Joseph Vitug's Views: MISS UNIVERSE 2023: NON-FINALISTS REVIEW (PART 2)

EGYPT - Mohra Tantawy. This country shares the same franchise holder with BAHRAIN and PAKISTAN, Josh Yugen, a Filipino magazine editor and businessman based in Dubai. He sent all three ladies for training here in the Philippines, and the results were evident with their polished presentation skills. This lady may have received the last buzz of the trio, but even if she's regarded as the plainest, her solid catwalk and stage chops made her one of the better representatives sent by this country.

EQUATORIAL GUINEA - Diana Hinestrosa. She's reasonably polished, but not enough to make serious impact in this batch.

FINLAND - Paula Joukanen. She's a good-looking redhead who was hampered by lack of polish and resources, hence she didn't quite shine enough in this batch. Will this country ever be able to recreate its 1950-1970s heyday?

GERMANY - Helena Bleicher. This blonde has good looks, slender figure, and polished stage skills to be worthy of notice. It's simply that there are a whole host of other charismatic contenders and she fell through the cracks.

GREAT BRITAIN - Jessica Page. This lady is reasonably polished and there were wome who speculated she could deliver a strong showing like the recent placements this country made in recent editions of this pageant. Admittedly, she's simply crowded out by ladies who delivered more impact, even if she's no slouch herself. Her national costume is notable for presenting her advocacy towards children's literacy, as she's like a book fairy in that costume.

GREECE - Marielia Zaloumi. Though much ink was spilled about NEPAL being the plus-sized representative in this year's pageant, there actually was another plus-sized member with this lady. The reason she couldn't capitalize on her story was that she lacks stage polish (and was saddled with a horrible gown), and is likely not a strong communicator. Her costume presentation featured a banner "Take Our History Back", referring to artifacts being displayed in museums around the world without authorization from the Greek people and government.

GUYANA - Lisa Narine. She is an attractive, polished contender, but not enough to be of serious impact so she's the first member of this year's P.A.T.I.S. (Pretty-enough, Articulate-enough, Trim-enough, Intelligent-enough, Stageworthy-enough) crew. However she made a big splash during the national costume competition as she carried this humongous backdrop (being wheeled in) representing the lush rainforest in her country, and she did a reveal that her own out featured a fan backdrop of lilies.

HONDURAS - Zuheilyn Clemente. There are pageant fans and pundits who loved her performance in the preliminary competition, but I couldn't quite join in the bandwagon. She is good looking and polished, but I just didn't feel her impact unlike her colleagues from COSTA RICA, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, and NICARAGUA. Anyway, she did make a major splash with her vibrantly colored elaborate Mayan-themed costume--it's probably almost as heavy as GUYANA that came before her.

HUNGARY - Tünde Blága. She's one of the shortest delegates in this batch, and she's raw, so she was clearly out of contention for the Top 20.

ICELAND - Lilja Péttursdóttir. She has garnered a bit of buzz as a possible refreshing choice, but ultimately her performance in the preliminary competition is not convincing enough to be in serious contention for the Top 20. She's more a member of the P.A.T.I.S. crew.

INDONESIA - Fabienne Groeneveld. Indonesian pageant fans may easily blame the controversy with the former franchise holder for this pretty Eurasian's shutout, but though that may indeed be a factor, she also didn't quite deliver an indelible impact especially with the presence of compelling choices from the PHILIPPINES and THAILAND.

IRELAND - Aishah Akorede. She born of Nigerian parents and is an experienced model. However, with this batch of delegates, she's another member of the P.A.T.I.S. crew.

ITALY - Carmen Panepinto. She's an attractive brunette--more a solid performer that don't have what it takes to be in Top 20 contention.

JAPAN - Rio Miyazaki. She seems to be a bubbly presence, but a bit on the raw side. I wish we can have Ines Legron back as I miss those polished stars during her administration back in the 2000s.

KAZAKHSTRAN - Tomiris Zair. She's very attractive and has a slender figure, but she couldn't make any serious impact whatsoever.

KOREA - So-Yun Kim. She's actually a polished-enough performer onstage and is good looking, but she was performing only at a P.A.T.I.S. level and hence was not in serious contention for the Top 20.