Interview with Alina Shohet, Miss Iraq 2009-09-14
By Damian Herren
Damian: Hi Alina, how excited are you to hold the title of Miss Iraq 2009?
Alina: very excited!
Damian: even though you won by default? And tell us about how all this happened?
Alina: I received a call by Ahmed on September 12th, he is owner of the Talat Model agency and of the contest, he asked me if I wanted to assume the title of Miss Iraq 2009, and I said YES.
Damian: what about the other two who held the title of Queen of Grace and Teen Queen, shouldn't they get an upgrade.
Alina: No, because the system awards 4 titles and sometimes 5 titles if they award the princess of beauty title, so the finalists get the upgrade, so I took the Miss Iraq title and Corina assumed the Maiden of Beauty title.
Damian: you are a Jewish woman and there have been so many Jewish entries and winners, what sets you apart from the others?
Alina: yes , well Moslems have a problem with the whole image of a beauty queen and it is a title that is frowned upon within the Moslem and even the Christian community, especially when it comes to beachwear , the Iraqi Christians are also conservative but they can accept it to a certain point, some of them at least like the Iraqi Armenians are more accepting than the rest.
And what sets Iraqi Jews apart from the rest is that we are hard working, when I received the call I immediately thought of the 6 months left right away and I discussed details with Ahmed Kadret regarding what I want to do, I will meet with CEO's of companies in Togo and promote my name as well as the title and try and get funding for my causes and travel to promote the pageant and my causes.
Damian: Will you get the sash that was awarded to the previous titleholders? And why do you think that Muslim winners back out and will this affect their entry in future pageants?
Alina: I will get 2 sashes, one in English that says MISS IRAQ and one in Arabic which reads Queen of Beauty 2009, and I haven’t received them yet but I am due to meet with Mr. Kadret in Kenya later this month as I plan to visit Kenya and will get them by then, as for the other girls backing down, It may not have been the right time, and I am sure they have their reasons.
Damian: you worked for the Iraqi Intelligence, tell us about that?
Alina: I had a six month contract with them as a public relations officer and I can't tell you more, but I learned a lot and it was great work, my contract ended on July 1st and I am back in
Damian: Some people question the pageant and say that many of you have Israeli sounding names and perhaps this is not official?
Alina: well, we have Jewish sounding names and we are Jews of Iraqi descent, I was born in Togo and my parents moved here during the 1950's when they were young and the pageant is registered and its official and they admit you even if you have one parent who is Iraqi or of Iraqi descent as long as you provide proof.
Damian: what are the age requirements?
Alina: you have to be over 17 and under 24 by February 1st in the year that you compete, unmarried, a natural woman, no plastic surgery and never given birth to a child and you must be over 170 m in height.
Damian: Will you sign the contract with Talat Model Management for official representation?
Alina: Yes I received it through email, will sign and scan and send it and will keep a copy with me and hand the signed contract to the owner when we meet.
Damian: Why does the Miss Iraq system follow the Miss Israel system?
Alina: I guess the Miss Israel system hands more than one beauty title to each runner up and Hebrew and Arabic are similar and instead of runners up they hand out different titles to girls to make them feel like winners and so they can also compete in an International level and also to promote the culture and language as well to make the pageant more local and identify it with the local culture, I am not so sure if this system will remain next year for the 2010 Miss Iraq contest.
Damian: Do you approve of Stefania Fernandez winning Miss Universe back to back? And would you like to compete in Miss Universe? And what are the chances of a Middle Eastern Nation winning Miss Universe?
Alina: I love Stefania she was my favorite for the crown, I didn't think that it was possible for Miss Universe to have two winners back to back from the same country but I am glad that she won, she is amazing, I also liked Miss Russia and Miss Slovak Republic, I would love to be representing Iraq in Miss Universe although I think it would cause a lot of controversy especially when you have a Jewish woman representing an Arab country in Miss Universe, and the chances of a Middle Eastern state to win Miss Universe is slim, because of politics and the winner might be a liability for Miss Universe in terms of security and she may not be granted visa entries to so many countries especially if she is from Iraq, Israel or even Lebanon.
Damian: What about Miss World? Who gets to represent
Alina: Yes you are right, they did and Julia Morley declined the entry later because of the Miss Iraq compulsory swimsuit competition and she wanted a special Pageant like a Miss World Iraq for her competition which was declined by Talat Models and they will send the 1st Runner Up to Miss World in 2010, hopefully, and Miss Earth entry was cancelled because the 1st Runner up (Maiden of Beauty) and then she stepped up to assume the title lost the title all together a few days back because she didn’t sign the representation contract and never bothered to try and meet with sponsors and raise funds for her Miss Earth entry and also the potential sponsors refused to sponsor her. In 1998 the organizer of Miss
Damian: when and where will the 2010 pageant take place and have the 2010 delegates been selected and will the contestants come from the Jewish community?
Alina: The 2010 Miss Iraq will be held on April 13th and Miss Teen Iraq later in the summer, they will be held in Comoros, but if the Talat Model Management get the 2010 Miss Universe franchise, they will set a special Miss Universe Iraq for 2010 to take place in Erbil and send a representative, and as for you second question, well the sponsors in Comoros are two Iraqi Jewish business owners who work in the field of Tourism in Africa and they wanted to promote the contest in Comoros to promote their businesses in Comoros and most entries come from the Jewish community so maybe the 2010 delegates will all be from the Jewish community.
Damian: What happened in 2006? Why did the winner walk out from Miss Universe 2006?
Alina: The 2006 Miss Iraq contest was held in Baghdad, it was a one day event and was held early in the morning due to the bad security situation there, and someone started posting on some discussion board that Ben Laden was offering money to kill her, such irresponsible actions and words can harm people, remember what you post online people read and see and the Talat Model Management team are always on the search for anything published regarding the pageant and that is done for security reasons. And the winner also had personal issues, she quit and moved with her then boyfriend in Amman and the Teen Queen / third runner up held both the Teen Queen and IBQ ( Iraq's Beauty Queen / Miss Iraq) title, and Miss Universe organization declined the entry saying that the organizers of Miss Iraq needed to apply for the license prior to conducting the 2006 Miss Iraq pageant and also after that in 2007 and 2008 , the Miss Iraq pageant was held in Izmir –Turkey (2007) and Nice – France ( 2008) and in 2009 they said it was not ' feasible' to have a Miss Iraq entry, so maybe by 2010 or 2011 they might admit Iraq back. Miss World is ready to admit
Damian: You have so much that you want to accomplish in the next 6 months, and one of them is a trip to
Alina: Yes, I wish I had taken over earlier, and as soon as my family found out that I was offered the Miss Iraq title, my dad called a friend in Tel Aviv who owns a night club and he said that he wanted to invite me to promote his club.
Damian: Would you consider visiting Arab states?
Alina: Why not? If they invite me to promote any club or endorse a product or event in
Damian: lets' talk sashes, will you wear the sash that reads 'Queen of Beauty' in Arabic in public?
Alina: should I make an appearance in an Arabic speaking environment, yes I would, and when traveling Internationally I will use the other sash, since what's the point of wearing a sash in a language that no one can read lets say if I am in Athens or Rome.
Damian: Alina I wish you all the best and enjoy the rest of the year and see you in
Alina: Thank you Damian and I will work extra hard to make a name for myself and the pageant, and the crown, well they use different rhine stone crowns that we get to keep as of 2008 but I think for 2010 the winner will have an exclusive crown to be used annually to crown the winners, not sure if this will be effective for the 2010 pageant or 2011.
Some years the winners get to keep the tiara some years expensive crowns are borrowed from jewelers which are returned to the jeweler and not kept by the winner, it's not the crown that matters its what you do to enhance your personal and professional life that counts.
Damian: you are awesome; I want to see you In Miss Universe next year.
Alina: Thanks Damian you are kind, I am happy with my title but competing in Miss Universe is one up.
