PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad -- So far, the prime minister has been miffed, the media are outraged and business people are disappointed. A Muslim leader called for a boycott, and Miss Guam was sent home after it was learned she was pregnant.
And the 1999 Miss Universe hasn't even been crowned yet.That will happen Wednesday night in a converted helicopter hangar. An international TV audience will see it live -- if the lights stay on. They've gone out twice at preliminary events there.
It seems most people in this vibrant Caribbean country are happy to have the event. And despite the snags, the president of the Miss Universe Organization, Maureen Reid, shows poise and optimism that would make the 84 contestants proud.
"I could not be more satisfied," she said. "We try to please everybody, but given the laws of nature, you can't please everybody."
Prime Minister Basdeo Panday, for example, complained to the media that he was left out of most of the pre-crowning events.
The local pageant company, Trinidad and Tobago Pageant Co., is responsible for most of those events.
Pageant officials blamed the problem on a mix-up in the mailing of invitations.
The local media, meanwhile, have continued to grumble.
First, there was a misunderstanding over press credentials and access to the hometown heroine -- 1998 Miss Universe Wendy Fitzwilliam. Then, several clashes followed between local media and the New York public relations firm handling the events.
An editorial in the Trinidad Guardian complained that local journalists were "being treated as second-class citizens in their own country."
Small hoteliers, vendors and other merchants complained they have not seen the amount of business they were led to expect. The local pageant company agreed to compensate some vendors, but many hotel owners said they will lose money because bookings have not kept pace with money spent on renovations.
"Something is out of balance," said Winston Borrell, the president of the Trinidad chapter of the Hotel Association. "We have missed the boat."
Dr. Mansoor Ibrahim, a leading figure of the Muslim minority, opposes the show on religious and ethical grounds.
"It projects lewdness, nudity, carnality and the intermingling of the sexes," Ibrahim said.