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Hayden's crown already under controversy

Diana Hayden, winner of the Miss World beauty pageant, dismissed suggestions that her business ties to one of the judges and pageant sponsors represented a conflict of interest.

Questions were raised about her victory because Ketan Somaya, one of the judges headed the company that distributes records of Hindi pop artistes managed by Hayden. The beauty queen runs her own celebrity management company in Bombay.

But Hayden told reporters that the contest was fair. "There are nine judges of the day, and I had all the judges come up and say, 'you're doing great,'' said 24-year-old Hayden, "If I may say so, for the final round, I did pretty well for myself.''

Somaya, an Indian businessman heads the Dubai-based Dolphin group, which is involved in hotels, tourism and entertainment related businesses.

Block Hotels and United Touring company, which are wholly owned by Dolphin, were the principal sponsors of the event. Their participation was confirmed less than a month before the pageant.

Three days before the pageant, Dolphin announced a $ 40 million investment in a resort and mall complex in Mahe island. The deal is in conjunction with the Seychelles government, which had obtained the license to stage this year's event.

Another judge, former Seychelles president, Opposition leader Sir James Mancham, has been described by the government-owned newspaper The Nation as an 'associate' of the Dolphin group.

However, Eric Morley, founder and franchise holder of the Miss World pageant, said the Dolphin sponsorship was obtained by the Seychelles licensee Talent Promotions limited, which coordinated the event and not by the pageant itself.

"These are not our sponsors at all, they are Seychelles','' he said. He speculated the issue might figure in the Miss World organisation's decision on granting Seychelles the second-year option to stage the event next year.

"Her company is not connected with Dolphin,'' specified Morley's wife and business partner, Julia. "This girl is a winner in her own right.''

Second runner-up Jessica Motaung, a 24-year-old South African who runs the Johannesburg entertainment booking firm Jake Productions with her boyfriend, said Hayden might "find herself in a difficult position.''

Motaung, who is also a part-time law student specialising in entertainment law, described the Miss World experience as a good occasion for making business contacts.

"When South Africa was closed up, it was the politicians who were the main focus. Now the entertainment industry is becoming the focus,'' she said. "As a young black woman, I find it very exciting.''

South African production teams had handled nearly every aspect of the two-hour show, which was televised to at least 140 contract broadcasters. Along with sponsor payments, sale of television rights is a major source of revenue for the licensee.

The government and Seychelles pageant spokesman Gilbert Pool said President Albert Rene believed Seychelles would 'transform' the event.

It was hoped the Miss World connection would put the 115-island archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean squarely on the map as an upmarket tourist destination.

EARLIER FEATURES:
With Yeats on her lips, India's own Diana Hayden crowned Miss World
The Little Princess
The Diana Hayden Chat
Dr Reita Faria
Aishwarya Rai

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