Nuestra Belleza Latina …and why pageants are still a

thing among Latino audiences?

Pageants and Popular Culture

Beauty pageants have been commonly described as an old-fashioned cliché: parodied, in films like Miss Congeniality (2000) and Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), documented in reality television shows like Kim of Queens (Lifetime) and Toddlers and Tiaras (TLC), and ridiculed as a favor i te sub ject on YouTube.  

In Latin America and the Caribbean these types of competitions are immensely popular. With a population st ruggl ing to reach—or mainta in—midd le c las s status, pageants became a possibility for social mobility.  

Latino Pageant

Circuit

National Pageant

s (i.e. Miss

Venezuela, Miss Mexico)

International

Pageants

(Miss Universe)

New Pageant Formula (Nuestra Belleza Latina)

Narratives

(i.e. Immigration,

Exiles, Motherhood)

Debates

In my article, I discuss the Latino pageant circuit and how it b e c o m e a n d i n t r i n s i c component of the symbolic cap i ta l o f the US Lat ino mediascape. By Latino pageant circuit I refer t o t h e c o m b i n a t i o n o f production, distribution, and c o n s u m p t i o n o f b e a u t y pageants in the US Latino market and the emerging narratives tropes and debates that appeared from within. I’m inserting in Nuestra Belleza Latina as an ideal case study to study these circuits.

In 2002 when Telemundo was purchased by NBC. This transaction gave Telemundo the rights of airing the Spanish-telecast of Miss Universe.

Latinization of Miss Universe

After the NBC-Telemundo merge, MU experienced an increasing Latinization. 10 out of 20 Miss Universe winners have been from Lat in Amer ica and the Caribbean.

The yearly ratings success of MU on Telemundo prompted Univision to enter assertively the pageant circuits in 2007 with the creation of Nuestra Belleza Latina (NBL). NBL did not follow the traditional formula of its Telemundo competitor, Miss Universe.  

It has proven to be a successful formula based on the ratings of the show’s ninth season; Univision was rated first among Spanish networks and fourth among the other commercial broadcast networks during Sunday nights. For example, the most recent season finale surpassed the premiere of Games of Thrones (HBO) and the MTV Video Music Awards (MTV); all of this without the help of telenovelas.      

Want to know the author’s argument on the success of Nuestra Belleza Latina? Proceed to the reading.