Miss Universe
shocked by negative
poll results

The isle native vows the state
will get its money's worth

By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

With Miss Universe officials arriving on Monday, followed in a month by the first of 83 contestants, Hawaii's foremost pageant lobbyist promises the state will get its money's worth.

Reigning Miss Universe Brook Lee, a Pearl City resident, said she was shocked that a Honolulu Star-Bulletin/NBC Hawaii News 8 poll showed 228 of 419 registered Hawaii voters -- or 54.4 percent -- disapproved of spending $3.3 million to host the May event.

In a telephone interview yesterday from Los Angeles, Lee said the state, which was considered an underdog, scored a major coup over entire countries in winning the opportunity to host the weeklong festivities, which she compared to a "mini-Olympics" or a "World Cup of pageants."

Hawaii beat out nations such as Israel and Croatia, among others bidders, creating a buzz around the Miss Universe circuit that the islands are special, Lee said.

"To have us have that sort of allure, that sort of impression on people that we are good enough, that we are professional enough, that we have enough to offer and that we can stand up next to whole countries in itself is major," said Lee, who has been globe-hopping since she won the crown last May.

While the University of Hawaii graduate student understands the state's economic situation, Lee urged local residents to support the pageant funding.

It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to market Hawaii on a scale that has never been done before: in a two-hour live telecast that will showcase the islands to at least 75 countries and up to 2.5 billion people, she said.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee today is expected to hear a House bill on the funding.

Seiji Naya, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, told lawmakers recently the pageant will leave positive impressions with television viewers, while adding luster and depth to Hawaii's appeal as a world-class destination.

Lee, who returned from Paraguay four days ago after reigning over the Miss Paraguay Pageant, said every delegate is hyping Honolulu as the place to be this summer.

She explained many contestants in last year's Miami pageant complained that Floridia residents and businesses weren't receptive to them, creating negative impressions of the state which they took back home. That's why she believes it's important Hawaii residents and lawmakers iron-out their differences, and welcome the pageant with open arms when delegates begin arriving April 26.

"I'm just concerned that if people in Hawaii don't rally behind this cause, that we're going to leave an impression out there that's not going to be good," she said.

"And I know the people of Hawaii won't do that because we've always gone above and beyond the call as far as the aloha spirit is concerned."

This also will be the first time in the pageant's 46 years that a title holder will relinquish her crown in her home town.

It's a historic moment Lee hopes doesn't slip away.

"I'm just asking Hawaii to hang on for a little bit -- just see me through this. If I gotta name my next 20 kids after everybody -- 419 kids for everybody on that poll -- I'll do what it takes," she joked.

"We're working really hard to make sure Hawaii gets what they're paying for, and I promise you that they will."