Veteran watchers of Miss Supranational like myself are familiar with the formula used for the final: use of upbeat pop music, some original but mostly cover versions performed by Polish artists, some live guest musical performances (some featuring Eurovision alumni), and upbeat perky catwalk sequences. Needless to say, this year's edition still hews close to that formula, but allow me to provide an overview of how this year's proceedings went...
- Unlike in previous editions, the opening number did not feature a live guest performer--instead the 65 candidates clad in silvery showgirl wardrobe designed by Konrad Bikowski danced to a pre-recorded tack called "Do My Thing". I'm not sure who the original artist for this track as I could not find it at all on YouTube or Spotify, only that it's written by M. Muñoz and R. Short and it sounded like a mashup of that Schitt's Creek novelty ditty "A Little Bit Alexis" mixed with a chorus that sounds like a Little Mix empowerment anthem like "Salute" or "Power"
- The show was hosted by Miss South Africa 2001 Jo-Ann Strauss and Polish presenter Martin Fitch. Jo-Ann's mellifluous voice proved to be a calming balm that seems to ensure the pageant will run smoothly while Martin is the more animated, enthusiastic host relaying his spiels mainly in Polish--as it's held in that country and someone needs to address the native crowd present at the venue. They are a strong pair of hosts, though I miss previous host Davina Reeves-Ciara.
- In previous years they only did pre-recorded voiceover introductions for the candidates, but this year, perhaps inspired by the Miss Universe introduction meme going around all over social media, the candidates now introduced themselves live onstage. The only difference is that this year, this pageant organized the candidates in alphabetical order by region, starting from Africa then Asia, then the Americas, then the Caribbean and finally Europe.
- After the introduction, this was followed by a pre-recorded National Costume segment. Here they used actual original recordings and they are all great listenable bangers. For the Africa group, they used French artist Jain's "Makeba", a 2016 single that has recently became a viral smash. For the Asia group they used the electronica-Chinese folk fusion number "China (Sayuri Remix)" by Chinese DJs Dirty Class, a song that is reportedly at least four years old but also garnering recent virality across various social media platforms. For the Americas, they used "Hola Señorita (Maria)" a 2019 hit by French-Congolese singer/rapper Gims featuring Colombian superstar Maluma. For the Caribbean they used a cover of the oft-covered "Iko Iko" made most famous by the Dixie Cups in 1965 but was actually originated by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford and his Cane-Cutters as "Jock-O-Mo" back in 1953--it's hard to determine which cover recording they used as I couldn't quite find a match across YouTube or Spotify. Finally for Europe, they used the 2016 single "Awoo" by American electro-pop duo Sofi Tukker featuring Canadian artist Betta Lemme.
- Unlike in previous editions when they employed multiple musical acts, this year they only have three musical guests, but each of them performed multiple songs across multiple times. First is DJ Gromee featuring vocalist Sara Chmiel performing the former's 2016 single "Fearless" [originally featuring May-Britt Scheffer] and his Eurovision 2018 entry "Light Me Up" [originally featuring Lukas Meijer] as an interval prior to the candidates' fashion show. I've observed the former song was rearranged to incorporate a sample of German Eurodance act ATC's 2000 smash hit "Around the World (La La La La La". Post Top 24 announcement, Barbadian artist Shontelle (included among the "Panel of Experts") performed her 2011 single "Perfect Nightmare". She was followed by Polish singer (but of Nigerian descent) and Junior Eurovision 2021 runner-up Sara James singing her 2022 single "My Wave". After the swimsuit segment, Gromee and Sara Chmiel returned, this time to perform a covers medley of David Guetta and Sia's 2011 smash hit "Titanium" and Loreen's most recent Eurovision-winning hit, "Tattoo". After the Final Five Q&A round, Sara James returned to perform her 2023 single "Hula Hoop".(misspelled in the credits as "Hula Hopp". Then, prior to announcing the winners, Shontelle returned to perform her 2009 smash hit "Impossible".
- The candidates came back to do a fashion show featuring cocktail outfits by their own local designers set to a cover of the Barbie soundtrack hit "Dance the Night Away" by Dua Lipa. Then the Top 24 was announced.
- After Sara James' performance plus a segment plugging the makeup sponsor, the Top 24 paraded in yellow swimsuits to a medley of two songs: "Praising You" by Rita Ora featuring Fatboy Slim and "When Love Takes Over", that 2009 hit by David Guetta and Kelly Rowland. The non-finalists get their spotlight as after the Top 24 walked they strutted across the runway afterwards--it's almost as if they are also granted a spotlight which if I know how it's staged in other major international pageants is not really supposed to be the case.
- After the second performance by Gromee and Sara Chmiel, the Top 24 returned sporting white suits (or jumpsuits for those who opted not to wear jackets) and the Top 12 was announced. This then segued to a 20-second speech round where each finalist would appeal to the Panel of Experts why they deserve the title.
- They then featured a segment paying tribute to Miss Supranational 2016 winner Srinidhi Shetty to celebrate her achievements in Bollywood.\
- After that tribute, the Top 12 paraded in evening gowns, set to a medley of the recently deceased Tina Turner hits: 1991's "Way of the World" 1983's "Let's Stay Together" {originally a huge hit by Al Green in 1971), and "1989's "The Best" (originally released by Bonnie Tyler in 1988). To be honest, this sequence was a hot mess, as the Top 12 walked a bit quickly in pairs instead of one-by-one so they could be properly highlighted, and there was so much time remained in the medley that as the eliminated candidates appeared after ther Top 12, it seemed the evening gown segment is highlighting them instead of the Top 12.
- The Final Five was then announced, and soon enough they are all made to answer a single final question: "What makes a great brand ambassador for the Miss Supranational Organization?". Each finalist was given 30 seconds to answer.
- After Shontelle's performance, they awarded the continental titles (honors for the best performing candidate for each region who ranked below the Final Five). After seeing the full ranking, there is a headscratcher for the choice for one region.
- Of course the outgoing Miss Supranational, South Africa's Lalela Mswane presented a farewell video and performed her final walk (to an instrumental version of Beyonce's 2006 number from the film Dreamgirls, "Listen") before the the final results were announced. After the winner is crowned and the final credits rolled, we are treated to Coldplay's 2014 hit "A Sky Full of Stars".
Though she didn't also figure in the Top 30, one candidate at least has the consolation of having a spoltlight by winning a special award: KOREA (Juhyeon Roh), winning the Miss Talent special award thanks to her singing prowess.
Two of the other ladies I included in my forecast but missed the cut at least bubbled under. CANADA (Alexa-Marie Grant) and ROMANIA (Ioana-Izabela Hotăran) at least bubbled under, placing 26th and 29th respectively.
I expected MALAYSIA (Deidre Walker) to be a worthwhile inclusion to the Top 12's door, so I was shocked she was the one who made the Top 24 by the tips of her fingernails. Because of her Miss Intercontinental pedigree and her improvement from that stint, I thought THAILAND (Patraporn Wang) was a lock in the Top 12 but she only ranked 17th place instead.
I did put BOTSWANA (Dabilo Moses) in my "Bubbling Under" list, and was surprised the Panel of Experts made room for her, and she placed 20th. Now, a bit more shocking for me was that in the Experts' reckoning, EL SALVADOR (Luciana Martinez) made a much an impression placing 21st and winning Miss Photogenic to boot. Maybe I underrated her too much.
Many pageant fans and pundits, including myself, thought SOUTH AFRICA (Ayanda Thabethe) and ZIMBABWE (Sakhile Dube) were Top 12 shoo-ins, but they ended up falling short, placing 16th and 13th respectively. I probably overrated SOUTH AFRICA too much, not realizing how tiny she actually is compared to the rest of the batch and that she didn't really make as distinctive a presence as I thought she did and hyped her as a Final Five finisher. At least she has the consolation of winning the Miss Congeniality Award. ZIMBABWE, meanwhile, I would rather have her advance to the Top 12 instead of one of the actual Top 12 finishers but besides getting an automatic ticket by winning Top Model, I'm glad she earned the African continental crown.
I only got seven of the Top 12 correct, and two of those I didn't include in my list went as far as this level. Now, GIBRALTAR (Michelle Lopez Desoisa) was a refreshing surprise that seeing her go this far gladdened my heart. The shock inclusion for me is the NETHERLANDS (Luna-Isabella Stienstra) as her features aren't my cup of tea. But it turns out she's a stronger interview than expected and the Panel of Experts like her brand of exoticism and that is probably why she made it this foar, though I would've wished she swapped places with ZIMBABWE.
Two close neighbors that used to be part of one country*1 seemed to have swapped fates from my forecast. I expected COLOMBIA (Valentina Mora) to be the Top 12 finisher and ECUADOR (Andrea Aguilera) to miss the Top 12 and possibly bubble under below it. But it turns out it's COLOMBIA that was left behind in the Top 24 (finishing 15th), and not only ECUADOR advance to the Top 12, but she went very, very far. More on that later...
Now, a big headscratcher is the choice of regional winner for the Caribbean: It went to CURACAO (Andreina Pereira), who placed 14th (and got an automatic Top 24 ticket via a Contestants' Choice vote). That would've been an unquestioned choice if it weren't for this fact: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (Crystal Matos) and PUERTO RICO.(Camille Fabery) advanced to the Top 12, placing 10th and 9th respectively. If we follow the rules on who wins the regional titles, shouldn't it have gone to PUERTO RICO instead of CURACAO? Wonder what caused the mix-up? Did the Miss Supranational Organization made the mistake of thinking DOMINICAN REPUBLIC and PUERTO RICO are part of the Americas group instead of the Caribbean group?
PERU (Valeria Flórez) was expected to be a Final Five shoo-in and possible winner, but even if she seemed to give a great speech in the 20-second speech round, she fell short. She did come close as she ranked 6th and got the honor as the regional winner for the Americas. INDIA (Pragnya Ayyagari) also gave a substantial speech, though she ran out of time and one might wonder if that was the factor she was shut out of the Final Five. She also came close ranking 7th and got the regional title for Asia.
I only got two of the Final Five correct. Besides missing out on the eventual winner, I didn't realize how much weight they put on UNITED KINGDOM (Emma Collingridge)'s human interest story and advocacy as a sexual assault survivor and because of that she catapulted to the Final Five. I underestimated VIETNAM (Đặng Thanh Ngân) as my eye was towards MALAYSIA and THAILAND and thought Top 24 was as far as she would go. But I did find her charming and I thought her entering the Top 12 via the Supra-Fan Vote was well deserved. But her over PERU? If you ask me, I'd rather have had PERU up in the Final Five instead, and PERU will likely deliver a final speech that would muddy the waters a bit. Still, VIETNAM was a refreshing inclusion to the Final Five.
The only two Final Five finishers I got right were BRAZIL (Sancler Frantz) and PHILIPPINES (Pauline Amelinckx). They both got automatic tickets to the Top 24--BRAZIL via the Supra Influencer award and PHILIPPINES via winning Supra Chat. In another parallelism to Miss World 2013, as fiercely fought the positions were, PHILIPPINES continued to outrank BRAZIL.
The Final Five speeches brought forth a debate on who gave the best answer and if the final results were deserving. Many pageant fans, especially among the Filipino contingent, maintain that PHILIPPINES delivered the best answer, and I agree with that contention as I thought her speech was best organized. Some fans also felt based on the final speech, UNITED KINGDOM should have been first runner-up, and I have to say that indeed her thoughts are also well presented and organized. I'm slightly peeved by the fact that BRAZIL decided to use a translator but still answered in English, and if it's solely based on answer alone I would've demoted her to 3rd runner-up and swap places with UNITED KINGDOM but I think the stronger impression Sancler made in earlier rounds helped secure her a 2nd runner-up finish. What about the answer delivered by the winner, ECUADOR? Credit to her for not using an interpreter as she understood the question in English and answered accordingly, and her answer was warm, sincere, and effusive, even if on the surface it seemed she didn't quite nail the question (actually she did, in an indirect way bolstered by concrete goals of what she wanted to do during her reign). In a way, her trajectory is similar to last year's Mister Supranational winner from Cuba, Luis Daniel Galvez, though this lady has some standout charismatic qualities in her favor, such as her statuesque height. So, ultimately, even if I still would've wanted to see Pauline give us our 2nd Supra victory, I'm okay with Andrea Aguilera's win here.
JUST ME!
JOSEPH
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