A chief from the east side is appealing to Governor Lolo Matalasi Moliga to heed the complaints and concerns of the public following the Miss American Samoa pageant, which has been labeled as the “worst pageant ever.”

In a letter to Governor Lolo obtained by Samoa News, Malae Malone Malae pointed out that Miss American Samoa Incorporated should be transferred to the Visitors Bureau “due to the poorly managed Miss American Samoa recent pageant.”

Consistent complaints to Samoa News about the pageant last month, made note that the girls and participants were beautiful — and delivered as best they could — in an event that was poorly organized.

“This by far is one of the worst pageants ever.  The girls were great, but the organizing committee MASI (Miss American Samoa Incorporated) was not so organized… a delay with starting of the program, MC’s without scripts, and technical difficulties of the sound and lighting system,” were some of the comments on Samoa News’ Facebook page.

However, MASI President, Meafou Imo told Samoa News earlier that MASI broke a record this year for pageant length, with just 2 hrs and 45 minutes for this pageant. (A complaint in past years has been that the pageant was too long.)

She said the delay was due to one of the contestants being late and also, they waited for the governor to arrive. “I didn’t want to be rude and start the pageant without the one contestant who arrived late and, we wanted to wait for the governor,” she said.

In the letter to the governor, the Eastern District chief pointed out that the “Miss American Samoa is widely followed by the Pacific countries that have beauty representatives that will be participating on the Miss South Pacific, as it was streamed live.  However, it’s sad, but fair to say the pageant was very embarrassing, horrible and the worst ever beauty pageant,” Malae said.

The chief pointed out that some of the concerns on the pageant evening were the “lack of an organizing committee to ensure the show runs smoothly and in a professional manner.” He said there was no welcome speech by the MASI President Meafou Imo as is protocol for every pageant; no coordination between the Master of Ceremonies and the Disc Jockey for all of the pageant; the music selection was poorly managed by the DJ in relation to the contestants showcasing themselves in the different categories.

He also voiced his disappointment with the Master of Ceremonies for not affording the opportunity to take her ‘last walk’ to the outgoing Miss American Samoa, Eleitino Ma’aelopa Tuiasosopo as is protocol every year. “There are so many failures and problems that I want to discuss in order to better and improve the Miss American Samoa beauty pageant.”

He noted that there are many local professional men and women that can do a better job, because MASI does not only represent their agency, they also represent American Samoa, its people and its government. “I refuse to sit back and allow this nonsense to continue as it has for many years.”

“Governor Lolo as the leader of American Samoa, please do what is best for us and transfer the Miss American Samoa pageant to the ASVB.  Not only will they hire the crowning Miss, they can oversee the pageant and use this opportunity as a tourist attraction, after all that’s why they have a $900,000 budget for just seven employees.”

The chief hopes to meet with Lolo on this matter as he believes that the pageant is a tool that can be used to attract tourists and be much more viable for the tourism industry.

The Master of Ceremonies for the recent pageant was Tapumanaia Galu Satele Jr., who told Samoa News that he was only the “last minute MC” when he was asked why Eleitino did not conduct her last walk prior to handing over the crown.  He said, “My answer would have to be out of respect for the M.A.S.I. Organization and give them a fair chance to defend their program... I was not part of organizing the event and was only the last minute MC and tried my best to follow the program in front of me.”

Another of the major complaints was regarding the sound system during the pageant.  However, as reported earlier, Mrs. Imo told Samoa News that the sound system is directly the responsibility of the Department of Commerce, which manages the Governor H. Rex Lee Auditorium.

DOC Director, Keniseli Lafaele said there was a recent break-in at the Lee, and all microphones were stolen. “A police report was filed and DPS is looking into the matter.”

“There are microphones being used at the Lee now; however for big events such as the MASI pageant, we're recommending that a DJ is brought in to accommodate such events that need a good sound system and multiple microphones.” Lafaele said, “That recommendation was made to MASI leadership well in advance; obviously it was not taken seriously.”

Lafaele pointed out that, moving forward, “We’re looking into obtaining a better sound system and contracting a qualified technician to maintain the sound system” (separate from the general maintenance of the Lee Auditorium property).

Samoa News told the DOC Director that it appeared the air conditioning was not properly working the night of the pageant.  Lafaele responded by saying that the Lee Auditorium AC units are serviced as needed, and are all working properly. 

“The reason the Lee was hot during the pageant was because the facility was filled beyond the maximum capacity. MASI oversold the event I was informed,” he told Samoa News.

One of the DJ’s the night of the pageant stated that it was puzzling to him why MASI had three different sounds systems that night.  He said that this caused a lot of confusion and technical difficulties.

“The question that begs to be answered is this— who's idea was it to use three different sound systems, which all have their own allegedly well experienced ‘sound engineer’ — which seems to be a very popular title here in Tutuila American Samoa,” said DJ Richie Magic.

He pointed out to Samoa News that anybody listening to any of the concerts from the Arts Festival— to all the major concerts that have been held at the Stadium— enjoyed the sound system there.  He further noted that in previous years “entertainers like Fiji, J Booge and not to mention, my very great friends in the entertainment industry, the world class Tevaka — I had to sit and watch in horror, as they struggled to perform through the Lee Auditorium System, which took over 5 hours to adjust. Wow!”

“Then—if that wasn't enough—Tevaka then spent from 9am to 4pm checking 1~1000 checks… only to see, smoke coming from the speakers. I mean, come on we all saw it on KVZK.  It wasn’t KVZK's fault, they certainly know what they are doing and I've had the pleasure of working with them on many occasions, all happening at the Lee Auditorium.  Something needs to be done about it.”

Samoa News should point out that in 2007 an $80,000 lighting and sound system was installed at the Lee.