Cyprus clinches Miss Universe contest

By Jean Christou

CYPRUS has clinched the millennium Miss Universe contest, Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister Nicos Rolandis said yesterday.

Rolandis told the Cyprus Mailthat he had received notification by fax on Wednesday and that the 55-page contract would be signed in the next 10 to 15 days at a formal ceremony between the government and the representatives of the Miss Universe Corporation.

The organisers of the pageant are the Donald Trump Corporation and CBS, the American TV network which will be broadcasting the contest live from 4am Cyprus time to coincide with US prime time viewing.

“This is the biggest event ever in Cyprus,” the Minister said.

“It will have a television audience of 2.4 billion people, less only than the Olympics and the World Cup”.

Rolandis said the contest would be held at Nicosia’s Eleftheria Stadium, probably next May, and would attract thousands of people to the island. It is the first time the contest has taken place in the region and should prove to be a huge boost for the island’s tourism industry.

“Not only that, but the contestants will be on the island for three weeks and moving from hotel to hotel,” Rolandis said, adding there would be events in other areas to coincide with various aspects of the pageant so activities would not be confined to Nicosia.

Over £2 million have been set aside to host the pageant through a specially approved budget, and committees will be set up to oversee the arrangements, the Minister said.

Cyprus will be pushing the “island of love” angle as legend has the island as the birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.

Keeping up the mythological theme, Rolandis said the winner of the contest would be given a golden apple, just like Aphrodite once was for her beauty.

He said the organisers liked had this idea.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.