BEHIND THE SCENES OF MISS TAHITI: BECOMING THE MYTH

The Miss Tahiti adventure started in 1960 with the election of the very first Miss Tahiti, Teura Bauwens. As French Polynesia prepares to elect its 51st beauty queen during one of the most important events in Tahiti on June 24th, I wanted to know what it takes to embody the exotic and mystic visions of the first explorers.

Make-up

The Miss Tahiti Committee was kind enough to let me follow the 16 candidates to the 2011 title behind the scenes of the preparations. Between dance rehearsals, photo shoots, filmmaking, make-up sessions... I got an insight into the way these young girls live their dream of becoming the beauty queen of our islands. In a month, one of these 16 uniquely beautiful girls will bear the title of the most beautiful girl in Tahiti and her islands and will go off to participate to Miss France while her two runners-up will go to take part to pageants such as Miss Earth.

Styling

Today the Miss Tahiti Committee has finally revealed the names and faces of the 16 beauties who will attempt to charm the public and jury on the night of June 24th. I didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming Miss Tahiti so I can only imagine the rush of emotions they will experience that night. But is the pageant really all about magic, dream and glamour... is being Miss Tahiti only skin deep?

Photoshoots and filming

There is also a whole preparation and production leading up to the 2 or so hours that the election will last and nobody has any idea, if not previous contestants. During their preparation, they will discover the real meaning behind the crown and the title; they will learn the legacy and the long standing ideals it represents. Beauty, glamour but also generosity, strength, character, education, humility…these are but a few of the values they will come to embrace and attributes they will have to demonstrate.

Team bonding

I will not reveal what the committee has planned for their public on the night of the election but I can say that this year Miss Tahiti is getting a makeover and the theme they have chosen for the evening, “The Dream”, will hopefully answer the promise of inviting us in a trance between beauty and tradition. So save-the-date: June 24th at Toa'ta!

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" Eleanor Roosevelt

Many thanks to the Miss Tahiti Committee and contestants, Orama NOBLE (make up artist) and Matahi VAIRAA (photographer).


Note: All photos are blogger's own.