RUSSIA - Ekaterina Astashenkova. Of the three "contentious" representatives, this lady is the one who is most polished onstage and lookswise. Though no pageant fan and pundit regard her as a contender, there may be a path for her to make the Top 20, but the question is, will Nawat permit her to advance and take the risk of the potential fallout if that happens?
SINGAPORE - Emilbiany Nenggang Intong. She is a strong communicator, but she lacks charisma or stage chops to make more serious inroads into the Top 20.
SOUTH AFRICA - Lujuan Mzyk. She seems to cover all bases, but she is not receiving buzz as a possible Top 20 contender. She seems to be considered only a worthwhile contender but for me onstage she performed strongly enough to keep up with the other contenders out there.
SPAIN - Hirisley Jimenez. She has been receiving buzz based on her polished stage chops and charisma. I'm rooting for her to make the Top 20.
SRI LANKA - Nihari Perera. In most other years, she would be considered a worthwhile contender, but the stratified level of this year's batch made her more a middle-of-the-road contender.
THAILAND - Engfa Waraha. She seems to be poised to be this country's best prospect for finally winning its first Miss Grand International title. She exudes oodles of charisma onstage and though she is not renowned for her intelligence or advocacy, she possesses abundant charm. She looks like a lock for the Final Five.
TÜRKİYE - Deria Koc. She's a pretty girl, but obviously needed more training to finesse her stage moves. In her interview she actually had the guts to address body image issues, something that many have observed is the fallout of Nawat's proclivity to prefer a certain body type. Though Nawat and the judges did their best to assuage her concerns, well we all know things will remain as is.
UGANDA - Oliver Nakakande. See ANGOLA and MOZAMBIQUE.
UKRAINE - Olga Vasiliv. There is of course a lot of sympathy towards her because of her country's current situation, and Nawat was tone-deaf in assigning her adversary as a roommate, which was fortunately rescinded. She is attractive and solid onstage, but I feel not enough to make the Top 20.
UNITED KINGDOM - Sofia Mayers. She made a splash in the closed door interview as she is a strong and charming communicator and made a big splash with her dramatic national costume presentation. Her preliminary show performance though, is solid but not as impactful.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - Emily Rose. See SOUTH AFRICA.
VENEZUELA - Luiseth Materán. She made the Top 16 at Miss Universe last year, and it looks like she'll make more serious inroads in this pageant, looking like a lock to the Top 10 and a possible player for the Final Five.
VIETNAM - Đoàn Thiên Ân. She's undeniably a stage dynamo, though she's not that renowned for her interview skills. But still she might be able to secure a Top 10 showing based on popular vote, as we know this country has a significant fanbase, and the fact that tis country will be next year's host for this pageant may serve her well.
TOP CONTENDERS: BRAZIL, CZECH REPUBLIC, PUERTO RICO, THAILAND,
SHOO-INS: COLOMBIA, CURACAO, INDONESIA, VENEZUELA, VIETNAM
LIKELIEST: AUSTRALIA, CAMBODIA, COSTA RICA, CUBA, DENMARK, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ECUADOR, GERMANY, GHANA, GUATEMALA, INDIA, JAPAN, LAOS, MAURITIUS, MEXICO, MYANMAR, NETHERLANDS, NIGERIA, PANAMA, PERU, PHILIPPINES, RUSSIA, SOUTH AFRICA, SPAIN, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
"REFRESHING" FACTOR: FRANCE
INTERVIEW FACTOR: SINGAPORE, UNITED KINGDOM
POLITICAL FACTOR: UKRAINE
EXCELLENT: ANGOLA, ARGENTINA, BOLIVIA, CANADA, CHILE, CRIMEA, EL SALVADOR, HONDURAS, IRELAND, ITALY, JAMAICA, MALAYSIA, MOZAMBIQUE, NICARAGUA, PAKISTAN, POLAND, UGANDA
VERY STRONG: BELARUS, BELGIUM, CHINA, HAITI, PARAGUAY, PORTUGAL, SRI LANKA
STRONG: BANGLADESH, HONG KONG, KOREA, MONGOLIA, NEPAL, TÜRKİYE
Now, here's my "Fearful" Forecast:
FINAL FIVE: BRAZIL, CZECH REPUBLIC, INDONESIA, PUERTO RICO, THAILAND
TOP 10: COLOMBIA, CURACAO, NIGERIA, VENEZUELA, VIETNAM
TOP 20: CAMBODIA, DENMARK, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, GHANA, LAOS, MEXICO, MYANMAR, NETHERLANDS, PHILIPPINES, SPAIN
BUBBLING UNDER: AUSTRALIA, COSTA RICA, CUBA, ECUADOR, GERMANY, GUATEMALA, INDIA, JAPAN, MAURITIUS, PANAMA, PERU, RUSSIA, SOUTH AFRICA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
STRIKING DISTANCE: ANGOLA, ARGENTINA, BOLIVIA, CANADA, CHILE, CRIMEA, EL SALVADOR, FRANCE, HONDURAS, IRELAND, ITALY, JAMAICA, MALAYSIA, MOZAMBIQUE, NICARAGUA, PAKISTAN, POLAND, SINGAPORE, UGANDA, UKRAINE, UNITED KINGDOM
This is a high caliber group of contestants, with lots of possible configurations for the Top 20. So far, I see the title being a four-way race among BRAZIL (Isabella Menin), CZECH REPUBLIC (Mariana Benckova), PUERTO RICO (Oxana Rivera) and THAILAND (Engfa Waraha). Let's see how everything unfolds tonight. Best of luck to all the ladies!
JUST ME!
JOSEPH
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