Miss Marone 1969

**Miss Marone 1969** was the 37th edition of the Miss Marone pageant. The competition was held on 14 December 1968 at the Théâtre de Cissac in Cissac, Île-de-Marone. Évelyne von Kupp and Serge Lukhmann presented the show, while it was broadcast on TM1.

Sylvie Robertson of Île-de-Marone crowned Déborah Mallory of Pitaine as her successor at the end of the event. Mallory went on to place in the top ten at Miss Parth 1969.

## Background

Évelyne von Kupp confirmed in May 1968 that the pageant would be held on 14 December 1968 at the Théâtre de Cissac in Cissac, Île-de-Marone. Local pageants were held throughout the winter, spring, and summer of 1968, while regional pageants were later organized throughout the summer and autumn of 1968. The selected winners were first invited to Delmas in November 1968 for a series of pre-pageant activities, before arriving in Cissac in December to begin rehearsals.

In order to compete in the pageant, contestants must have abided by the following rules:

* Contestants must be a resident of their designated region, and a citizen of Marone.
* Contestants must be between the ages of 16 and 22.
* Contestants must be unmarried, without children, and female.
* Contestants must have participated in a regional pageant no more than three times.
* Contestants must have no tattoos, and no piercings apart from earrings.
* Contestants must be at least 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in) in height, without heels.
* Contestants must use no appearance-altering products, such as wigs or colored contact lenses.
* Contestants must have never received any elective cosmetic surgeries or procedures.
* Contestants must not have a criminal record.

In November 1968, one month prior to the pageant, it was revealed in *Le Républicain de l'Est* that Thomasine Foutoux, Miss Grône-Fares, had posed nude in the March 1967 edition of *Playboy Marone*. Following the revelation, Foutoux admitted that she had posed nude in the magazine, but asserted that it was not against pageant rules to have posed nude. Évelyne von Kupp disputed her statements and claimed that Foutoux would be disqualified from the pageant and stripped of her titles, but the following day she backtracked her comments, instead confirming Foutoux's statement that posing nude was not against pageant rules. The situation led to media attention throughout Marone, with discourse surrounding whether it was appropriate for a pageant titleholder to have posed nude in a men's magazine such as *Playboy*. In December 1968, Kupp reconfirmed to the Maronan media that Foutoux would still be authorized to compete in the pageant and retain her titles, but that her past nude modeling would "likely have a detrimental effect on her ability to reach the top seven." Kupp also confirmed that a rule forbidding contestants from posing nude would be implemented beginning the following year.

## Results

 **6th Runner-Up** |  **Wahiti** – Maéva Namiro

### Scoring

In the Top 7, a 50/50 split vote between the official jury and voting audience determined the winner and her runners-up. Each member of the audience could cast a secret ballot for one finalist, while each member of the jury ranked the finalists from their favorite to least favorite, with the combined scores determining the results. In the case of a tie, the jury vote prevailed.

## Format

### Pageant

The pageant was held on 14 December 1968 at the Théâtre de Cissac in Cissac, Île-de-Marone. The event was broadcast live on TM1.

The competition began with the 23 contestants being divided into three groups: two consisting of eight contestants and one of seven. Each group participated in an initial introduction round, each wearing a different couture outfit. Following the introductions, all 23 contestants competed in the swimsuit round. Afterwards, the judges narrowed down the 23 contestants to seven finalists. The seven finalists subsequently competed in the evening gown round. Afterwards, secret ballots were given to each member of the audience for them to choose the winner. The votes of the audience were combined with the votes of the jury, in order to choose the winner. In the case of a voting tie, the jury's vote prevailed. The results were announced by Évelyne von Kupp and Serge Lakhmann, and outgoing titleholder Sylvie Robertson.