Judging Miss Virtual World 2010

Second Life is rife with contests, and the mother of all competitions is Miss Virtual World, a Darwinian beauty pageant that the selects the best dressed, most beautiful avatar and wonderful SL personality from more than 1200 applicants. The contest is sponsored by Best of SL brands, with pageant leadership by BOSL owner Frolic Mills. Miss Virtual World draws in participants from across SL society. The SL press was there in force including SL writer Persia Bravin up on stage emceeing the show with her UK friend Dousa Dragonesh. Even I was down in the front row as one of the contest's judges.

Miss Virtual World 2010, Miaa Rebane is very pretty in pink, shown in Picture 1, in a photo by Veronica Krasner. Miaa tells us the story of her winning bid: "The most fun aspect of competing for MVW also happens to be the best moments I had in this competition. It was the time I spent with the girls, particularly when we were backstage before a show and chatting. I've learnt the importance of friendship and have formed many new bonds. We are all different with different backgrounds, from different countries and cultures, yet we have been able to form a bond, and that for me has been the most fun aspect of the contest." Miaa competed as Miss Puerto Rico. All contestants adopted a home country and appeared in show dance outfits fashioned from native themes. See Miaa's MVW blog and Flikr photos for more of this gorgeous lady: http://mvw2010.wordpress.com/

The grand finale of Miss Virtual World was a grueling affair, as you can imagine. Several hundred avis attended at the 4 sim Patch Thibaud auditorium. Lots of lag, avi, and sim crashes were shared by all. It was kind of a miracle that the contestants, judges, and audience braved through it all. But MVW is much more than the grand lag fest that marks its conclusion.

 

Picture 2 shows Aris Earnshaw and Kay Fairey, who attended the MVW finale with me in the judge's booth. I was recruited early this year by Frolic to be a MVW judge, one of about a dozen. Through most of 2009, Frolic scheduled contest phases, about 2 per month. Contest phases included rounds such as best designer fashion, best in swimwear, best in formal wear, and judge’s interviews. Through this process, an original 1200 entrants, were down selected to 160, and then 24 candidates participated in the catwalk fashion shows. From those, the top 10 finalists emerged, and then, this final result:

The 4th place finalist: Miss Canada: Natalia Corvale

The 3rd place finalist: Miss Switzerland: Sabine Blackburn

The 2nd place finalist: Miss Bahamas: Devine Hunt

The 1st place finalist: Miss China: Sora Tatham

Miss Virtual World 2010: Miss Puerto Rico: Miaa Rebane

Congratulations to all the contestants and winners! Miss Virtual World is a long process, requiring a lot of support people, such as fashion designers, photographers, SL skin, shape, and hair designers. Several of the contest phases coincided with designer catwalk events, many designers contributed fashions to MVW. In a sense, MVW is an economic engine driving a lot of activity in the high end SL fashion industry. Great appreciation is due to all contestants and their supporters who made MVW their SL career for much of this year.

By Any1 Gynoid