The debate on French national identity and the election of Miss France

Er yes there is a connection between the two and it's a little less tenuous than might at first appear.

And that's especially true in the light of comments made last week by the doyenne of the Miss France competition, Geneviève de Fontenay, who seemed to give the nod to the sort of candidate she would like to see carry off the crown on Saturday.

While France is in the midst of a debate launched by the immigration minister, Eric Besson, at the beginning of November over "national values and identity", de Fontenay has in a way added her two centimes-worth by declaring how much she would like to see a woman of North African origin lift the Miss France title.

"I really hope that before I die I'll get to see a Miss France of North African origin," the 77-year-old said.

"And I really believe it could happen," she added.

"It would also be great for the organising committee and would prove to everyone that we're not so old fashioned."

Hold on to your hats, just as de Fontenay - never seen in public without her trademark headwear - might well be doing this coming weekend, as millions are expected to be in front of their small screens to watch the annual jamboree that is the Miss France competition.

To be held in the southern French city of Nice, this year's hunt for a successor to the 2009 winner, Chloé Mortaud, will see 37 pretenders strut their stuff and pout appropriately.

Without pushing a point too far the Miss France comeptition is a little like a mini version of Miss World that takes place in a week's time in Johannesburg.

Indeed Mortaud, who won last year as Miss Albigeois-Midi-Pyrénées , and will be carrying this country's hopes in South Africa next week, holds dual French-American nationality.

And among this year's contestants for Miss France, there will of course be competitors from its overseas departments and territories; Misses from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique; from Guyana in South America and Saint Pierre and Miquelon in North America, the Indian ocean islands of Mayotte and Réunion, and Pacific ocean representatives from New Caledonia and Tahiti.

Anyway back to de Fontenay's remarks.

Could she have had anyone in mind when uttering them?

Perhaps. Because lo and behold there is one woman who would fit the bill as the 19-year-old Miss Picardie, Juliette Boubaaya, (you can see her photos here) is of North African origin and according to de Fontenay is "a ravishing young woman."

Slightly kinder words than she had recently for Mortaud, who, although she admitted was "very pretty" remained for her "a girl who wasn't particularly charming."

Could there yet again be a whiff of handbags at dawn in the air?

Chloé Mortaud keeps Miss France crown

The battle of the beauty queens here in France is over!

The reigning Miss France, Chloé Mortaud, is being allowed keep her title after a court rejected claims that she had been ineligible for the finals held last December.

They had come from Marine Beaury, the runner-up to Mortaud in the regional contest for Miss Albigeois Midi-Pyrénées in September 2008, a win which had secured the 19-year-old her place in the final.

Beaury maintained that the vote in the regional competition had been rigged and that some members of the jury had close personal ties to Mortaud's parents and that contravened regulations.

But on Friday a court decided otherwise and ruled that there had in fact been insufficient proof to suggest that there had been any influence on the part of Mortaud or her parents on the jury's final decision.

Indeed it went further and ordered Beaury to pay €3,000 towards legal fees, although it stopped short of finding her guilty of "abuse of procedure" as had been counterclaimed by the Miss France organising committee's lawyers.

"The ruling is proof that there's no trickery involved in how the Miss France competition is run," said Geneviève de Fontenay, the president of the committee, who has been organising the contest for 53 years.

"My only regret is that the court didn't split the legal costs equally as this case has cost me a lot even though we won it," added the 76-year-old.

So that would seem to be the end of the matter and the way is now clear for Mortaud - who holds dual French and American citizenship; her mother, Brenda, is an African American who emigrated to France 25 years ago and her father, Jean-Marie, is French - to take part in Miss Europe, World and Universe, the three international beauty pageants later this year.

The whole case might not exactly have done the reputation of the Miss France contest much good, but there again it has been no stranger to controversy in recent years.

Although she kept her crown, the 2008 winner, Valérie Bègue (the former Miss Réunion), was banned from representing France at international level after "suggestive" pre-competition photographs appeared in a monthly glossy magazine.

And the 2004 winner, Lætitia Bléger, was stripped of her title just six months into the job after she posed naked for a well-known monthly magazine.

Chloé Mortaud's Miss France crown hangs in the balance

The reigning Miss France, Chloé Mortaud, could lose her title if a case which appeared before the courts on Wednesday goes against her.

The challenge isn't from any of the other 35 competitors Mortaud beat to win the crown on December 6 last year.

Instead it's coming from Marine Beaury, who is disputing Mortaud's eligibility for the final in the first place.

Beaury was the runner-up in the regional qualifying competition, "Miss Albigeois Midi-Pyrénées", a contest won by Mortaud in September 2008 and which secured her place in the final.

In an interview with a monthly glossy magazine, which ironically appeared just after Mortaud had lifted the national title, Beaury claimed that the vote in the regional contest had been rigged.

Some members of the jury, she maintained, had close personal ties to Mortaud's parents and that contravened the regulations of the competition.

Her claims were rejected by the organisers of the regional pageant, but Beaury didn't let the matter lie there.

She got in touch with a group which represents disgruntled ex-Misses in France - yes such a thing exists, "Collectif des Miss en colère" and the upshot has been the case reaching the courts.

Should it go against her, Mortaud could be stripped of her title and forced to return any prize money she has earned or give back gifts she has received.

In recent years, the Miss France competition has been no stranger to controversy just ask the 2008 winner, Valérie Bègue (the former Miss Réunion).

She was involved in a tussle with the doyenne of the organising committee, Geneviève de Fontenay, after “suggestive” photographs of her appeared in the very same magazine to which Beaury initially took her case, just a month after her election December 2007.

Bègue was allowed to retain her title but banned from representing France at international competitions.

And the 2004 winner, Lætitia Bléger, was stripped of her title just six months into the job after she posed naked for a well-known monthly magazine.

A decision on the case "Beaury versus Mortaud" is expected on June 12.

Ouhlala, Miss France faces legal action!

It can sometimes be a tough job being a beauty queen.

Just ask last year's Miss France, Valérie Bègue (the former Miss Réunion) who was involved in a tussle with the doyenne of the organising committee, Geneviève de Fontenay, after “suggestive” photographs appeared in a monthly magazine shortly after her election in December 2007.

Bègue was allowed to retain her title but banned from representing France at international competitions.

And now her successor, 19-Year-old Chloé Mortaud, could be facing a similar fate, but for quite different reasons.

It's a long and convoluted tale - of course - and one that's only slowly unravelling. But here's the story so far.

Mortaud, you might or might not remember, was crowned Miss France 2009 back on December 6 last year.

You can read all about her victory here if you're up for it.

Born and brought up in France, Mortaud actually holds dual French-US nationality.

She’s of mixed race (or métisse as the French say – as was Bègue) with a French father and an African-American mother from Mississippi who emigrated to France 25 years ago.

So Mortaud is in every sense of the word very much a French-American Miss and even attended the inauguration of the US president, Barack Obama, back in January.

Indeed she popped up on French television screens during the proceedings, rather tearfully expressing her pride.

At the election for Miss France she represented the region of Albigeois-Midi-Pyrénées in the southwest of the country, where she qualified back in September 2008.

And that's apparently where her problems started.

Her runner-up at that election, Marine Beaury, claimed in an interview with a magazine - ironically enough the very same glossy monthly that had been Bègue's undoing a year earlier - that the vote had been rigged.

Some members of the jury, she maintained, had close personal ties to Mortaud's parents and that contravened the regulations of the competition.

Her claims were rejected by the organisers of the regional pageant, but Beaury didn't let the matter lie there.

She got in touch with a group which represents disgruntled ex-Misses in France - yes such a thing exists, "Collectif des Miss en colère" and the upshot is that the case is going to court.

It's due to be heard on April 27 - a date for your diaries (if you're interested) and it could result in Mortaud being stripped of her title AND having to return any prize money she earned or give back gifts she received.

So the challenge at the moment isn't coming from any of her 35 other competitors in the Miss France contest in December, but from one who is disputing Mortaud's eligibility to have been representing her region in the first place.

But wait, that's not the end of the story (don't groan). There's more, but there again there would be, wouldn't there?

You see Mortaud's election in December was decided by a combination of votes from viewers 'phoning in to choose their "favourite" and a hand-picked seven-strong celebrity jury.

Now another magazine, Télé 2 Semaines, says it has got its hands on information which reveals that Mortaud only won because she had the backing of that panel.

It claims that Mortaud only garnered 40,000 of the public's 'phone-in vote, placing her fourth of the five finalists. That was almost half the votes received by the runner-up, Camille Cheyere (Miss Lorraine) and the third-placed Élodie Martineau (Miss Pays de Loire).

In effect it was the vote of the seven-strong jury that tipped the balance in her favour, says the magazine, raising even more doubt as to whether Mortaud should even have been crowned the winner.

It wouldn't be the first time such a turnaround has happened in the final according to the magazine. Back in 2006 when that year's Miss France, Alexandra Rosenfeld, finished plumb last of the five finalists among the public's vote, she found herself elevated to the crown by the vote of the jury.

So even if the court decides in April that the disgruntled Misses don't have a case against Mortaud, the rumblings about whether she should be the reigning Miss France could well continue.

Ouhlala indeed!

A French-American Miss for France

This weekend saw the election of Miss France 2009 – an affair carried live on TF1 national television, watched by over nine million viewers, and won by Chloé Mortaud.

Just a week before Miss World 2008 is due to be chosen in South Africa, this country was busy deciding who would carry its crown for next year and, in the words of the organisers, become the face of France and in a sense an ambassador to the rest of the world.

The winner – a 19-year-old with dual French-US nationality.

Whether the whole idea of beauty pageants belong to a bygone era is of course up for debate.

Views range as to whether they really have any relevance to the place of women in the 21st century.

There are those who might see them as degrading, a meaningless jamboree of airheads with legs and other prominent bits and pieces looking for the fast track to domestic and international “stardom” based primarily on their looks.

And then there’s the opinion, as expressed at least by the organising committee here in France, that it’s the chance to find a face, a young woman who can act for a year as a goodwill ambassador for the country both at home and abroad while dedicating time to charitable causes.

You takes your pick and you makes your choice.

Whatever the case, this weekend’s competition and the eventual winner are perhaps both quite revealing in what they say about the make up of France.

For starters take the candidates – 36 of them representing the country’s different regions here in metropolitan (or if you like mainland) France and its overseas departments and territories.

In a real sense, Miss France is a mini Miss World, with contestants coming from around the globe, because French borders aren’t confined to Europe.

Be warned, you might have to reach for your atlas to find some of these places.

From the Caribbean there were Misses Guadeloupe and Martinique (who will also be sending different contestants to Miss World). South America was represented by Miss Guyana.

The Indian ocean island of Mayotte (between northern Madagascar and Mozambique) sent its Miss as did “nearby” Réunion, and from the Pacific ocean there were representatives from New Caledonia and Tahiti.

Let’s not forget North America either while we’re at it, in the shape of the Saint Pierre and Miquelon just south of Newfoundland, whose candidate was making a first time appearance at the event.

And that takes us nicely on the winner, 19-year-old Chloé Mortaud or Miss Albigeois-Midi-Pyrénées as was – that’s a region in the southwest of (mainland) France for those of you still stuck with your noses in an atlas, incorporating the city of Toulouse.

Born and brought up in France, Mortaud actually holds dual French-US nationality. She’s of mixed race (or métisse as the French say – as was last year’s winner, Valérie Bègue, but more on her in a moment) bilingual in English and French and is an undergraduate studying business management in Toulouse.




While the crowning of Miss France 2009 might have been the highlight of the three-hour television spectacle, the anticipated and much touted confrontation between last year’s winner, Valérie Bègue, and the president of the organising committee, Geneviève de Fontenay, never happened.

The two women had a very public falling-out shortly after last year’s event when “suggestive” photographs of Bègue, the former Miss Réunion, appeared in a monthly magazine, Entrevue.

They had been snapped privately a few years earlier and sent anonymously to the magazine after Bègue’s “coronation”, leading to calls from de Fontenay for her to resign as they had contravened a pre-competition contract that contestants sign to guarantee they had never been photographed in compromising positions.

The stand off was eventually resolved with Bègue retaining her title but being banned from representing France at international competitions (such as Miss World or Miss Universe) and de Fontenay instead focussing her efforts on promoting last year’s runner up, Vahinerii Requillart (Miss New Caledonia) and preparing for the 2009 event.

De Fontenay is something of an institution here in France. The outspoken 76-year-old, who’s never seen in public without her trademark hat, has been organising the Miss France competition for 53 years.

She had steadfastly refused to share the stage with Bègue during this weekend’s show and her wish was respected, with the presenter, Jean-Pierre Foucault, informing viewers that “Valérie isn’t here this evening because Geneviève didn’t wish her to be.”

Instead there was a live link to Los Angeles where Bègue said she was “currently in negotiations for a role in a film.”

So peace has returned to the Miss France world for the moment, with the newly crowned Mortaud taking on the coronet for the next year and beginning the endless round of television and newspaper interviews that immediately followed.

Meanwhile next week in Johannesburg, the French contestant will not be Bègue or even Requillart, who has withdrawn from international competition for “personal reasons” but the 2008 third-placed, Laura Tanguy.

One aside to the whole pageant perhaps was its somewhat incongruous TV scheduling.

Not for the first year, while TF1 was showing the event live, over on France 2 and France 3 public television the annual telethon was underway to raise money for medical research.

After more than 30 hours of continuous broadcasting, it finished at 1am on Sunday morning and raised promised donations of more than €95 million.

Finally, back on TF1, perhaps the most memorable moment of the evening belonged to Miss Mayotte, 20-year old Esthel Nee.

When asked what her plans for the future were the first year old law student didn’t hesitate.

“I would like to be in politics – perhaps in the cultural field, and maybe who knows, even become president of France,” she replied.

“This is my first election and maybe not my last.”

Nee finished fourth.