written by Nick Schönfeld

The entrance to the 2022 Miss Calendar Girl beauty pageant would be easy to miss — tucked away at the back of the Retreat Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa — were it not for the music being so loud you can hear it on the main road. Keagan Martin is on door-duty, ready to welcome guests and collect their 70 rand ($3.50) entrance fee. Inside, Chedino Martin — the pageant's organizer and Keagan's wife — hurriedly checks the score sheets laid out in a neat row on the judges' table.

Behind her, a set designer tries to attach a giant, ornate sash to a stage backdrop. In an improvised changing room, 12 contestants — one for each month of the year — are putting the final touches on their first outfits for the evening. Tonight's theme: denim and diamonds.