flamboyant return to the stage for Micheline Beaurain, Miss France 1970

At the age of 74, Miss France 1970 occupies a special place among the former beauty queens invited to participate in the ambitious “disco” tableau which opens the evening. Already last year, Micheline Beaurain returned to the stage with a number of former Miss France for the tribute to Geneviève de Fontenay. Touched by this Miss granny, Frédéric Gilbert, CEO of the Miss France company, invited her again this year and this time for a dance number.

“I’m trying to keep up!” », she says, cast in her sequined dress with bare shoulders, during rehearsals organized Friday afternoon, at the Arena Futuroscope in Poitiers, where the Miss France election will be held on December 14. “As long as people want me, I’ll come with pleasure. It brings back good memories and it rejuvenates me. » Micheline Beaurain wore several scarves in her youth: that of Miss Côte de Nacre and Miss Normandie in 1968, before ranking first runner-up to Miss France 1969 (Suzanne Angly). She then returned to beauty contests to win the crown of Miss Paris 1969 and finally, that of Miss France 1970. She was 20 years old.

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“It was completely different in my time, it was very family-oriented with Mr. and Mrs. de Fontenay,” she remembers. At the end of her reign, she hung up gala dresses and heels to join her husband who worked in the restaurant business. She now lives in the south of France with her children and grandchildren.

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Older Misses? Miss France 1970 asks questions

Many decades later, Micheline Beaurain is delighted to rediscover the pleasures of the stage among the thirty candidates vying for the Miss France 2025 sash. Candidates with varied profiles, very different from those she encountered in her time, especially in age. Two after the lifting of the age limit, the candidates are – for the first time – between 18 and 34 years old. : “Whoever is approaching 30 has a woman's face compared to others, who are young girls and who look more youthful. I don’t know if it goes well together, I wonder,” she asks herself, quite frankly. » Miss, for me, she's a young lady, she's not yet a woman. But it's completely personal. »

What if she had any advice to give to the one who will be elected this Saturday evening? “Let her stay herself and keep her head on her shoulders. The election is a springboard if you want to go into fashion, cinema, audiovisual… it can be a very good springboard. But we must be careful to choose carefully among the proposals that arrive in all areas.” It is for this wise advice that Frédéric Gilbert increasingly solicits former Miss France to accompany the new ones, as during the preparatory trip to the Côte d'Ivoire last month, during which Diane Leyre and Maëva Coucke gave masterclasses. “The role of alumni is extremely important,” he explains backstage during rehearsals.

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For her part, the endearing Micheline Beaurain is focused on her choreography alongside her young dancer. Modernizing the Miss France competition also involves modernizing the image of women. So what's better than a senior beauty queen for a more diverse representation of beauty standards? “It shows all the viewers what will become years and years later of the Miss they are going to elect, who is now young and beautiful. I'm Miss Senior! »

A return to the stage which could well help him achieve his new goal: “There is something I would like today, but I don't know how to go about it… I would like to advertise as a senior. I am very extremely active and I would like to stay that way as long as possible. »