PERU - Stefano Bermellón. I'm glad he had a haircut when he arrived in Poland as I'm so not into his pre-arrival long-haired appearance. He exuded that swarthy appeal that is catnip to this crowd, and as such he's a possible Top 20 contender.
PHILIPPINES - Johannes Rissler. I was not expecting him to make a big splash, but it seems he's charming the organization insiders and garnering much stronger buzz than I first assumed. Despite not submitting a Talent video despite his declared background as a singer-songwriter, they gave him a special spotlight during the Talent final and he got to perform a sweet acoustic world-peace ditty. He also seems to be receiving significant coverage and I'm very pleased with his performance at the preliminaries, as he held his own in the "confidence" round, and in formal wear, he stood out with his choice of a cream-colored outfit. His making Top 10 in Top Model was well-justified. Then, during the Miss Supranational finals, I was surprised how the camera panned to him a lot during the final round when his female counterpart was nailing her answers. Based on his preliminary performance, I can foresee he'll not only sustain our perfect Top 20 streak, but deliver our best finish yet*1. I still don't foresee him advancing to the Top 10, though it's increasingly conceivable he could deliver that breakthrough.
*1 Our best finish thus far is 17th place, delivered by AR de la Cerna (2016) and John Adajar (2021). Interestingly both were in the same batch of Misters of the Philippines, back in 2015.
POLAND - Daniel Tracz. At first glance his close-cropped stoic vibe seemed forbidding, but many pageant fans and pundits are warming up to him, with some regarding him as a possible front-runner. He does have the hunky appeal to finish in the Top 10, but I don't quite see him going further than that. Still, I do salute that he has exceeded most fans' and pundits' expectations.
PUERTO RICO - Rafael Pagán. He seems to tick all the boxes as he has charisma, a good physique, handsome face and strong communication skills, but he's not garnering buzz. I'm still hopeful he'll finish in the Top 20, but there are other worthy contenders out there.
SLOVAKIA - Tomáš Benko. He's classically handsome, a decent communicator, and has a buffed physique. He's definitely a likely Top 20 contender.
SOUTH AFRICA - Tylo Ribeiro. He's good looking and buffed, and he has superb communication skills, but I don't really get the hype about him as a possible Top 10 / Final Five finisher. I feel he'll be the Suprachat champion and secure his Top 20 placement and that's how far he'll go.
SPAIN - Iván Álvarez. He may have a case of nerves during the Opening Ceremony, but he made up for lost ground since then, as he is just so mesmerizing and charismatic. As the tallest guy with a beefy physique, he fits my criteria to be this group's Beefcake Behemoth. He was sensational during the preliminaries, that it seems that he is likely to take the lead and become this year's winner. Especially with the choice of this year's female winner being statuesque, this guy seems to be the only one who could be a suitable partner for her as he is a tower.*2 Hope things go smoothly for him during the final.
*2 Though supposedly the country with the tallest men on average is the Netherlands, this country seems to be fielding the tallest guys in the international male pageants as of late.
THAILAND - Nathanon Narathanyawirun. Yes, he's good-looking and buffed, but his limited English skills may hamper his chances especially with such a competitive group of guys. But still there are a lot of pageant fans and pundits bullish on his Top 20 prospects, with some even thinking he could advance to the Top 10. He's highly appealing, no doubt about it, but I'm not confident he's a lock for the Top 20.
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO - Keathon Yallery. His predecessor, Wynter Mason, was a shock inclusion to the Top 20 last year. It seems this guy is also trying to parlay personality and communication skills to duplicate that finish. I hope that would not happen, as his placement would be at the expense of guys I consider worthier.
A piquant note is that he seems to be the winner of the Sy Lee Fabulousness award. My nominees for this honor in this batch are CANADA, CUBA, and NAMIBIA.
UNITED STATES - Daniel Zemeida. He made a splash in the Opening Ceremony as he proved to be an eloquent speaker. Based on that appearance many pageant fans and pundits, including myself, condidered him as a possible front-runner. But then buzz faded, and his performance in the preliminaries was disappointing. It is possible he'll suffer a similar fate as his female counterpart, who seemed to have encountered a similar trajectory and ended up missing the final cut.
VENEZUELA - Jorge Eduardo Núñez. I will always remember him as "Jheri-Curl Guy" or "Soul-Glo" at Mister World 2019, but I'm glad he ditched that look for a more polished and conventional appearance. He actually won his national pageant last year but I didn't know then that just like the Miss International titleholder at Binibining Pilipinas since 2022, he is actually designated for the following year's pageant. Anyway, he has proven his mettle here as he exudes beefy sex appeal and charisma and he looks likely to finish in the Top 10.
ZIMBABWE - Tatenda Njanike. He was meant to compete last year but it seems it was only for this time that he was able to secure his travel documents and finally made it--albeit he's also a relatively late arrival. He proved to be a polished contender but I don't know if there would be enough room for him in the Top 20.
It's time to trot out the "Leaderboard" and here's how I think the 34 candidates stack up:
TOP CONTENDERS: BRAZIL, CZECH REPUBLIC, MALAYSIA, MEXICO, SPAIN,
SHOO-INS: CAMEROON, ECUADOR, ITALY, NETHERLANDS, PHILIPPINES, POLAND, VENEZUELA
LIKELIEST: CANADA, FRANCE, GREECE, INDIA, INDONESIA, KOREA, PANAMA, PERU, PUERTO RICO, SLOVAKIA, SOUTH AFRICA, THAILAND, UNITED STATES, ZIMBABWE
"MODERN" FACTOR: BELGIUM
PERSONALITY FACTOR: CUBA, NEPAL, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
EXCELLENT: ARGENTINA, NAMIBIA
VERY STRONG: CAMBODIA, EQUATORIAL GUINEA
So here is my "Fearful" Forecast:
FINAL FIVE: BRAZIL, CZECH REPUBLIC, MALAYSIA, MEXICO, SPAIN
TOP 10: CAMEROON, ECUADOR, NETHERLANDS, POLAND, VENEZUELA
TOP 20: FRANCE, INDIA, INDONESIA, ITALY, KOREA, PERU, PHILIPPINES, PUERTO RICO, SLOVAKIA, SOUTH AFRICA
BUBBLING UNDER: CANADA, GREECE, PANAMA, THAILAND, UNITED STATES, ZIMBABWE
STRIKING DISTANCE: ARGENTINA, BELGIUM, CUBA, NAMIBIA, NEPAL, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Though it might seem that my Final Five choices seem clear-cut, I can only be confident of seeing BRAZIL (Henrique Martins) and SPAIN (Ivan Alvarez) as locks and the win could go to either of them, and CZECH REPUBLIC (Jakub Vitek), MALAYSIA (Danial Hanson), and MEXICO (Luis Cuadra) could easily be yanked out by the likes of CAMEROON (Daniel Mbouda), ECUADOR (Bruno Barbier), NETHERLANDS (Luca Derin), and POLAND (Daniel Tracz). I can't wait to see how everything turns out. Best of luck to all the guys.
JUST ME!
JOSEPH
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