Six beauty pageant Q&A fails

Miss Universe Malaysia 2013 Carey Ng (centre) posing with Miss Malaysia Universe 2014 finalists.

Miss Universe Malaysia 2014 will be crowned tonight, but as the girls emerge from the isolation booth to answer their final questions, let’s honour those who have failed to talk the talk.

Beauty pageants routinely face ridicule from feminists who claim they only serve to reinforce and perpetuate sexist perceptions that women should strive to be nothing more than pretty faces on high heels. Defenders, on the other hand, argue that pageants are opportune platforms for contestants to prove that personality and intelligence can exist alongside physical beauty. Regardless of your stance on the matter, pageants are entertaining, and often a rich source of unintentional humour, especially during the Q&A section, when wracked nerves and intense scrutiny can turn stunning Venuses into prosaic babblers.