Osmel Ricardo Sousa Mancilla (born 26 September 1946) is a Venezuelan-Cuban[1] impresario and the president of the Miss Venezuela Organization. Formerly an advertising draftsman, Osmel Sousa joined the Venezuelan Committee of Beauty in 1969. Sousa continued working with that committee when, in 1970, Ignacio Font Coll reconstituted it as the OPPA Advertising Agency, which in turn was the predecessor of the actual Miss Venezuela Organization.[2]
In the 1970s, Osmel Sousa undertook advising selected contestants, many of whom went on to win the Miss Venezuela crown, at the same time he started designing nightgowns for most of the contestants.
In October 1981 Ignacio Font Coll died and Osmel Sousa became the president of the Miss Venezuela Organization. During his 25 year career he has been considered to be the driving force behind the large number of Miss Venezuelas who go on to become Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Earth. He has been called a Pygmalion, an artist who turns out talented and beautiful young women.[3][4] To date, Venezuela has six Miss Universe titleholders, five Miss World winners, five Miss International crowns, and one win in Miss Earth, becoming the most successful pageant powerhouse in history.
In 2007, Sousa joined with Alicia Machado, a former Miss Universe, and Carlos Calderon, emcee of "El Gordo y La Flaca", in judging Univision's Hispanic beauty contest Nuestra Belleza Latina.[5]
Notes
- ^ Ziegler, Ulf Erdmann (April, 2001) "In the Theater of the Dolls - Venezuelan exhibition on the beauty pageant" Art in America 89(4):59.
- ^ "History of Miss Venezuela Organization" accessed 31 July 2006, dead link 31 March 2007;
- ^ "Modern Pygmalion - Tribute to Osmel Sousa" originally at http://www.missvenezuela.com/1998/ing/intervws/osmel/index.htm, now via Internet Archive;
- ^ "Vanity has a high place in Venezuela" in which Tulio Hernandez, a noted Venezuelan sociologist, was quoted as saying that Osmel Sousa was "the Pygmalion of our national mythology", originally at http://www.lmtonline.com/news/archive/081300/pagea18.pdf, now via Internet Archive;
- ^ Staff (4 April 2007) "Univision Announces 12 Finalists to Compete in Nuestra Belleza Latina" Broadcast Room from Business Wire
External links
- (Spanish) "Osmel Sousa: Una Vida Dedicada a la Belleza" Miss Venezuela official website 1996;
- (Spanish) Interview with Osmel Sousa, Retrieved March 9, 2006;
- (English) Interview with Osmel Sousa, Retrieved March 9, 2006, dead link as of 31 March 2007;
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