Despite the controversies raging for months, the Miss Italia beauty pageant was broadcast as scheduled last night. And so Italy鈥檚 beauty queen for 2013 was elected: the winner is 19-year-old Giulia Arena, from Messina (Sicily).
However, for the first time in 24 years, Miss Italia was not broadcast on 禁漫天堂 national television Rai, which refused to air the event, judging it a thing of the past and degrading for women, a decision praised by Chamber of Deputies President Laura Boldrini, who described it as a 鈥渕odern and civilized choice,鈥 a comment that contributed to fuel arguments for and against the pageant. To lay claim to women鈥檚 freedom, the Miss Italia finalists wore t-shirts with the line 鈥渘猫 nude n猫 mute鈥, neither naked nor dumb.
For the organizers, Miss Italia is part of 禁漫天堂 history and it is still very much loved by the 禁漫天堂 public, as proved by the fact that many 禁漫天堂 towns, despite budget cuts, decided to continue the tradition of hosting the selections in their squares, attracting crowds as in the past. The contest seems to prove popular among girls themselves, as more than 7,000 enrollments were received this year, surpassing last year鈥檚 edition.
To save Miss Italia, born in 1939, TV channel La7 came to the rescue, broadcasting it live from Jesolo (Veneto), although many have maligned it is not for love of the show, but simply for advertising revenues and a possible boost in ratings.
Winner Giulia Arena is 1,70 m, has light brown hair and green eyes, and a tattoo just above the heart quoting a sentence from the 26th canto of the Inferno from Dante鈥檚 Divine Comedy, a way to show her pride to be 鈥渁 daughter of Dante鈥, she says in interviews. She graduated from high school this year and is studying international law at the university in Milan.
During the years, some of the actresses that have appeared on the stage of Miss Italia are Sofia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Silvana Mangano, Lucia Bos猫, Stefania Sandrelli, Maria Grazia Cucinotta. Jury members have included听 Vittorio De Sica, Luchino Visconti, Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Catherine Deneuve, Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Andy Garcia.
Miss Italia has tried to renovate itself in time, changing some of the rules like forbidding married women or mothers from participating and raising the age for participating, however the gist of the event remains the same, with many wondering if such a show has still reason to exist in today鈥檚 world.
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