Patience is a virtue for award-winning actress Iza Calzado.

It wasn't long ago when Iza was starting to feel uptight brought about by the irregular flow of television projects being offered to her.

Not that the 28-year-old actress completely fell out of the radar, as she was seen in a couple of shows this year like Panday Kids, Healthy Cravings, Claudine Presents, Pilyang Kerubin, and The Sweet Life.

Still, the intermittent period between each of the shows mentioned were enough to make Iza feel restless. Considering Iza's talent as an actress, many felt that she deserves to take on a lead role in a primetime slot.

All that waiting finally comes to an end through GMA-7's newest primetime original series, Beauty Queen.

Director Joel Lamangan—whose no nonsense style when it comes to treating a material and dealing with stars is legendary—proudly boasted that Beauty Queen is one of the best television projects he had ever done.

"Ipinagmamalaki ko po ito... Marami na akong nagawang teleserye, matagal na po ako sa industriya pero sinasabi ko sa inyo, isa ito sa pinakamagandang aming nagawa. 'Pag ganito kaganda at kahuhusay ang iyong mga artista, kasalanan kung magkamali ka," Direk Joel said during the press launching held on October 12 at Studio 5 of the GMA Network Center in Quezon City.

BEHIND THE CURTAIN. Beauty Queen follows the life of a young market vendor named Maita San Miguel (Iza Calzado), whose dream of escaping poverty and achieving recognition takes her to the dazzling world of beauty pageants.

But more than the fame and title, Maita's ambition to win a crown stems from her noble desire to be accepted by her mother, Amparo San Miguel (Elizabeth Oropesa).

Amparo herself is a former beauty queen, but an unfortunate incident led to her dethronement and eventual bitterness towards life in general. Earning Amparo's hatred is no other than her own daughter, Maita.

Maita's journey to regain her mother's lost glory will prove to be far more complicated as fellow beauty titlist aspirants Dorcas (Katrina Halili) and Rebecca (Maggie Wilson) Rivas enter the picture and plot to deter that dream.

Unexpected twists and characters promises to make the series even more exciting, including an attempt on the part of Dorcas and Rebecca to completely eliminate Maita from the scene, which leads to a change of title.

2007 Bb. Pilipinas-World Maggie Wilson said that the drama series will show the unglamorous yet never seen side of beauty pageants.

Beauty Queen, mentioned Maggie, will illustrate an individual's savage ambition and the willingness to do anything at all cost just to attain a dream.

"It's human nature--being ambitious, competitive, and even greedy--yet certain situations like beauty pageants highlight that even more since the environment and what's at stake trigger all those things to surface all at the same time," explained Maggie.