After longest suspension period, Miss Lebanon crowns a new winner

Miss Lebanon’s 2018 beauty pageant winner Maya Reaidy, who has been carrying the title and its duties for four years, passes the crown in the country’s first annual contest since.

: A new Miss Lebanon 2022, Yasmina Zaytoun, was crowned on Sunday (July 24) by former Miss Lebanon Maya Reaidy in the country’s first beauty pageant since 2018.

Lebanon was not able to hold the annual contest in the past three years due to the political instability brought about by nationwide protests in 2019, then the coronavirus pandemic, the massive Beirut explosion on August 4, 2020 and the financial meltdown – which the World Bank described as one of the worst since the industrial revolution.

“After these three extra years that I am Miss Lebanon, or I was Miss Lebanon, I finally gave back the crown. And I do say finally because it is time, it is time to see Lebanon shine again,” Reaidy told Reuters after the competition.

20-year-old Zaytoun, a journalism student, won Miss Lebanon 2022 against another 16 contestants from across Lebanon. She said the event is “a message of hope”.

She will represent Lebanon in the next Miss World and Miss Universe competitions.

This year’s beauty pageant was held in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, in an event space that was badly damaged during the 2020 port blast.

“It is symbolic to be chosen for the competition of Miss Lebanon 2022 today. Lebanese had a glimpse of hope, a glimmer of light today because of the crowning of this lady,” said reporter and news anchor Yazbek Wehbe from LBCI, the local channel that organized and broadcasted the event live on Sunday.

The pageant has been a fixture on Lebanese television for decades. While there have been years the contest was not held – like in 2006 after the war with Israel – it has never been suspended for more than two consecutive years in Lebanon’s recent history.

Lebanon held its first ever Miss Lebanon in 1930 while Lebanon was still formally under French Mandate. Since then, whether it was held or not has always been a factor of political circumstances.

The country’s most famous Miss Lebanon is considered to be Georgina Rizk, the 1970 winner who went on to win the Miss Universe title in 1971…(read more at source)



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