“Nobody’s perfect”, said former Miss Malaysia Universe Andrea Fonseka. But yet there she sat, beautiful, tall, skinny, articulate, witty, stylish and confident. A picture of perfection.

This was right after I asked her, and another committee member for this year’s Miss Universe Malaysia pageant, what kinds of girls they were looking out for.

‘Real’ girls, was her answer.

“But no one wants to see real girls in a pageant. We want to see beautiful girls who we aspire to be like, perfect girls, like you, ” I said half-jokingly.

She then went into an explanation on why the Malaysian pageant has been given a new spin, a new format which will show the girls as they really are – without make-up, going through tasks ‘different’ from the usual (she wouldn’t reveal what the tasks were, only that if she were feeling generous, yes, she would give them Durian to eat).

real girls love their durian

One of the other reporters exchanged what I would like to believe was a ‘knowing’ look with me.

... and their mamak

Truth be told, I don’t watch that many beauty pageants anymore. As a child, and into my teenage years we watched pageants religiously at home, and I would imagine that someday, I would be that beautiful girl with the perfect makeup on taking her first walk as Miss __________.

The thing is, we want to see beautiful people. We need that escapism, that illusion to get us through the days. Like I said to Andrea, I don’t want to see them (the female reporters in the room, no offence), on TV. I want to see beauty queens, I want the perfection, whether its all makeup, all practised, all rehearsed.Don’t we have enough reality TV as it is?

Of course, the girls will be pleasing to the eye – and you have to be at least 162cm, 18 to 26 and pretty, but real.

“The whole idea of our tagline ‘Hip, Urban, Relevant, Real’ is to make Miss Universe Malaysia more accessible to the public. Urban, because they will work out of KL, Relevant, because the competition will be current, and Real because she must have genuine qualities. She won’t be a beauty queen 24-hours a day, that will be a subset of her personality,” explained Andrea.

The pageant will take on concepts from America’s Next Top Model and The Amazing Race, and tasks will test the smarts and wits of contestants, to ensure the winner will be someone street smart, with a personality.

“We don’t want people to have false expectations. We want them to see how hard it is to become ‘perfect’,” reiterated Andrea.

Fun as it sounds, I want my tiara-wearing, beaming pageant queens with perfect teeth and their little waves.

I want to marvel at their perfect bodies and long, flowing locks.

First runner up Miss Universe Malaysia 2009 Cassandra Patrick, 2nd runner up 2009 Claudia Sibert, Winner 2009 Miss Universe Malaysia Joannebelle Ng and Winner 2004 Miss Universe Malaysia Andrea Fonseka

I want to spend three hours in front of the TV waiting for Miss Malaysia to come on screen, to compare her with the other contestants and predict the winner.

And when the pageant ends I want that motivation to hit the gym, highlight my hair, dress better and get my teeth bleached, short-lived as the feeling will turn out to be.

Maybe I’m just shallow and reluctant to let go of a tradition which has long defined pageants, something which Andrea is trying to break – revolutionary, and commendable of her, no doubt. And yes, it will give the contestants a chance to show the world that they are more than just pretty faces – that they have feelings, bad hair days, too-much-makeup days and (dare I hope) cellulite?

Still, despite this being a great idea which will no doubt attract a wider range of girls to the casting call, there’s just something you can’t beat about ‘world peace’, moussed hair and long, flowy dresses.

Having said that, I’ll still be watching

To find out how you can join, go to www.missuniversemalaysia.com.my.