Miss World gets a revamp
2004-10-08 08:07
France - Television viewers around the globe will be able to telephone or text message in their vote for this year's Miss World winner.
One of the world's most watched annual TV events, Miss World pulls in over two billion viewers, which could make it the biggest-ever global TV vote.
Only the opening ceremonies of the four-yearly Olympics and Fifa World Cup soccer final pull in bigger audiences.
Up until now a panel of judges picked the winner. But this year, it will be the public who decide who gets the crown among the 120 contestants.
The 54th Miss World competition will take place on December 4 on the Chinese island of Sanya.
Viewers in more than 160 countries will be able to vote for their favourite beauty in the weeks running up to the final and during the final itself.
They will be able to cast their vote by phone, SMS text messages, interactive TV remote control or online.
This year, several new territories will be screening the event live including the United States, Canada, India and Greece.
The new voting process was unveiled at the Mipcom international audiovisual trade show in Cannes on the French Riviera, which closes on Friday.
The show's organisers said they had decided to give the competition a Pop Idol style revamp to make it more interesting for viewers.
- AFP