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"HERE SHE IS MISS GYPSY..." |
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Feb 4, 2007 |
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The verdict is in; this year�s Miss Gypsy goes to 19 year old Elena Niculescu. But beauty alone was not enough to be crowned most beautiful Gypsy, she must also be the best belly dancer.
This year�s 17th annual Miss Piranda gala took place Sunday before a packed crowd at the Polivalenta auditorium in Bucharest. After four hours of non-stop, noisy Gypsy music the 21 young contestants, aged between 14 � 22, finally appeared on stage, barefoot, scandalously clad in yellow, blue and red oriental dress, but mostly red; they have a saying here, �if a Gypsy is wearing only a little red than she is not a real Gypsy�. |
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The band started up � and in a flash the line of girls began violently shaking themselves in a frenzied orgy of oriental dance. The sparkling beads and imitation gold coins that ornamented their dressed pelted front row spectators. Such unrestrained shaking anywhere else would raise eyebrows, but here it was all quit normal; even the losers shook, stepping forward, giving the crowd one last speedy wiggle before walking off. |
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Scandals recently have had a way of overshadowing the beauty of some pageants, whether its contestants drinking problems, inappropriate behavior or pregnancies, (Miss Piranda does not disqualify for marriage or children.) but Miss Gypsy 2007 went scandal free. The closest this six-hour extravaganza came to a situation was when the music stopped due to technical difficulties. The crowd roared like Italian soccer fans. The music quickly resumed.
Though odd was the number of fair skinned, even blond, women yearning to be this year�s Miss Gypsy. Only seven of the twenty-one were of true Roma origins coming from Ursari clan (former bear trainers), Argintari (silversmiths), Florari (florists), and plain run of the mill �Gypsies�, those who have lost their traditions.
The events spokesman, George Radu, credits the number of non-Gypsy contestants to the heavy promotion, others read it as a statement that Roma don�t discriminate. Backstage, organizers weren�t shying away from speaking about the discrimination of Roma. Even some of the pretty girls, like Claudia Chivu, the sole university graduate in the bunch, preferred talking about correcting Europe�s bad image of both Roma and Romania than the frivolous questions by the press. |
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By midnight the line of dancers had dwindled down to just Elena Niculescu and Raira Arcan, both raised in hard Gypsy neighborhoods of Bucharest. Their lascivious dance was too much for the panel of judges to form an agreement leading it to the crowd�s hoots and hollers to make the final decision. To her own shock and sheer joy Miss Niculescu received the tiara and sash �Miss Gypsy 2007�
And what will she do with the 3000 Euro prize? - �I�m going shopping� the young winner announced.
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