Keio University Miss Contest Spoiled After Suspicion Arose about Cheating, Acting in Adult Video

   The Keio University’s coed beauty contest, “Miss Keio Contest”, known as one of the major first hurdles on the road to becoming celebrated woman TV announcers, has been spoiled by “scandals”. Minako Nakano of Fuji Television and Nana Suzue of Nippon Television are among those who have TV announcers after winning the “Mississ Keio” crowns. While preparations were being made to select this year’s “Miss Keio”, however, a turbulence blew over the pageant. One of the contestants for the pageant has dropped out of the competition after a rumour had it that she acted in an “adult video”, while a suspicion arose that a person on the organizing staff has cheated in an examination.

   There were six contestants of whom one was to be selected as this year’s “Miss Keio” through voting at event sites and on the web. The finalist was to be decided at the “Mita Festival” to be held at the university campus on Nov. 23. Before the festival, promotion activities were conducted, including the annual event in front of the Shibuya109 shop building, blog operations by each of the contestants and distribution of programs to introduce the contestants by the company which broadcast animation programs for iPod.

Was It a Put-on Race by Tentatively Decided Announcer?

“Miss Keio” is likely to draw more public attention than usual.

   This year’s “Miss Keio Contest” was confronted, however, by suspicions of “scandals” that came to the surface around the middle of November. The beginning of all this was that the person who was in charge of the bulletin board of a group participating in the athletic meeting posted a message on the bulletin board under the title of “Notice on Waseda vs. Keio Match and Re-request” to call for voting on the web. The last sentence of the message particularly drew the public attention as it said that one of the contestant “received a tentative job offer from a key broadcasting company in Tokyo”.

   It was also disclosed then that the voting which had been scheduled for Nov. 23 at the Mita Festival was called off. Many people then expressed suspicious views on the internet that it was a put-on race arranged by the contestant who was tentatively offered the job.

   Another thing that added to the spoiling of the contest was a rumour that one of the contestants acted in an adult video. A message was posted at first on a bulletin board to discuss adult videos on the internet that an AV actress remarkably resembles one of the contestants. Many blogs presented the photographs of the contestant in question and the actress side by side. The countenances of the two girls seen on those blogs appear slightly different from each other, but both faces have three moles almost exactly on the same spots under the eyes. While the two girls were not to be confirmed to be the same person, the official website of the contest announced on Nov. 20 that the contestant in question dropped from the race for the Miss Keio crown at “her own request”.

“I Cheated in a Test”

   It is not only the contestants who were subjected to “scandals”. A person who claims to be one of the organizing staff of the contest confessed in a diary presented to the SNS mixi on Jan. 30 that the person cheated in an examination.

   The person’s posting said, “We had a test on Marxist Economics today. I did it all by cheating.” And it went on to say in meaningless words: “Uhhyooi! Akurukee. mixi Tannonnshii!”

   Messages started coming in from other mixi members on Nov. 21, reproaching the cheating. The person who confessed the cheating resigned as member on the organizing staff on the same day. It was not known for sure if the person was really someone who had responsibility for organizing the contest. The person wrote in a self-introducing: “Please visit ‘http:misskeio2006.campuscity.jp/’ (note: the URL of the contest’s official website). I am a ranking person.”

   J-CAST News made an inquiry to check the fact of the matter. The committee for carrying out the Mita Festival said in response:

“It is requested that any inquiry on the contest are to be made at (the organizing group’s) advertisement study club. The way to contact it cannot be given. Inquirers have to find it out on the web by themselves.”

   The way to contact the club, however, was not given on the club’s website. So, the website before it was renewed was restored and e-mail was sent to it at the address given on it. A reply, however, has not been received so far.

   A person responsible for organizing the contest says on the official website: “We are prepared to make more effort for advertising activities than usual.”

   Setting aside the question of satisfactory or not for the organizers, the Miss Keio” contest this year is likely to draw more attention than usual.