Miss Switzerland: End of Saturday night show
The producer of the beauty pageant plans to spend the large amount of money that Guido Fluri has invested in the full-length live show so far in a more meaningful way going forward.
According to Schweiz am Sonntag, Fluri, who saved the Miss Switzerland pageant four years ago with private money, has had enough of the "superficial" live broadcasts. The Zug real estate multimillionaire wants to invest the approximately CHF 800,000 production costs for the election show more sensibly in the future. There will continue to be several TV shows in which Miss is selected - but the grand finale, which once generated ratings in the millions and has fallen out of favor in recent years, will be dropped.
Fluri's first show of 2014 on Bern's Bundesplatz managed to lift ratings slightly from last year's all-time low (Werbewoche.ch reported), but was marked by mishaps and criticism in the public perception. In 2015, the Miss Switzerland organization rejected a significant quota increase However, this was due to a different survey method (net reach) compared with previous years.
Unsurprisingly, Fluri now seems to have had enough and is saying goodbye to the traditional Miss procedure altogether. The pageant remains a beauty contest - the jury criteria are half appearance and half personality. However, the finalists and the title holder are now expected to be even more self-sacrificing and media-effective in their efforts on behalf of less privileged people. The winner receives a fixed salary and donates her earnings to charity.
Fluri's vision - the transformation of Miss from glamour starlet to ambassador with a heart - seems to be working despite headwinds. Even though the two previous titleholders were repeatedly accused in the media of being too lazy in their charitable commitment, the organization has evidently been able to save the lives of numerous children in the past two years through donation-financed heart operations. For example, Corelina, the Foundation for the Children's Heart, and Terre des Hommes, with the support of the Miss Switzerland organization, have been involved for a year in the construction of a children's heart center in Morocco. A project that is now being implemented, as shown on Miss.ch can be read. The ambassador of Corelina is Miss Switzerland Lauriane Sallin, the face of Terre des Hommes ex-Miss Laetitia Guarino. (hae)
