FINLAND - Petra Hämäläinen. She reminds me of Miss France 2001, Elodie Gossuin*5 from her facial features to her slender frame. However, she didn't quite channel Elodie's charisma during the preliminary interview and fitness rounds, and didn't quite make much impact in her white evening gown, plus the preliminary panel's seemingly current sudden resistance towards blondes this year, and this is why this traditional powerhouse in this pageant failed to make the cut.
*5 Elodie competed at Miss Universe 2001 (where no thanks to a satirical article she was accused of being transgender) and made Top 10 and later won Miss Europe that same year. Much later in life she became a meme when she attempted to sing the chorus to Amir's "J'ai cherché" as she relayed the French jury votes during the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest.
FRANCE - Lysia Allaire. She's attractive but I find her not as polished as the other contenders out there so I sensed she would've needed the popular vote to make the Top 15, and she was running second all throughout the polling period for her region (Europe / Africa) but it seems the leader's support was just too insurmountable.
GUATEMALA - María Ranee Díaz. She actually looks Asian, but I think the preliminary and final panel of judges like their Latinas to look more on the European side, and the fact that there are a whole slew of gorgeous Latinas prevented this lady from making any serious inroads.
HAWAII - Maka'ala Perry. See AUSTRALIA. She seems to be shortest lady in this year's batch.
JAMAICA - Sabrina Johnson. This country made a breakthrough last year with Israel Harrison making the Final Eight. Like CANADA, she seems to be in the same mold as her predecessor (ebony complexion and dreadlocks), but it seems this year the judging panels and insiders were not into her type.
KOREA - Bobin Jung. Though based on her background she seems to be an aspiring K-pop or K-drama star, she doesn't quite channel the charisma we expect from those pop idols, so this was why she was never in contention of making the Top 15.
LAOS - Aliya Inthavong. I find her a very polished presence and felt she could've had an inside track to the Top 15. Especially with the eventual Top 15 being laden with a whole slew of Asians (not to mention the ladies bubbling under), I thought she should've made the cut over some of the others who actually made it. Was she that weak in interview that she was prevented from advancing?
LITHUANIA - Irmina Preišegalavičiūté. Though I know she's overshadowed by other highly competitvie contenders out there, I actually find her a worthwhile contender. In a less competitive year she would've made more serious inroads.
MARTINIQUE - Pauline Thimon. She is generally solid, but she was clearly overshadowed by the standouts out there.
MAURITIUS - Karishma Hurlall. She's solid, but not as polished as other contenders out there hence she's overshadowed and couldn't make any inroads into the Top 15.
MONGOLIA - Jaykhlan Munguntsatsralt. I find her a very polished contender all throughout but I suppose she just didn't quite make as strong an impression with the judging panels and insiders.
NEPAL - Prasiddhy Shah. She might be more polished than, say, MAURITIUS, but still didn't quite have the mojo to be in serious contention for the Top 15.
NETHERLANDS - Morgan Doelwijt. She's in the same boat as DENMARK, but she didn't commit DENMARK's styling mistake in the preliminary. Still, she was clearly overshadowed by the slew of more competitive contenders in this group hence she couldn't get much buzz or notice during her stay.
NICARAGUA - Leylani Leyton. See CUBA, but with less buzz from pageant fans and pundits.
COMING UP: NIGERIA to UGANDA
No comments:
Post a Comment