Osmel Sousa can look at the world’s most beautiful woman and see a flaw in her nose.
With that kind of perfectionism, he has become the mastermind behind six Miss Universe winners — including the last two. His intensive training on how to walk, talk and smile, not to mention his eye for the right nip-tuck, are the keys to his success.
After making his country the first to win two in a row, Sousa is aiming for a Miss Universe three-peat next year with the new Miss Venezuela.
PHOTO: AFP
Miss Venezuela is consistently the country’s most watched television event and as the contestants take the stage, Sousa will be in the background — as he has been since 1981, when he took over as president of the Miss Venezuela Organization.
As Sousa tells it, the rigorous training he demands is what has given Venezuelan beauty queens the edge. During daily sessions lasting 10 hours or more, he and his team of specialists instruct the women on public speaking, posture, makeup and other details.
He runs a tight ship at the Miss Venezuela training school, overseeing catwalk sessions and gym classes where the women lift weights and ride stationary bikes. Contestants are weighed daily and Sousa closely checks to make sure they aren’t exceeding his strict limits.
He was born in Cuba, but his parents sent him at age 13 to live with relatives in Venezuela, which has been his home ever since. He talks little about the circumstances of his departure, but says his parents have been distant since childhood.
One of his first students, Maritza Sayalero, won Miss Universe in 1979. Sousa suggested plastic surgery to correct an “ugly nose.”
Sousa knows a star when he sees one and he believed current Miss Universe Stefania Fernandez had what it took to go all the way, like Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza the year before. Still, he was surprised when Fernandez won Miss Universe in the Bahamas last month because no other country had ever managed to capture the crown two years in a row.
“That girl’s triumph was a dream come true,” Sousa said. “I’ve always wanted to see a Venezuelan turning over the scepter of universal beauty to another Venezuelan.”
China’s military news agency yesterday warned that Japanese militarism is infiltrating society through series such as Pokemon and Detective Conan, after recent controversies involving events at sensitive sites. In recent days, anime conventions throughout China have reportedly banned participants from dressing as characters from Pokemon or Detective Conan and prohibited sales of related products. China Military Online yesterday posted an article titled “Their schemes — beware the infiltration of Japanese militarism in culture and sports.” The article referenced recent controversies around the popular anime series Pokemon, Detective Conan and My Hero Academia, saying that “the evil influence of Japanese militarism lives on in
DIPLOMATIC THAW: The Canadian prime minister’s China visit and improved Beijing-Ottawa ties raised lawyer Zhang Dongshuo’s hopes for a positive outcome in the retrial China has overturned the death sentence of Canadian Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian official said on Friday, in a possible sign of a diplomatic thaw as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks to boost trade ties with Beijing. Schellenberg’s lawyer, Zhang Dongshuo (張東碩), yesterday confirmed China’s Supreme People’s Court struck down the sentence. Schellenberg was detained on drug charges in 2014 before China-Canada ties nosedived following the 2018 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟). That arrest infuriated Beijing, which detained two Canadians — Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig — on espionage charges that Ottawa condemned as retaliatory. In January
A sign hanging from a rusty ice-green shipping container installed by Thai forces on what they say is the border with Cambodia reads: “Cambodian citizens are strictly prohibited from entering this area.” On opposite sides of the makeshift barricade, fronted by coils of barbed wire, Cambodians lamented their lost homes and livelihoods as Thailand’s military showed off its gains. Thai forces took control of several patches of disputed land along the border during fighting last year, which could amount to several square kilometers in total. Cambodian Kim Ren said her house in Chouk Chey used to stand on what is now the Thai
NEW RULES: There would be fewer school days, four-day workweeks, and a reduction in transportation services as the country battles a crisis exacerbated by US pressure The Cuban government on Friday announced emergency measures to address a crippling energy crisis worsened by US sanctions, including the adoption of a four-day work week for state-owned companies and fuel sale restrictions. Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga blamed Washington for the crisis, telling Cuban television the government would “implement a series of decisions, first and foremost to guarantee the vitality of our country and essential services, without giving up on development.” “Fuel will be used to protect essential services for the population and indispensable economic activities,” he said. Among the new measures are the reduction of the working week in
RSS