NIGERIA - Rosaline Bolarinde. I find her very polished, and I probably would've preferred if she won the popular vote for her region instead of the actual winner of the popular vote from her region--she only ended up in 4th place in that poll. There were also a couple of other African standouts who at least had the consolation of winning special awards that it was such a shame that there wasn't anything that have gone her way, so she ended up being an underrated contender.
NORWAY - Madeleine Malmberg. She's cute, but she's one of the rawest contenders in this batch, so simply being here should be reward enough for her.
PAKISTAN - Misbah Arshad. Twenty-one years ago, there was a lady from her country, Neelam Voorani, who attempted to compete here, but her government made a big furor and she withdrew. Though there were still some minor protests from her government still, it didn't stop her from continuing to compete, and in the end, she's officially the first woman from her country to be represented here. I suppose the fact that she's now based in Germany probably helped her soldier on as she has no immediate intentions of returning to her home country in the near future. She's in the same caliber as BANGLADESH, but she lacked popular vote support.
PARAGUAY - Jazmín de la Sierra. I thought with her pretty face and short hair she would make a major standout impression. But it seems this year, the insiders and judging panels preferred more familiar, standard looks, preferably either from Asia or Latin America. Such a shame they don't have room for a more "progressive" choice like this one this year.
POLAND - Julia Marcinkowska. I probably made a mistake putting her in my "Bubbling Under" list as I don't really think she's that charismatic and we have seen more gorgeous ladies from her country over the past several years. She just doesn't make much impact so perhaps I should've demoted her in my "Striking Distance" list.
PORTUGAL - Lilene Vieira Serrão. She's as raw as NORWAY, and not as pretty, so she is arguably the weakest link in this year's batch.
SERBIA - Victorija Stojiljković. See LITHUANIA.
SINGAPORE - Chavelle Chong. We rarely expect anything buzzworthy from this country in this pageant, and this lady is no exception.
SOUTH AFRICA - Jenique Botha. This blonde was also a potential sleeper choice as she's good-looking and we know representatives from her country have strong interview skills. But I have a feeling her wardrobe choices during the competition rounds did her in--like that flouncy dress during the interview competition, her choice to sport black opera gloves during the fitness competition, and the silver gown with purple overlay during the evenign gown competition. If she got her wardrobe right, she might have made more serious inroads.
SPAIN - Claudia González. There are some pageant fans and pundits who considered her a possible Final Seven contender and possibly entering the winners' circle. As a model, she does have an ideal trim figure. But I noticed her facial features have unflattering angles--at her best, there are some angles where she looked like Rent, Wicked, and Frozen star Idina Menzel, but there were some angles where her face looked too harsh. So I have a feeling insiders and judges viewing her in person may see those unflattering angles
SRI LANKA - Umanda Bamunuachchi. There are some fans who might like her features, but the insiders and the judges don't seem to dig them, hence she's shut out of the Top 15.
TAIWAN - Anita Wang. Like POLAND, I should've demoted her from my "Bubbling Under" list to put her outside of cotnetion. Though she has a cute face, she doesn't quite have that polish unlike the rest of the contenders from her region.
TUNISIA - Mariam Ben Abroug. She's attractive, but I don't find her as polished as other contenders out there. Like FRANCE and BANGLADESH, she needed to win the popular vote for her region to advance, but she has been running 3rd throughout the polls, so unfortunately she wasn't granted that slot.
UGANDA - Emily Hope Muwanguzi. I find her attractive and worthwhile, but she was clearly crowded out by other standouts out there. To be honest, I would've rather see her place 20th over the one wo actually achieved that ranking.
COMING UP: SPECIAL AWARD WINNERS and BUBBLING UNDER DELEGATES
No comments:
Post a Comment