The governor is slated to
make the deal official next week

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

The 1998 Miss Universe contest will be held in Hawaii, home state of the current title holder, Brook Lee of Pearl City.

A pageant spokeswoman in Los Angeles said a news conference will be held in Gov. Ben Cayetano's office next week, with pageant organizers and Lee present. Cayetano's press secretary, Kathleen Racuya-Markrich, said the news conference is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday.

The pageant spokeswoman would not give details, but it was clear that the officials plan to announce Honolulu as the site for the May event.

Previously, officials in Hawaii said the state would have to pay the organizers about $2 million to bring the show here. Tourism officials say the publicity Hawaii would get makes it worth the expense.

The fee has been seen as a possible stumbling block, however, since the state's tourism budget, most of which goes into marketing efforts by the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau, has already been set.

The HVCB has offered "in kind" contributions toward the effort, such as hotel rooms, air fares and other goods and services coming from HVCB members.

The two-hour pageant is considered a boon for tourism. It is broadcast in 60 nations and at least six minutes of the telecast will be devoted to promoting Hawaii and three minutes will spotlight finalists visiting neighbor island locations.

The pageant organizers earlier ruled out the new Hawaii Convention Center as the site for the pageant itself, because ceilings aren't high enough for the type of television coverage the event needs.

The event is expected to be held in the 10,000-seat Stan Sheriff Center at the University of Hawaii.

Last year's pageant, when Lee won the crown, was held in Miami. The previous year's pageant was in Las Vegas.