Friday, May 17, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Don't hate them because they're beautiful. Being stunning is hard work.
Take it from Miss Dominican Republic. "People think, 'Oh, it's so easy for you. You just have to be beautiful all the time.' ... (But) what does it take to project a positive image all of the time?"
Lots of motivation, says the blond beauty, 24-year-old Sandra Abreu. It is what's helped keep her and the 78 other Miss Universe contestants going during the last three weeks in Las Vegas.
For the most part, the ladies' busy schedules have centered around rehearsing their production numbers and filming scenes to be featured in tonight's pageant at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts.
They've also made several celebrity appearances -- at Olympic torch ceremonies, signing autographs at a Stars game and reading to bedridden youngsters at Sunrise Children's Hospital -- and strutted their stuff in a Miss Universe fashion show.
They haven't had much time for sightseeing -- though a few visited the Grand Canyon for a shoot -- but they have taken in a few shows and hung out atop the Stratosphere for an afternoon.
Oh, how the ladies long for makeup-free, sloppy-hair days and moments of quiet solitude, away from the watchful eyes of ever-present chaperones -- can't go anywhere without 'em.
"Sometimes you need some alone time and that's when you go back to your room and have a few minutes to yourself. That's the time to recuperate," Abreu says.
But soon enough, it's time to slap on a grin and head downstairs to greet probing reporters and television cameras fixed on their perfectly powdered faces.
"We always have to be ready for the press," explains a worn-out Miss Denmark, Anette Oldenborg. Excuse her exhaustion; she, like the other contestants, starts her day at 6 a.m. "Yeah, I'm tired."
But by the looks of her ultra-casual white jeans and black T-shirt ensemble, it's obvious that Oldenborg, a part-time postal worker back home, is "sort of feeling myself again. I've done so much in the last week.
"You really don't have time just to be yourself. Even when we're supposed to have fun and relax, we're not always having fun and relaxing."
Even a beach party/barbecue held poolside at the Rio for contestants was more business than pleasure, with photo ops galore.
"It was perfect to have fun there, but we didn't have the time," the 21-year-old Oldenborg says. "So when we went back to the hotel, we were like, 'What a waste. We didn't have any fun.'"
How about at the ballgame? "That was fun, but we didn't watch the game," she says. "We were standing and people were dying to get autographs. It was terrible. Everybody was crazy."
Crazy. The way Angeline Putt, Miss Singapore, says she's been behaving at the buffets in town.
"I've been eating like nobody's business," she says with a giggle. "Every day I'm having potatoes, and Miss Malaysia said, 'Angeline, You better stop ... you'll go out sideways.'
Food has been a weighty issue for the ladies throughout their stay. All-you-can-eat is not an option for them, especially with the swimsuit competition to consider.
"It's hard because you're constantly at these functions with beautiful food and cakes and desserts," says Abreu, a spa manager at a fitness center. "That's the hard part. You can't have cheesecake every day."
What about dim sum? Putt, a little homesick and battling the flu since she arrived, says, "I miss Chinese food. I miss chicken rice and wonton noodles and dim sum."
If it isn't the food, it's the heat that's driving them crazy.
The valley's recent record temps have almost been too hot for Langa Sibanda -- and she's from Africa!
"Zimbabwe is very hot, but it's not dry," she says. "I thought maybe it was going to affect my skin, but it hasn't."
At least it was cooler inside the Fashion Show Mall, where the contestants went wild during an hour-long shopping spree.
"It was too short," says Miss Curacao, Vanessa Mambi. What did the 23-year-old buy? A half-dozen Hairdinis, a foam hairstyling tool, souvenirs for her female family members.
"I was, like, grabbing everything I saw," Putt says. "I bought dresses, evening gowns and shoes." In Singapore, "I would think, 'Should I buy this? How much does it cost,' but that day I was crazy."
"We all went crazy," Sibanda says, "but but it was good because it was fun."
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