By Breaking Belize News Staff (HP): A production choice stole the show at the Miss Universe Belize pageant, and not in the way organizers intended. As delegates took the stage during a segment showcasing Belizean heritage, the giant digital backdrop behind them displayed what viewers immediately identified as Tikal, the iconic temple site located in Guatemala.
Screenshots spread quickly across social media, with critics calling the image a glaring mistake for a national pageant whose entire purpose is to present Belize to the world. The distinctive steep profile and towering roof comb of Tikal’s most famous temple made the identification unmistakable to Belizeans who know the region’s sites well.
The error lands harder in Belize than it would almost anywhere else. Belize is home to its own celebrated Maya sites, Xunantunich, Caracol, Altun Ha, Lamanai and Cahal Pech among them, any of which could have anchored the graphic. Caracol’s Caana remains among the tallest structures ever built in Belize. Instead, the stage carried the signature landmark of the neighbouring country whose territorial claim over Belize remains before the International Court of Justice.
Critics have also pointed to the pageant’s ownership in raising questions of accountability, noting that the Miss Universe Belize organization is now foreign owned and asking how a Belizean heritage segment cleared production without a Belizean landmark.
The organization had not publicly addressed the matter up to news time. The delegates themselves, who performed against the backdrop, bear no part in the production decision.
The post Miss Universe Belize under fire after Tikal appears on stage during heritage segment appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Breaking Belize News Staff (HP): A production choice stole the show at the Miss Universe Belize pageant, and not in the way organizers intended. As delegates took the stage during a segment showcasing Belizean heritage, the giant digital backdrop behind them displayed what viewers immediately identified as Tikal, the iconic temple site located in
The post Miss Universe Belize under fire after Tikal appears on stage during heritage segment appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
