Beauty Contest

Is the 2010 Mercedes E550 Coupe pretty? This is no trivial matter. After all, why would you buy an E Coupe when for about the same money you could get Mercedes' new E Sedan? The mid-size four-door Benz is the standard by which all Mercedeses are measured. It's the company's bestselling model worldwide and the unimpeachable choice for every Beverly Hills tennis pro and real estate agent who ever lived. The E Sedan is bigger, more practical, more richly equipped. It's a car every bit as tightly nailed together, offering performance nearly equal to that of the sports-minded E Coupe.

The government is postponing beauty contests until the economy improves. The move is expected to save $120,000, a small windfall for one of the world's largest tax havens, which is struggling with mounting debt during the global economic crisis. Six women vying to represent the Caymans at the upcoming Miss World and Miss Universe contests will have to put their ambitions on hold, tourism official Patricia Ulett said. Trinidad and Tobago also canceled pageants this year after its government slashed the budget and requested that contests seek private funding.

It would be hard to find many people in town with better stories to tell than Angie Dickinson, from starting out in the business on Jimmy Durante's variety show to dating Frank Sinatra to working with legendary director Howard Hawks. The stunning septuagenarian is a warm and witty storyteller who enjoys talking about her fabled past -- even as she keeps moving forward with her newly revived career.

BABYLON & BEYOND Pageant looks at beauty within Forget about backless evening gowns. Don't even think of a swimsuit competition. Two hundred Saudi girls are instead polishing their virtue in preparation for Saturday's launch of the only beauty contest in the staunchly conservative kingdom. The Saudi pageant, open to those ages 15 to 25, focuses entirely on "inner beauty." This is keeping in line with the strict Islamic beliefs and traditions of a country where women are forbidden to drive, and appear in public draped in a black robe with a headscarf and often with their faces completely covered.

Swaziland's King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch, has chosen a 16-year-old beauty contestant as his 13th wife after the traditional Reed Dance ceremony at which about 20,000 women and girls danced topless. The Times of Swaziland said the Miss Teenage Swaziland finalist was in seclusion. The palace does not comment on the 36-year-old king's marriages. His father had more than 40 wives.

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri had a simple pitch as she campaigned in the city of Medan for July 5 elections: Choose the prettiest candidate. Appearing before several thousand supporters, Megawati wrapped up a brief speech by saying, "Choose the most beautiful candidate on the ballot paper, the one with a mole on her right cheek."

Sword at his side, compact mirror at the ready, a 6-foot-tall Sahara nomad named Efad Dadi squinted with determination and girded for the ancient trial of his desert people. Milk of a white cow for the complexion. Black kohl liner to bring out his eyes. Powdered bones of a roasted white egret to accent his lips. "I wanted so badly to be chosen.

A Cal State Fullerton student who became the first Afghan in three decades to take part in an international beauty pageant could face trial if she returns to her homeland, an official said. Fazel Ahmad Manawi, deputy head of Afghanistan's Supreme Court, said Vida Samadzai, 23, betrayed Afghan culture by appearing at the Miss Earth contest in a bikini. He said prosecutors might open an investigation, but he wouldn't say what charges she could face.

In the suburbs of the Mojave Desert, two All-American pastimes have historically generated passionate intensity: teenage beauty contests and high school football. So when local school board member Al Beattie learned that the latest legal challenge facing the Antelope Valley Union High School District involved both tiaras and pompoms, he was hardly shocked.

Minnie Driver easily lives up to the title of the new film "Beautiful," in which she stars so impressively under Sally Field's aptly nuanced direction. Yet Driver's angular features are just distinctive enough to make it credible that her small-town Illinois beauty contestant might find it a struggle to come out a winner. Written perceptively by Jon Bernstein, "Beautiful" is not yet another easy satire on a target that is by now overly familiar.