Th Ukrainian diaspora community in Canada is holding Miss Ukrainian Canada, a cultural project to promote Ukrainian heritage, beauty, talent and intelligence.
The contest will be held on July 16 at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. It will feature star guests from Ukraine, including Eugene Khmara (a Ukraine’s Got Talent finalist), ILLARIA, and Oleg Sobchuk as the jury panel member (the front man of the band S.K.A.Y).
The 16 finalists from five Canadian provinces are originally either from Ukraine, or have Ukrainian heritage.
According to the contest’s official website, the mission of the show is “to give young Ukrainian Canadian women an opportunity to showcase their culture, intelligence, beauty and talent in a high quality production that best represents the Ukrainian culture in the Canadian context.”
Jury members Emma Nahaylo-Surkan, Orest Haluszka, Anna Kurieieva and Larysa Bajus during the Toronto casting on Feb. 28. (Julia Merk)
In contrast to a traditional beauty pageant, the contest will focus not primarily on the appearance of the contestants, but on their personalities and the “inner beauty of the girls,” organizers say.
“Just modeling is not our format,” says Anna Kuprieieva, 30, the national coordinator of Miss Ukrainian Canada. She also said the major goal of the contest is to be of service to the Ukrainian community in Canada, drawing ethnic Ukrainian communities from around the country closer together.
The show will consist of a talent portion, an on-stage interview and an ethnic costume competition, in which contestants will introduce traditional costumes from various Ukrainian regions.
“Ivanka Babiak will present an authentic Lemko region costume of Komancha that belonged to her grandmother,” says Kuprieieva. “It is being restored specifically for the show.”
Ivanka Babiak represents Winnipeg, Manitoba. (Manuel Sousa)
Babiak, 25, an ethnic Ukrainian born in Manitoba, says that preserving her Ukrainian heritage has always been an extremely important and integral part of her life. She says that through the Miss Ukrainian Canada project she will also be able to serve as a positive role model to encourage young Ukrainian-Canadians to get more involved in their communities.
One part of the show, the Best Social Project competition, is being organized in partnership with the Canada-Ukraine International Assistance Fund. The contestant whose project is considered the most potentially useful to Ukrainian community will win a 1,000 Canadian dollars prize to implement it.
The organizers of Miss Ukrainian Canada contest expect the winner to be a goodwill ambassador serving the Ukrainian community throughout Canada and in Ukraine, and contributing to the contest’s humanitarian initiatives.
According to one contestant, Yana Bilyk, 30, from the city Netishyn, Khmelnytska Oblast, the contest, as well as being an amazing show for everyone to watch, will also strengthen the Ukrainian diaspora community.
Yana Bilyk performs her own song as the talent part of the show. (Julia Merk)
In terms of the contest’s importance to Ukraine itself, Bilyk says that it is great for the nation to know that its culture is being celebrated oversees. The Centre of Volyn Research and Revival in Ukraine provides Yana with a costume made from legendary Volyn fabrik — “serpanok”.
As part of the show, the contestants will also present clothes made by top Ukrainian designers such as Foberini, Kozzachka, Fayna Vyshyvanka, Anna Marchuk and others. For this, Ukrainian fashion designer Oksana Polonets is not just providing clothes, but will also visit Toronto to attend the show.
“As a big patriot of my home country, I’m on a mission to show that Ukrainian women are not just pretty; we are the ‘whole package’ – intelligent, talented, well read, thoughtful, charming and magnetic,” says Bogdana Kulia, 21, a Ukrainian from Kyiv currently living and studying in Toronto.
Bogdana Kulia from Kyiv represents Toronto, Ontario. (Julia Merk)
Kulia says the contest is the great opportunity for young girls to gain confidence in themselves and the courage to follow their dreams. “I want to tell the younger generations that the ugly duckling does turn into a swan in one day, but that a lot of hard work, determination and patience is required for that to happen,” Kulia says.
Meanwhile, the contestants in the final are looking forward to the show in July.
“I’d like to believe that the best moment of the contest for me is yet to come — on July 16 at the end of the Grand Finale,” Kulia says, laughing.
