Miss World 2011: Betting on a bevy of beauties

Miss World / Eliot Pollak / 04 November 2011 / 1

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Alize Mounter, Miss England, poses in the London Eye ahead of Miss World 2011

"Our hunch is very much for the lovely Amanda Perez, who produced strong showings over the last fortnight."

Miss World returns to the UK this weekend as Earls Court plays host to the beauty pageant. Betfair's swimsuit and world peace expert Eliot Pollak takes a close look at the contenders...

Yes yes next summer will see the Olympics come to London. And yes the Queen's Jubilee will be something to behold. But how dare the British establishment and media ignore the biggest event taking place in this country over the next 12 months. That's right - Miss World is coming home everyone.

Sixty years after launching this whole seedy affair, the UK has grabbed it back, and beautiful ladies will be convening on Earls Court in London this weekend, to parade around in front of some leering judges.

Miss World remains of course an extraordinary phenomenon in 2011, both anachronistic yet almost atavistically innocent compared to the stuff available on the web. Indeed, the whole contest is curious. As well as looking attractive, the women are also required to spout nonsense. Miss Singapore opened an interview with the Daily Telegraph earlier this week by stating, "Miss World has evolved... Girls in the past were meant to be seen and not heard, but Miss World is trying to change that." I skipped the rest of the interview and just checked out the picture.

It says a great deal about the competence of immigration staff in this country that no less than four applicants won't be competing due to the disgraceful failure of our Government to give them visas. "Foreign criminals - step this way. Oh - but we have enough attractive women. Back to Africa for you luv."

And as for the poor old Greeks, Miss Greece 2011 was cancelled due to the economic crisis, in one of the few incidences of leering bankers being responsible for a deduction in global sleaze.

So where is the smart money going? The big problem this year for punters is the absence of outright winners in the Fast Track events, that traditionally serve as teasers to the big one.

This time around, judges have not just sat on the fence but set up camp there, by selecting 20-plus 'winners' in 'Beach Beauty', 'Sports', 'Top Model', 'Talent' and the slightly bewildering 'Beauty with a Purpose'.

Our hunch is very much for Miss Puerto Rico, the lovely Amanda Perez, who produced strong showings over the last fortnight, and is also a published poet, so would be a fairly 'right-on' winner. She is currently second favourite in the nascent Betfair market at 6.2, behind Miss Venezuela, the early front-runner.

Of the home nations, it is probably only Miss England who has a chance. Currently available at 14s, the wonderfully named Alize Mounter should put up a strong showing in front of her home crowd.

The BBC screened the first 20 contests, and ITV the next ten - a situation surely unimaginable now. Political correctness means this won't be on the mainstream telly in the UK (although it is once again on the Active Channel - Sky 281), but more than 100 other nations will be screening it. The global audience is estimated at an astonishing one billion.

Incidentally, click here to buy a ticket if you don't fancy Bolton v Stoke on Sunday afternoon.

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SHINGIRAI RICHARDSON GARANDE | 25 November 2011

you were the most beautiful than all of them Lily.I don't know why they didn't choose you.you were mncwaaaa-a!!!!!!!!!(kissx1000 000 000)