The business of picking a beauty queen for an international pageant is not necessarily beautiful. Like any competition compounded with unhealthy moves and advances, it may get misty. Nowhere could this be more evident than here in Addis, if you were to look at the cutthroat competition two groups have been engaged in for years in their claim to champion beauty Ethiopian style.

Whether Gadol Ton, who is more known as a designer, or Andy A. Abulime came to the scene first is open for question. They were, however, locked in a bitter rivalry in claiming franchises in Ethiopia of “Miss World” or “Miss Universe”.

It is obvious that the international “Miss Universe” is the oldest after a California based clothing company founded “Miss Universe Pageant” in 1952, in its bid to showcase its swimwear. Now it is owned by the American billionaire Donald Trump.

“Miss World” is a United Kingdom (UK) based company that followed suit, albeit with a better commercial clout now.

To date, both Mr. Ton and Mr. Abulime are competing with their continued claim to have held licenses of franchise for their respective international beauty pageants, although the latter claims to have “major international pageant franchises for Ethiopia”.

Mr. Ton, on the other hand, appears lately to have taken a back stage spot and low profile, rather choosing to work with a newly established local company, Artaele Enterprise Plc, according to gossip. Like its foe in the beauty business, Artaele too is rushing to select what it calls is the “Millennium” beauty.

Thanks to the political elite in power, it is precisely this Millennium hoopla that seems to offer so much for so many. Hardly does anyone matche the business acumen of Mr. Abulime, president and CEO of the Ethiopian Life Foundation, gossip believes, for he has effectively used the Millennium hype to his best advantage.

The whole business of Millennium is anchored in transforming Ethiopia’s gauche image in the eyes of the international community. The government seems to be at ease to jump in any project that promises to deliver on this, judging from high profile committee meetings chaired by senior ministers of this administration to ensure that it is the gorgeous woman that will be selected in the “Millennium Festival of Beauty”. Finalists were picked in August 2007 - at a ceremony held inside the National Theatre - to select the “Miss Millennium Queen” and “Miss Millennium Teen”.

Oddly enough, a first meeting called and chaired by Girma Birru, minister of Trade and Industry, was held three weeks ago in his office, in a bid to solicit support from private companies in the hospitality establishment. Gossip finds it very odd that not only one of the most influential ministers of this administration is busying himself in the beauty pageant, there were also subsequent meetings called by deputies in an attempt to push these companies to contribute to the 2.4 million Br reportedly needed for whatever “Miss” to attend the international pageant. The hotel industry alone is expected to contribute close to 250,000 Br, disclosed gossip.

The trouble is, and in the words of one hotel manager, the industry has little faith on a business driven by a person that “mixes Nigerian origin with a British passport”, gossip heard. Maybe the government is in for a real surprise, if not already committed to be taken for a ride, claims gossip.