner-up slot the year before. Getting on Ligron’s list can mean overnight stardom. "These girls are like babies when they come to me," Ligron said. "When I’m done, they have their college diplomas."
After passing a mass audition, the competitors go through sessions with Ligron on speaking and posture, fashion and makeup, presentation and attitude. Its often brutal;– Ligron turned away one contestant, a high fashion model, because the woman refused to gain weight. "I don’t advertise anorexia," she said, as the other girls looked on. "We don’t want skinny rabbits."
Hundreds of millions of people around the world watch the annual contest to be held this June, in which women from 80 countries compete. But winning the diamond-and-pearl crown comes with a price. And often a slice.
Like steroids in sports, surgical enhancements are the dirty little secret of the beauty pageant world. But, unlike steroids, artificial enhancements in beauty competition are not banned, or even particularly frowned upon.
Ligron said it is commonplace for contestants to remove a rib or two to make their waist smaller, to have breast augmentation, nose reshaping or eyebrow lifting. Complete reworking of the teeth is also de rigeuer. Ligron said surgery on the eyelids – to make the eyes appear bigger and more Western – is especially common with Asian women.
"I guarantee you, of the five women on the stage, most of them had plastic surgery," she said of this year’s Miss Universe final.
But it is complicated.
Enhancements are no guarantee of success. Ligron makes all of her protege sign a statement that they were not encouraged by her staff to undergo surgery of any kind. They must also inform her of any work they have had done in the past.
Ligron said one concern is health – going under the knife involves an element of risk, and organizers do not want to get sued for encouraging a botched nose job. But another concern is that, if a contestant hits it big, before-and-after photographs are bound to surface.
"If it’s very obvious, we don’t want girls who look like Michael Jackson," she said. "Imagine if a girl has an operation and something goes wrong. This would be a big scandal."
Ligron says that if, for example, an otherwise beautiful woman with floppy ears gets them fixed, on her own, without coaxing, well, "I’m so happy. Thanks, you know?"
"It’s the girl’s decision," she shrugged. "I cannot control that."
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Almost brash in her self-assurance, Riyo Mori savors her role, in front of the camera, commanding attention. Physically, she was born- – not sculpted – for the part. She towers over most of the men around her (she’s 1.5-meters, 23-centimeters in her bare feet), and has a leggy, dancers body.
Other than the lips, which are now back to normal, she has had no work done. Notwithstanding, Mori admits she has gone through a transformation under Ligron’s tutelage.
"I was just a girl from the countryside in Japan, I didn’t know anything," Mori said. "I was watching her, everything she does. She’s very cool. Like a live textbook."
Since Trump took over, the Miss Universe contest has gone through a major makeover as well, from a showcase of male fantasies- – starting out as a bathing suit competition in California in 1952- – to an event made to appeal mainly to women.
Contest organizers say that makes good business sense because many of the sponsors are looking to sell products to women: cosmetics rather than beer.
"Back in the day, the contestants were on a pedestal, they looked pretty, but they really didn’t speak. There was a lack of substance," said Roston Ogata, a talent director for the Trump organization. "We are definitely trying to turn that around, to push the envelope a lot more."
Last year’s Miss USA, Tara Conner, pushed the envelope a bit too far – Trump allowed her to keep her crown only after she agreed to go into rehab after admitting in a tearful news conference to heavy, underage drinking.
So far, Mori’s reign has been scandal-free. But she has also dropped the demure, girl-next-door shtick. "In Japan, for lots of girls, it’s not so good to have confidence. It’s good to be conservative, very quiet," she said. "It’s the culture in Japan, women shouldn’t show off. A woman’s always behind the man, women are quieter; they don’t say their opinion. But I have opinions, and I can talk.”
 Copyright Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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