I apologize that I wasn't able to do a full-fledged review of last year's Miss Earth pageant. So let me do a brief recap of last year's pageant before I proceed with this year. First, it was a welcome treat to see the pageant return to a live format (although it had a bunch of virtual pre-activities prior to the series of live activities in the Philippines). The pageant final had high entertainment and production values. The choice of Top 20 turned out to be a great looking lot, though there were a bunch of surprises. But as the creamiest of the crop emerged, it was mostly the ones that gotten heavy buzz. For the elemental queens, I got three of the four correct, and as I expected the superb commnication skills by Korea's Mina Sue Choi and Australia's Sheridan Morlock helped them pull away and garner the top two crowns of Miss Earth 2022 and Miss Earth-Air 2022 respectively. Colombia's Andra Aguilera (who finished in the Top 13 at Miss World 2021/22 and should not be mistaken with the reigning Miss Supranational from Ecuador who shares the same name) was very charismatic all throughout and gave the biggest impact in the evenign gown round with her fuchsia ballgown, but in the Final Four round gave the relatively weakest answer so she ended up as Miss Earth-Fire, and the one I didn't get (but was always on my radar as I rated her a shoo-in), Palestine's Nadeen Ayoub rose and ganrered Miss Earth-Water. This is what I call a babelicious elemental court, with all members renowned for their facial beauty--only the courts of 2004, 2005, 2019, and 2020 would fit this distinction.
For this edition of this pageant, they did still maintain a hybrid format, with virtual pre-activities prior to almost a month of activities at the ultimate venue--Vietnam. This is the second time Vietnam hosted this pageant and only the third time that the pageant is held outside the Philippines.*1 The delegates were treated to a cultural immersion combined with environmental activities that is a hallmark of tis pageant.
*1 Vietnam previously played host in 2010. In 2015, Austria was the host.
Due to transitioning to a new career, I wouldn't have time to do a Homestretch Review for this pageant, so instead like Miss Universe, I'll do a Delegates' Review with a full-fledged finals review afterwards. Anyway, I have to salute thsi pageant for consistency as they never went below the 80s level in terms of number of delegates since 2005. In fact, this year, it slightly exceeded Miss Universe's roster as it drew 85 delegates. That roster could have been 87, but two delegates failed to show up in Vietnam.
AUSTRIA - Zoe Müller. This country had three placements between 2013 and 2018, bookended by Miss Earth-Air finishes in those two aforementioned years. They seemed to be back in the pageant doldrums since then, and this lady, if she made it to Vietnam, would likewise miss the cut.
PANAMA - Nicold Castillero. She participated in some of the virtual activities prior to the Vietnam leg, so it's a wonder why she ended up a no-show in Vietnam. The Miss Earth Facebook page still featured a picture of her in their roster, and probably hoping against all hope that she'll show up in the preliminary competition, but to no avail.
Now, here's my take on how the 85 delegates of Miss Earth 2023 stack up in my leaderboard:
TOP CONTENDERS: ALBANIA, NETHERLANDS, PHILIPPINES, THAILAND,
SHOO-INS: BRAZIL, COLOMBIA, MONGOLIA, PUERTO RICO, SOUTH AFRICA, VIETNAM,
LIKELIEST: BELGIUM, BULGARIA, CANADA, CHILE, CROATIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, ENGLAND, ETHIOPIA, FRANCE, GREECE, INDIA, INDONESIA, MADAGASCAR, MALAYSIA, MAURITIUS, MEXICO, MYANMAR, NAMIBIA, NEPAL, PARAGUAY, POLAND, PORTUGAL, RUSSIA, SLOVENIA, SOUTH SUDAN, SPAIN, UKRAINE, VENEZUELA, ZAMBIA, ZIMBABWE
INTELLIGENCE/ADVOCACY FACTOR: AUSTRALIA, BELIZE, DENMARK, GHANA, KENYA, NEW ZEALAND, SINGAPORE, U S A, U S VIRGIN ISLANDS
EXCELLENT: ARGENTINA, ARMENIA, BANGLADESH, BELARUS, BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA, CAMBODIA, CUBA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ECUADOR, GERMANY, HONDURAS, IRELAND, JAPAN, KAZAKHSTAN, KOREA, LAOS, NIGERIA, NORWAY, REUNION ISLAND, ROMANIA, SERBIA, SRI LANKA, WALES
VERY STRONG: CAMEROON, CHINA, HAITI, KOSOVO, LIBERIA, MONTENEGRO, NORTHERN MARIANAS, PAKISTAN, PALESTINE, SIERRA LEONE, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO,
STRONG: BOLIVIA, PERU,
And now, my "Fearful" Forecast:
ELEMENTAL QUEENS: ALBANIA, NETHERLANDS, PHILIPPINES, THAILAND
TOP EIGHT: BRAZIL, COLOMBIA, PUERTO RICO, VIETNAM
TOP 12: INDIA, MONGOLIA, PORTUGAL, SOUTH AFRICA
TOP 20: BULGARIA, CANADA, INDONESIA, MADAGASCAR, MALAYSIA, PARAGUAY, SOUTH SUDAN, ZAMBIA
BUBBLING UNDER: BELGIUM, CHILE, CROATIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, ENGLAND, ETHIOPIA, FRANCE, GREECE, MAURITIUS, MEXICO, MYANMAR, NAMIBIA, NEPAL, POLAND, RUSSIA, SLOVENIA, SPAIN, UKRAINE, VENEZUELA, ZIMBABWE
STRIKING DISTANCE: ARGENTINA, ARMENIA, AUSTRALIA, BANGLADESH, BELARUS, BELIZE, BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA, CAMBODIA, CUBA, DENMARK, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ECUADOR, GERMANY, GHANA, HONDURAS, IRELAND, JAPAN, KAZAKHSTAN, KENYA, KOREA, LAOS, NEW ZEALAND, NIGERIA, NORWAY, REUNION ISLAND, ROMANIA, SERBIA, SINGAPORE, SRI LANKA, U S A, U S VIRGIN ISLANDS, WALES
I remember in previous years how the Americas were prominently featured in the elemental court. But tis year, it seems to be a battle between Europe and Asia. Could it go to a blonde (or strawberry blonde) European stunner like ALBANIA (Drita Ziri) or the NETHERLANDS (Noa Claus) or can it go to an Asian like the PHILIPPINES (Yllana Aduana) or THAILAND (Nicole Bliault) or maybe even the host country VIETNAM (Do Thi Lan Anh). Will there be another shocking shut-out, and what surprises may be in store?
JUST ME!
JOSEPH
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