Joseph Vitug's Views: MISS UNIVERSE 2023: NON-FINALISTS REVIEW (PART 1)

The 84 delegates who came to compete at the 72nd Miss Universe pageant has a three-week schedule, a bit longer than recent editions from IMG, which tend to be about 10 days or less (for editions hosted within the US). There was at least some effort to immerse the delegates in Salvadorian culture, though not as deep as what is experienced in other pageants like Miss Supranational, Miss Grand International and most especially Miss International.. Still, even if the cultural immersion can be classified as "cursory", it's at least a step in the right direction.

During the swimsuit segment of the preliminary competition, the presenters of the competition (Miss Universe 2022 R'Bonney Gabriel and Salvadorian model (and representative to Miss Universe 2020) Vanessa Velasquez plugging the Miss Universe branded swimsuits designed by Rubin Singer. I don't mind the extensive commercial plugging especially in light of pageant owner Khun Anne Jakkhaphong Jakrajatutip's financial crises, but I'm very underwhelmed by the swimsuit designs, especially the one-piece styles. I think since the 1980s ladies like to have the appearance of a lean and sleek frame in a one-piece outfit, but the competition swimsuits tend to make most lean ladies look heavier and voluptuous--the latter term used to be viewed as a compliment in the 1950s to 1970s but these days it's almost as bad as calling a person "fat". I have a feeling the ladies who scored the highest in swimsuit were the ones who opted for the two-piece design.

Now, I'll present the non-finalists in strictly alphabetical fashion, though I'll set aside the ladies who made the Top Five in the Ruth Ocumarez*1 Award and the special award winners in the last section. Let's start with...

*1 I know this is more popularly known as the El Tocuyo after the hometown of the 2016 Venezuelan representative Mariam Habach, but I feel it's best to have the name of a person for such awards instead of more impersonal names like towns or objects.

ALBANIA - Endi Demneri. She is most notable for almost always forming her fingers into the shape of an eagle, expressing her pride for her country as the two-headed eagle is prominently featured in her country's flag. She is attractive, but she lacks stage polish so she couldn't make much impact.

ARGENTINA - Yamile Dejud. She's performing at a high level, but not receiving much buzz that all she ended up being is a worthwhile contender.

ARUBA - Karol Croes. Though she's undeniably polished onstage, her strong angular facial features may have been the hindrance for her making any inroads into the Top 20.

BAHAMAS - Melissa Ingraham. I'm glad this country is back in its regular alphabetical order instead of making "The" an integral part of the country's name. I've noticed some tattoos on her arms, and found her looks and presence on the raw side, hence she's far from being in contention for the Top 20.

BAHRAIN - Lujane Yacoub. This lady generated a strong initial impression that some fans pegged her as a Top 20 contender. Since she comes from a country noted for its conservative Islamic values, she is one of two delegates who opted for the burqini (basically being given a formless garment covering the body). She tried to compensate with an overbaked catwalk, and that might have prevented her from bringing forth her country's breakthrough in this pageant.

BELGIUM - Emilie Vansteenkiste. Her hairstyle reminds me of Italian singer and model Carla Bruni, who became French First Lady from 2008-2012 when she married then-president Nicolas Sarkozy. She was a very polished presence all throughout that if the selection committee had more cosmopolitan tastes, they might have had a slot open for her in the Top 20.

BOLIVIA - Estefany Rivero. See ARGENTINA, but with jet-black brunette tresses.

BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS - Ashellica Fahle. Most would presume that a delegate from this country would occupy at the bottom of the pack. She's one of those exceptions as she's an attractive lady who delivered a solid performance.

BULGARIA - Yuliia Pavlikova. If I heard the stories correctly, it took her some pluck to be able to compete in this pageant as supposedly the supposed franchise holder for her country was not sending a representative. It seems by sheer force of will and persuasion with Khun Anne she was able to be granted an age exemption (she's already 30, and supposedly the lifting of maximum age limit of 29 was actually to be enforced for next year's pageant) and pass over the franchise holder to be the Bulgarian representative. Anyway, she proved to be less polished than other contenders, and her messy black gown did not help matters, so she's one of the cellar dwellers in this batch.

CAMBODIA - Sotima John. She's good looking and reasonably polished, but not quite enough to make significant impact.

CANADA - Madison Kvaltin. She made the Top Eight at Miss International last year, and she has the good looks, intelligence, and polished stage presence to make an impact here. However, she was most probably hampered by her evening gown choice--her red off-shoulder evening gown was a polarizing choice.

CAYMAN ISLANDS - Ileann Powery. She likes to let her natural curls flow, but otherwise as solid as her performance was, she doesn't quite have the charisma to make any splash in this competition.

COSTA RICA - Lisbeth Valverde. There are pageant fans and pundits who like the gorgeousness of this blonde, and she's very polished all throughout, and consider her as having an inside track to the Top 20. I also think she's got what it takes, and could've possibly brought forth a Central American onslaught like what happened in 1955*2. I have no problem with her choice of a green gown during the preliminary competition, but it seems that outfit choice divided fans and that might be the cause why she missed the cut.

*2 In this particular year, El Salvador finished 1st runner-up, and Costa Rica and Honduras made Top 15.

CROATIA - Andrea Erjavec. She has a slim model's frame and a pretty face but she's very raw onstage, so she's not able to present her best and ended up as one of the weakest performers in the preliminary competition.

CURACAO - Kim Rossen. She is very polished onstage and has a trim, buffed figure. However, I find her face to be on the plain side, unlike the charismatic ladies we have seen representing this Dutch Caribbean territory in recent years, hence she missed the cut.

CZECH REPUBLIC - Vanesa Švédová. She has a sleek slender model's frame, a gorgeous face and a shoulder-length bob. She potentially could've made more serious inroads (like in the Donald Trump era) but her choice of gown hindered her prospects.

DENMARK - Nikoline Hansen. She could be considered an underrated gem, as she proved to be very polished all throughout the preliminary competition and was a very high level performer. Nothing to fault about her performance at all, and refreshingly one of the stronger contenders sent by this country in recent years.