By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Forget Popeye and say hello to James Bond. The days of baby-oiled bodybuilders are long gone, for it takes more than physical allure to be ``the world’s most desirable man.’’
The 2010 Mr World Contest in Korea has attracted the largest ever pool of 74 national representatives. Aged 18 to 32, they range from lawyers and doctors to car designers, who are striving to become politicians, actors and airplane pilots.
Diego Andres Tuma Bogado is a strapping Paraguayan lawyer. The 26-year-old loves playing golf and football but also has a great singing voice, and even has concert experience under his belt. Montenegro’s Predrag Pavlicic, 23, stands tall at 188 centimeters; he is a law student who dreams of working as an international attorney for the European Union. Germany’s representative, Michael Pichler, 32, stands out for his chic style. He works as a model but said, ``I have a degree in law and administration so I hope to open my own law office some day.’’
The sky isn’t the limit it seems, for the ambitious young men.
Phakeme Okwakhe Dlamini, a 25-year-old from Swaziland who loves writing, performing and producing rap music, has high political hopes. ``We have a king so my dream is to become the next in line, which is prime minister,’’ he said. Ukraine’s Iurii Bogish, 27, wants to travel around the world and become ``a cultural president.’’
Roman Mironov, 24, is often seen cracking witty jokes; he hosts a television comedy show back in Kazakhstan. Other TV personalities in the group include South Africa’s Jaco De Bruyn, 24, and Ireland’s Kamal Orlando Ibrahim, 24. Ibrahim however has not given up his dream of becoming an airline pilot.
The 26-year-old Kevin Skroder works as a firefighter in Denmark, but has hopes of modeling, while Guyana’s Max Chung, 21, is an engineer who wishes to become a police officer in the near future. Latvia’s Kristaps Punculis, 22, is a car designer who is striving to become a successful businessman.
Ramon Alberto Uyola, 24, is from the Dominican Republic. While he expressed great passion for baseball, the sport the country is famous for, he also completed a degree in tourism, and loves to cook and do charity work. Dejan Radovic, 27, representing Bosnia & Herzegovina, is an average white collar worker but has played professional basketball for six years. The blue-eyed Czech, Josef Karas, 31, is a former national decathlete who now runs a sports academy.
Karas and 19 others have been selected to participate in a rigorous training session with Korean Marines in Silmido, a barren islet off the coast of Incheon, on Tuesday.
The Mr World contest, co-organized by the Miss World Organization and The Hankook Ilbo-The Korea Times Media Group, will end on March 27 in Songdo, Incheon.