71ST MISS WORLD: AT THE HOMESTRETCH - ""FEARFUL" FORECAST

With all 112 contestantas accounted for, let me now trot out my leaderboard:

TOP CONTENDERS:  BOTSWANA, CZECH REPUBLIC, ENGLAND, INDONESIA, PERU, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, TURKEY

SHOO-INS:  BELGIUM, BRAZIL, CROATIA, FRANCE, INDIA, LEBANON, MARTINIQUE, NEPAL, NIGERIA, PHILIPPINES, SOUTH AFRICA, SPAIN, TUNISIA, UGANDA, UKRAINE, UNITED STATES, VIETNAM, ZIMBABWE

LIKELIEST:  AUSTRALIA, CANADA, COLOMBIA, CURACAO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, GHANA, GIBRALTAR, GUYANA, IRELAND, JAMAICA, KENYA, MALAYSIA, MAURITIUS, MEXICO, MONGOLIA, NAMIBIA, NORTHERN IRELAND, PORTUGAL, PUERTO RICO, ROMANIA, SCOTLAND, SLOVAKIA, SOUTH SUDAN,  SWEDEN, TANZANIA, THAILAND, WALES

PERSONALITY FACTOR:  BELIZE, LESOTHO

HERITAGE FACTOR:  NEW ZEALAND, SRI LANKA

EXCELLENT:  ANGOLA, ARGENTINA, BOLIVIA, CAMEROON, CHILE, COSTA RICA, COTE D'IVOIRE,  DENMARK, EL SALVADOR, ESTONIA, ETHIOPIA, FINLAND, HAITI, ITALY, JAPAN, KAZAKHSTAN, KOREA, MADAGASCAR, MALTA, MOLDOVA, MOROCCO, MYANMAR, NETHERLANDS, NICARAGUA, PANAMA, POLAND, SIERRA LEONE, SLOVENIA, VENEZUELA

VERY STRONG:  BANGLADESH, BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA, CAMBODIA, GERMANY,  GREECE, GUATEMALA, GUINEA, GUINEA-BISSAU, HONDURAS, HUNGARY, IRAQ, PARAGUAY, SENEGAL, SERBIA, SOMALIA, TOGO

STRONG:  BULGARIA, CHINA, ECUADOR,, GUADELOUPE, LIBERIA, MACAU CHINA, MONTENNEGRO, SINGAPORE

VERY GOOD:  CAYMAN ISLANDS, NORWAY, URUGUAY

Now, here is my "Fearful" Forecast:

FINAL FOUR:  BOTSWANA, CZECH REPUBLIC, INDONESIA, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

FINAL EIGHT:  ENGLAND, NIGERIA, PERU, TURKIYE

TOP 12:  BRAZIL, FRANCE, INDIA, PHILIPPINES

TOP 40:  AUSTRALIA, BELGIUM, CANADA, COLOMBIA, CROATIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, GUYANA, IRELAND ,JAMAICA,  LEBANON, MALAYSIA, MARTINIQUE,MEXICO, NEPAL, NORTHERN IRELAND, PUERTO RICO, SCOTLAND, SLOVAKIA, SOUTH AFRICA, SPAIN., TANZANIA, TUNISIA, UGANDA, UKRAINE, UNITED STATES, VIETNAM, WALES, ZIMBABWE

BUBBLING UNDER:  CURACAO, GHANA, GIBRALTAR, KENYA, MAURITIUS, MONGOLIA, NAMIBIA, ROMANIA, SOUTH SUDAN, SWEDEN, THAILAND

STRIKING DISTANCE:  ANGOLA, ARGENTINA, BELIZE, BOLIVIA, CAMEROON, CHILE, COSTA RICA, COTE D'IVOIRE,  DENMARK, EL SALVADOR, ESTONIA, ETHIOPIA, FINLAND, HAITI, ITALY, JAPAN, KAZAKHSTAN, KOREA, LESOTHO, MADAGASCAR, MALTA, MOLDOVA, MOROCCO, MYANMAR, NETHERLANDS, NEW ZEALAND, NICARAGUA, PANAMA, POLAND, SIERRA LEONE, SLOVENIA, SRI LANKA, VENEZUELA

Miss World has reverted back to a Continental" format where they select from the best performing contestants per continent before determining the Final Eight and Final Four.  It makes things a bit more brutal as I feel two ladies in the Asia & Oceania Group--INDONESIA (Audrey Vanessa Susilo) and TURKIYE) (Nursena Say)are Final Four worthy, but the likes of AUSTRALIA (Kristen Wright), INDIA ( Sini Shetty), LEBANON (Yasmina Zaytoun), and PHILIPPINES (Gwendoline Fourniol)  are putting on such a grat fight that it would be tragic not to let them go further.  Europe seems to feature a rivalry between CZECH REPUBLIC (Krystyna Pyszkova) and ENGLAND (Jessica Gagen), with the former having the upper-hand, but is this pageant willing to crown another stunning Slavic blonde back-to-back?  BOTSWANA (Lesego Chombo) has been nailing the challenge events so it might seem she has the upper hand for the crown.  Moreover, do not underestimate the Americas, as even if they have not been receiving as heavy a buzz as the aforementioned ladies, the likes of TRINIDAD & TOBAGO (Aché Abrahams) and BRAZIL (Leticia Frota) could pull off an upset.  It is emerging that determining the winner will likely be murky and unpredictable.  May the best woman win!

JUST ME!

JOSEPH

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