If you think last year's 10th anniversary of Miss Grand International in Indonesia was very aptly grandiose, this year's edition is arguably exceeding it. The Vietnamese sponsors and organizers have wasted no expense filling out a jampacked itinerary of events that included a tour that span the entire length of the country, from the capital Hanoi in the north, to fashion events in the central portion in Hue (pronounced Hway) to finally culminationg with the preliminary competition and final coronation in Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a., the city formerly known as Saigon) in the south. There is a whole host of gala dinners, fashion shows, swimsuit parades, and they also added this competition called Grand Voice Award, which is basically a karaoke singing contest. Why add a singing contest? It seems part of this year's duties for the entire Top 10 of tis pageant would include a music concert held at Phuket, Thailand. And they also insist the Top 10 will have to stay in Southeast Asia until the end of this year if they were chosen.
This probably explain why during the closed-door interview (which was streamed on Facebook and saved by Qrown Philippines on YouTube split into 8 parts) the vice president Teresa Chaivisut asked the candidates if they have any ongoing contracts, and most of them answered no or if they have any (like PERU), it won't be a hindrance to their duties if they were chosen as one of the winners. They also asked if they have boyfriends or girlfriends, too, probably for the same reasons.
Anyway, we have to hand it to this organization for their generosity in providing material for pageant fans to latch on to--all activities are documented and covered, and pictures are released in a timely manner. The supposedly bigger and more prestigious pageants like Miss Universe and Miss World are skimpy in coverage in comparison. In that way, pageant website Global Beauties was justified in awarding this pageant as pageant of the year for the previous year, 2022 (and probably in the running to win again for this year) and awarding the reigning queen Isabella Menin as Miss Grand Slam. And, yes, the website owner, Henrique Fontes delivered these awards to the pageant president, Nawat Itsaragrisil and it was announced live at the end of the Preliminary Competition.
There were 72 confirmed candidates, but three countries had to back out for various reasons. EQUATORIAL GUINEA seems to be unable to field a rep on time, SOUTH SUDAN (Amylia Deng) may have had issues either with travel arrangements or national director support and SRI LANKA (Sayuri Jayathne) had a death in the family that initially they would provide some time but still allow her to compete but ultimately she confirmed her withdrawal on October 6. If these ladies made it, SOUTH SUDAN could've muddled an already highly competitive mix of ladies, while SRI LANKA will probably be a worthwhile contender, at most.
This means we have 69 candidates this year, still below the levels this pageant attracted prior to 2019 but at least a positive sign of growth after the big attrition in 2019. But to paraphrase a saying, sometimes it's not the quantity that counts, but the quality. Do we have such a high quality batch this year?.
ALBANIA - Angela Tanuzi. She is actually designated to also compete at the upcoming Miss World pageant, which has been delayed again from December this year to March next year. At this point, I can say she's good looking but she's not that strong an interview and is less polished onstage compared to her peers.
ANGOLA - Eugénia das Neves. Though she's not the sole African rocking the shaven head look, she made a huge standout impression being a major stage dynamo and proving to be a strong communicator. It seems she's the top African of this group, and seems to be Top 10-bound, probably even going further to the Final Five..
ARGENTINA - Natalia Carolina Cometto. Though there is one candidate who is positioning herself as an LGBTQ+ candidate, it is revealed through the closed-door interview that this lady also belongs to that club, as she revealed she has a Brazilian girlfriend back home who will be showing up to cheer for her in the finals. This led Nawat and Teresa to tease her about hosting a wedding for her and her girlfriend right there in Vietnam, which she gamely accepted. She's a solid, worthwhile contender--yes there are many ladies who overshadow her, but she is holding her own pretty well.
AUSTRALIA - Mikaela Rose Fowler. She's the first of the Pretty, Lanky, Brunette Ingenues (PLBI) in this batch. She's a strong communicator, snd performed at a stratified level, but I'm not certain if there is room for her in the Top 20.
BELARUS - Ekaterina Agapaya. Though she comes from a country that has been receiving flak for its role supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she has been going out of her way to demonstrate she's an ambassadress of peace, especially with her wardrobe choices for national costume and interview. Like ARGENTINA, she seems overshadowed by several stellar candidates but this lady is also holding her own well.
BELGIUM - Albertina Rodrigues. She actually was born in Angola but her family moved to Belgium when she was very young, and as a result, she is now fluent in Portuguese (her main language), French, and English. She has been delivering consistently high level performances all throughout and is a good-enough communicator, so I'm not certain if there is room for her in the Top 20.
BOLIVIA - Victoria Olguin. She couldn't speak English that well that she had to rely on ARGENTINA to translate for her. However, she did redeem herself in the Preliminary Competition as she performed at a high level--not sure if that's enough for her to make serious inroads into the Top 20.
BONAIRE - Ruby Pouchet. This brunette is actually born in Venezuela, then moved to the US before settling in this Dutch territory*1. This jet-black tressed lady is a solid contender, but like ARGENTINA and BELARUS, there are several ladies performing at stratified levels.
*1 It could be said that its status is equivalent to a French overseas department like Guadeloupe and Martinique, practically integrated to the Netherlands like Hawaii is to the US as it opted for closer ties with the Netherlands unlike Aruba, Curacao and St. Maarten, who opted for more autonomy but still part of the kingdom.
BRAZIL - Adriana Yanca. She is definitely not as gorgeous as the reigning Miss Grand International Isabella Menin, but she's polished in all aspects. However, during the Preliminary Competition, she had a wobble in the swimsuit round as she performed a turn, and I have a feeling that might spell the difference between her making the Top 20 or not.
CAMBODIA - Phoem Sreyno. Her English is very incomprehensible, but it seems she is tugging heartstrings about the struggles she endured in life before getting to where she is. In terms of looks and stage skills, I would consider her middle-of-the-pack in a less competitive batch, but in a batch like this, this is middling to underwhelming.
CANADA - Yuliya Shcherban. Here's the second member of the PLBI club. She's of Ukrainian origin and she's a strong communicator with good looks and great stage presence. Now, the question is, will there be room for her in the Top 20?
CHILE - Paula Henriquez. She's generally solid, but not making much impact. In a way, you can say she's part of the P.A.T.I.S. crew.
COLOMBIA - Maria Alejandra Lopez. This lady has extensive pageant experience stretching all the way back to 2013 when she was 18 years old--she joined the prestigious Señorita Colombia where she ended up 3rd behind the eventual Miss Universe 2014 Paulina Vega. That same year, she competed at Reina Hispanoamericana, where she won. Two years later, she won Miss World Colombia and represented her country at the 2015 Miss World pageant--here she received her weakest showing ever as she was very much ignored by the powers-that-be there that she ended being the winner of the Holly Carpenter award*2. In 2021, she competed at Miss Universe Colombia where she ended up 1st runner-up behind Miss Earth-Water 2018 Valeria Ayos, who later finished Top Five in that pageant. And now, she of course won her national pageant for Grand International and here she is....
*2 A dubious distinction accorded to a gorgeous, articulate, strong contender who failed to be shortlisted in any fast-track event and also failed to make the final cut..
...making a major splash, as she is firing on all cylinders. She proved to be a superb communicator (it helps she's fluent in English), and she made a major sensation in the Preliminary Competition, delivering consistently stellar performances that she is delivering on her status as the front-runner. A big highlight was her evening gown presentation, as she sported a black Zorro-style hat as she introduced herself, then dramatically took it off to let her hair down and she paraded her black evening gown with major aplomb. In the closed door interview, Nawat polled the candidates for their choice of winner other than themselves, and eight of them voted for this lady, and this is the highest tally in the poll. It made me think if she is on a Catriona Gray trajectory, as she's seeking vindication from her Miss World debacle (which is indeed a debacle as she didn't place--this is the key difference with Catriona as she at least made Final Five at Miss World 2016). and it looks like she's on the edge of clinching a big win.
COSTA RICA - Kristell Freeman. Like in Miss Supranational, this otherwise white-leaning Central American country is field a black girl. She proved to be polished in all aspects, but in the Preliminary Competition her choice of gown is a huge letdown and I think that would be biggest hindrance to her Top 20 prospects.
COMING UP: CUBA to HAITI
No comments:
Post a Comment