Miss Universe pageant host Steve Harvey was likely blushing bright red last night after one of the most high-profile oops moments in live TV history. Yes, you never know what will happen on live television, but what happened last night was something that should have been controlled. For one minute, Miss Colombia was excitedly waving to the crowd as the winner of the pageant, and the next, she was stripped of her crown and it was handed over to Miss Philippines.
Will the real Miss Universe please stand up?
Harvey apparently looked at the card he was handed wrong and announced that Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez, was the winner of the pageant. However, she was the first runner up, and Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, was the actual winner. So who was to blame for the glaring error? Here’s what the card looked like:
So on one hand, the print on the countries’ names is quite small, on the other hand, “MISS UNIVERSE 2015” is written in all caps. However, it was pushed over to the right-hand corner instead of being listed straight down with the first and second runners up.
Harvey corrects the error
In what became the most cringe-worthy moments in live television history, Harvey returned to the stage about a minute after announcing that Miss Colombia was the winner to make the correction. He held the card up to the cameras and took full responsibility for the egregious error. A staffer for the Miss Universe pageant came on stage to remove the crown from Miss Colombia’s head and place it on Miss Philippines’ head.
I can say from personal experience of being in the producer’s seat during live TV broadcasts, that moments like this just make you want to bang your head against the wall.
Donald Trump puts in his two cents’ worth
Although Donald Trump no longer holds a stake in the Miss Universe pageant after selling it earlier this year due to a controversy with his presidential campaign, he had something to say about it. According to CNN Money, he thinks both Miss Colombia and Miss Philippines should be named co-winners. He also tweeted that Harvey’s mistake wouldn’t have happened if he still was involved in the pageant.
