NEW YORK -- Celebrity judges said Thursday they will choose Miss Universe 1981 based on her 'T and A' -- talent and ability.
'The girl who has something behind the body, behind the bathing suit,' will win the beauty pageant, predicted opera singer Anna Moffo, o J L hPJ bd TjHNJf L dt which is to be decidrPwr wind a woman plastic and much like a Pekinese,' designer Mary McFadden said.
The judging panel -- which includes soccer star Pele, actor Lee Majors and artist LeRoy Neiman -- gathered Thursday to describe to reporters what they will be looking for in the beauty queens representing 77 countries.
Pianist Loren Hollander said he will choose the girl who has 'the joy and gentle wonder of a young person confronting a big world.'
Majors explained his vote will be based strictly on two things: 'T and A.'
'Talent and ability,' he explained with a smirk. The term usually refers to a woman's bust and derriere.
But Neiman co fessed that his criterion for choosing Miss Universe was 'pretty physical at this point.'
The 30-year-old pageant was marred this year when Miss Universe officials disqualified two contestants: Miss New York, for stuffing her bathing suit top in the preliminary Miss U.S.A. round of the contest, and Miss Hong Kong for telling pageant officials she was 22 when she was really 25.
Pageant official Steve Solomon said it is within the rules for beauty queens to artificially boost their bust with silicone shots. 'It's like a nose job -- it's a permanent commitment,' Solomon said.
'But stuffing your bra for 30 seconds while you're in front of the judge is something completely different,' he said, explaining the disqualification of Deborah Ann Fountain.
The pageant has changed a lot since she won it as Miss Greece in 1964, said Corinna Tsopei Fields. 'The big scandal then was whether a girl wore false eye lashes or not,' she said.
