Brazil pageant-winner attacked by runner-up

Sheislane Hallaya snatches crown off Carolina Toledo’s head, says she didn’t deserve title

The 2015 Miss Amazon pageant ended on an appalling note, at least, according to the contest’s runner-up. The competition came to a messy close when runner-up Sheislane Hayalla yanked the winner’s crown in a fit of fury over what she claimed was a counterfeit result, reported Al-Arabiya News.

As Carolina Toledo, 20, was being crowned Miss Amazon 2015, Hayalla shocked audiences and judges alike. During the coronation ceremony, Hallaya was caught on camera snatching the crown off Toledo’s head and tossing it on the ground. The incident took place Friday night at a convention centre in Manaus, Amazon’s largest city and the venue for England’s World Cup opener against Italy in June, reported Daily Mail.

Audience members watched in revulsion as the 23-year-old insulted her rival and publicly hurled accusations at the winner before storming off stage. Other participants looked petrified, while distraught organisers rushed to pick up the crown and put it back on law student Toledo’s head, as security officials rushed backstage to get to her attacker.

Hayalla alleged the pageant was fraudulent and that her rival had bought her way to the title. “Money talks in Manaus and I wanted to show the Amazon people money doesn’t talk here,” Hayalla was quoted as saying. “She [Toledo] didn’t deserve the title,” she added. Toledo said she was traumatised due to the occurrence but would not comment further. “This is an unbelievable feeling,” said the winner. “I don’t have words to explain the way I feel.”

The Miss Amazon winner will now represent her state in the national Miss Brazil beauty contest. Twelve women took part in this year’s final. The winner won her place in the final by triumphing in the local Miss Manaus beauty contest. Model and biology student Hayalla had won beauty contests in 2013 and last year.

Organisers of the competition are still contemplating whether to penalise the runner-up, who would normally be expected to participate in events throughout the year in representation of her state. Miss Amazon winners, by and large, do well in the national competition. Terezinha Morango, the 1957 winner, went on to win the Miss Brazil title before coming second in the Miss Universe contest of the same year.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th,  2015.

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