The conduct of the Miss Supranational pageant year-in and year-out always feature the following elements: fashion parades, a playlisst of pop songs performed by Polish musicians to go around copyright and performance rights, and an almost relentlessly upbeat energy, This does create a distinctive branding for this pageant, but it does also create a bit of "sameness" across the multiple editions--sure, there is a subtle shift towards ainterview and communication skills as an essential element since 2016, but other than that it's still the same.
The finals for this edition opened with an upbeat production number set to the track- "See How I Work It" by fledgling indie rapper Micki Ronnae as the contestants danced along to it sacorting cocktail dresses designed by Portia & Scarlett.
The pageant employed the same hosts from Mister Supranational: with South African actor/presenter Nico Panagio, and Polish hosts Kasia Kolaczek and Aleksander Sikora, all taking their respective roles as main host for international audience, main host for Polish audiences, and backstage commentator. Nico makes for a wonderful host, with his handsome hot-zaddy vibe and that silky smooth, unflappable vocal delivery all throughout the evening.
Like last year, they made the contestants introduce themselves live onstage. I'm pleased that instead of the overly enthusiastic meme-worthy intros we see in more recent editions of Miss Universe- they opted for 1990s Miss Universe vocal style where they describe a little tidbit obout their countries besides giving their name and the country they represent, announced in a gentle manner. This segment was split into two parts and in between them they have an interval performance by French recording star Alizee singing her French hit single "Moi...Lolita". After all contestants did teir introductions, the hosts brought the outgoing winner onstage, Ecuador's Andrea Aguilera, for a little chit-chat. Then there is this pre-recorded segment that is done like a contestant's diary of the activities the contestants did, like their Krakow visits and participating in a summer solstice festival, featuring a perky American-accented voiceover acting as a contestant--did an actual contestant did the voiceover?
This was then followed by the Nstional Costume segment, which was another pre-taped segment that showwed edited highlights from the National Costume Show streamed the previous day. This segment was set to an EDM cover of Tal Bachman's 1999 hit "She's So High". followed by Chanel's 2022 Eurovision smash "Slo-Mo". This was then followed by a livefasion show with the contestants sporting cocktail dresses by their own local designers, set to covers of "Lighter" by David Guetta, Galantis and Five Seconds of Summer. and "Melody" by Sigala. After this segmen, Luca and Kasia announced the Top 24.
As the Top 24 changed for the next segment, the second part of the contesttant's video diary played, follwed by two live performances. First up was Alizee singing a cover of Madonna's 1987 classic "La Isla Bonita". This was followed by Polish singer Mateusz Ziotko singing Teddy Swims' mega-smash hit "Lose Control". Then, there was a backstage segment where Aleksander Sikora first had a chit-chat with CANADA (Rachel Murgel) in English where she mentioned about the inspiration for her designer cocktail outfit (Montreal being te disco capital of her country) before switching to Polish to speak with the representative of one of the makeup sponsors, Pawel Berkowski for Estee Lauder. iAleksander then moved to another portion of backstage where he chatted with non-finalists from BANGLADESH (Towhida Tusnim Tifa), ITALY, (Camilla Farnessi), and CAYMAN ISLANDS.(Jaci Patrick), all expressing graciousness in defeat and the last lady stating wtih all the experience, it's all :worth it.:
Before I proceed with the rest of the show, it's time to pay tribute to the notable non-finalists. I'll start with ladies who garnered special awards, namely VENEZUELA (Rossana Fiorini) who won Best Nationla Costume and PANAMA (Samantha Jones) who won Miss Congeniality..
Miss Congeniality: PANAMA (Samantha Jones)
Now, who bubbled duner? Since the organization decided not to disclose who came close, I'm left with my own speculation on who would've missed it based on who I forecasted to make it. First I'll speculate a couple of ladies I didn't include in my predicted list who might have bubbled under and out do the other predicted choices I have: BOTSWANA (Leah Barobetse) and The NETHERLANDS (Bo Grooten), the former I feel made a strong overall impact and the latter, well because of her impressively statuesque height--you can't miss her as she towered over everyone.
I placed POLAND (Angelika Jurkowianiec) in my Top 24 list mainly because of tradition, but this year the Panel of Experts felt her performance fell far short and hence, this host country's 14-year placement streak was broken. I also pegged SPAIN (Elizabeth Laker) in my Top 24 forecast, but I could have easily seen her slot exchanged with another worthy contender, and that was what happened.
Now, it's time to announce the royal court for the Ruth Ocumarez Award. Coming in 4th runner-up is AUSTRALIA (Janaya Reimers), 3rd runner-up is CANADA (Rachel Murgel) who at least got the consolation of having some extra-airtime thanks to a makeup sponsor segment.
The next two runners-up delivered indelible stage presence that I felt bad there wasn't room for any of them: The 2nd runner-up honors goes to COTE D'IVOIRE (Marie-Louise Maitre) and 1st runner-up goes to LAOS (Christina Lasasimma)
The competition round for the Top 25 was the swimsuit segment, with the Top 25 strutting in yellow Releciaga swimsuits to the strains of .the 2007 pan-European club smash "Let Me Think About It" by Fedde Le Grand featuring Ida Corr.
I got 17 of the 25 correct. It could've been 18 if I knew beforehand that it's going to be a Top 25 instead of 24. Anyway, let's discuss them starting with the ladies I failed to predict in my "Fearful" Forecast.
I had relegated HONDURAS (Stephie Alexandra Morel) and ROMANIA (Kira Andreea Iona Stan) in my "Striking Distance" list. In hindsight, I sould've elevated the former to "Bubbling Under", while the latter remains a bit of a headscratcher to me. But someow the Panel of Experts took a liking for the latter as she placed 22nd while the former took up the rear in 25th place (she was the one who tied with the 24th placer and hence earned her slot, and the official ranking show the tie was broken because of the swimsuit round).
I would view ICELAND (Helena O'Connor) and JAPAN (Yuki Sonoda) as refreshing inclusions to the Top 25, placing 21st and 23rd respectively.
BOLIVIA (Estefania Ibarra) and the UNITED KINGDOM (Joanna Johnson) were also in my "Bubbling Under" list, but they turn out to be a bit favored by the Panel of Experts, placing 18th and 17th respectively. The UNITED KINGDOM also garnered a special award as "Woman of Substance", which seems to be an indication of her cerebral achievements and interview skills.
Many pageant fans and pundits had their eye on GERMANY (Luisa Victoria Malz) and pegged her as a Top 24 finisher from the get-go. The shocker is that she didn't fare as high as many of us expected, that she only squeaked by in 24th place, possibly in a tie with HONDURAS prior to the swmisuit round.
In a certain way, many pageant fans and pundits also felt that ARUBA (Rashida Schmidt) and NIGERIA (Sectra Okundaye) were easy choices for the Top 25, but perhaps they deserve better than their respective 19th and 20th place rankings.
PERU (Nathaly Terrones) was always predicted to be a Top 24 finishher, and her 16th place sowing could be deemed as just about right.
I had predicted MEXICO (Andrea Saenz), MYANMAR (Myo Sandar Win), and SLOVAKIA (Petra Sivakova) as Top 12 finishers, but it turned out they ended up being rather close-but-no-cigar as they were overtaken by some other contenders, placing 13th, 15th and 14th respectively. Still, MEXICO had the honor of being the continental winner for the Americas, MYANMAR getting a fast-track ticket thanks to winning Supra-Influencer, and SLOVAKIA winning the Supra-Model challenge to secure her slot.
Right after the swimsuit competition, the Top 25 were clad in white suits as Nico and Kasia announced the Top 12. Then, the Top 12 to make have a 20-second speech where they campaign why they should be the next brand ambassador for tis pageant..
After an extended commercial break and the hosts' acknowledgement of major sponsors, they aired the final "video diary" where they feature yoga sessions and a salt mine visit. Then, the Top 12 paraded in evening gowns featuring another live performance from Mateusz Ziotko, who brought a piano and covered John Legend's 2014 mega-smash hit "All of Me".
This was then followed by a backstage segment featuring CUBA (Maria Jose Cetina) beng interviewed by Aleksander, basically plugging the hair sponsor REF and a brief chit-chat with its representative Marcin Kaminski. Aleksander then moved to the other side of backstage to interview the choreographer Maciej Zakieczynski.
I only got eight of the Top 12 correct, but I didn't realize how competitive this group of ladies turn out to be. I ave a feeling a sligtly different mix in the Panel of Experts could've yielded a different Final Five, as 11 of the 12 were on the top of their game, for most part.
I pegged FINLAND (Aleksandra Hannusaari) in my "Striking Distance" list as I felt she was not as polised as other contenders out there, even if she is more polished than most Finnish contestants fielded in pageants in recent years. But it turns out the Panel of Experts found that relative rawness refreshing, hence they put her to the Top 12 over the more polished likes of MExICO, MYANMAR, or SLOVAKIA, any of who I would replace with this lady. I do appreciate her message about overcoming obstacles in the 20-second interview round, as it might have unlocked another clue regarding her high placement--her humble attitude. Her 12th place finish is just apt, though, because the Top 11 turned out to be a closely competitive field--I have a feeling only a small margin separate 1st and 11th place.
I pegged INDIA (Sonal Kukreja) as a possible Final Five finiser, and I could not find any fault in most of her performance, and I find her message about not seeking perfection as a strong enough message. If I were to penalize her for anything, it would probably be her choice of final gown--though I like the color royal blue, somehow her final gown seemed to lack impact compared to what the others were wearing. Was the gown the reason she fell to 11th place?
I also pegged THAILAND (Kasama Suetrong) in my Final Five, and again, I could find no fault in her performance all throughout, even in evening gown. I also find no fault about her message about fighting for dreams and being a representative of all those who want to fight for teir dreams. In a slightly different scenario, that answer could be Final Five worthy.
I have to admit PHILIPPINES (Alethea Ambrosio) exceeded my expectations as not only she made the Top 12, she outranked the formidable likes of INDIA and THAILAND to secure the continental title for Asia & Oceania. She was undoubetedly polished all throughout, but she probably clinched the deal by her 20-second message where she talked about winning her title by speaking in Filipino and using that to help bridge cultural understanding.
DENMARK (Victoria Larsen) emerged as winner of the Supra-Fan Vote, which gave her an automatic ticket to the Top 12. But based on her ranking, it's obvious she didn't really need it to advance.at this level. It's interesting she has the most screaming fans in the audience. I think her title as the continental winner for Europe is also apt and well-earned. Having seen some interviews of her, it is conceivable that in another scenario, she could've made a play for the Final Five. But based on her actual Top 12 speech, I found her delivery a bit pageant-patty sounding and lacking in anything concrete, even if it was presented and organized well. I would've demoted her to 11th place, but I feel in other aspects, she does have enough charisma to justify her ranking.
I only pegged PUERTO RICO (Fiorella Medina) as a Top 24 finisher, but it was more of I thought MEXICO, MYANMAR, and SLOVAKIA were more compelling than her but if they fell by the wayside, that would give room for her to advance to this level. Based on her final 7th place ranking, she performed more strongly than I thought. She delivered a strong speech about her background coming from humbel beginnings and that she is now a businesswoman and mental health advocate and how she'll apply all these if she wins the crown. She is also the winner of the continental title for the Caribbean.
I had pegged SOUTH AFRICA(Bryoni Govender) as a Final Five finisher, and it turned out she missed by a sliver by ending up in 6th place overall. Though she gave a strong speech about how growing up she felt she didn't fit in as some people say she is not Indian enough or not African enough, and pointing out that being in this pageant she realized that ultimately that perceived weakness is her unique strength, I have a feeling this is perhaps what cost her a Final Five placement, especially since at least four of them gave better composed speeches. Obviously as the top-performing African, she is the continental winner for Africa.
Nico and Kasia then announced the Final Five. Immediately after the announcement, the five finalists were given 30 seconds to speak to their younger selves and what would they want to say to their younger selves.
After the final five speech round, they decided to commemorate the pageant's 15-year history with a montage of teh coronation of previous wi8nners. This is integrated with testimonials from pageant personnel like Andre Sleigh and Ivan Padrez, and "friend of the pageant" Lidia Orlikowska. Then, in an act of self-congratulation, they announced the Supra-Icon award would be awarded to the pageant founder, Gerhard Parzutka von Lipinski. I don't mind this act of self-congratulation because they are marking a major milestone anyway, and they do deserve to indulge in a self-pat on the back.
The final sequence featured a final song number, this time performed by Polish artist Daria Marx singing Demi Lovato's hit 2011 ballad "Skyscraper" as the contestants march and assemble back onstage. Then the continental queens were announced. Then Andrea Aguilera performed her final walk before the final announcement.
It's time to discuss the Final Five. I only got two of the five correct, and one of them I pegged only in my "Bubbling Under" list. If I knew it would be a Top 25, I would've had included her--she was the last one I had to make a brutal cut as I made my "Fearful" Forecast. Nevertheless
I always knew CURACAO (Chanelle de Lau) was Final Five-worthy, but admittedly during the preliminaries I was just that smitten with the likes of INDIA, THAILAND, and SOUTH AFRICA at the time I made my "Fearful" Forecast that I reluctantly placed her outside my Final Five prediction (like 6th place). But with those ladies out of the way, it did pave the way for her to earn her slot, and if we base it solely on what she delivered on her speeches, I feel she deserved a higher ranking than her 4th runner-up finish. She proved to be one of the strongest communicators around, and actually earned a fast-track to the Top 25 as the Supra-Chat champion. She proved her Supra-Chat win was justified in the two speech rounds--she gave a great answer in the Top 12 round about wanting to heal pageantry and focus on bein involved in as many "From the Ground Up" (the Supranational term for advocacies and charity work) projects as possible. For the final round, she actually gave the briefest but superbly composed answer, touching on losing some loved ones and that she should view them as new angels watching over her, and that "it doesn't matter where you come from, how you look like, how little your resources...just trust God's timing and He will take you there." She had 12 seconds to spare, but if you ask me she delivered the best-composed answer. I just have a feeling the gap between her placement and the winner was very small, and a different set of members in the Panel of Experts might've brought forth a very different result.
I pegged BRAZIL (Isadora Murta) squarely in my Final Five, and indeed this was where she ended up. In my internal ranking, I thought she would've finished like 1st or 2nd runner-up, so in a way her actual standing is a bit of a let-down. If you want me to rank the ladies solely based on their speeches, I probably would've demoted this lady to 4th runner-up. But her charisma is undeniable, and that grey evenign gown she wore was a stunningly sexy sight, so it's likely based on overall impression that is why she's able to salvage this ranking amidst a close-fought fight.
My choice of winner was CZECH REPUBLIC (Justýna Zedníková) and thought she had what it took to follow in the footsteps of her Miss World counterpart Krystyna Pyszková. She even possessed Krystyna's penchant for charity work, as she mentioned in her 20-second speech about adopting two children. and her stated platform about wanting to help more underprivileged childre and name-hecked highly esteemed South African president Nelson Mandela. For her final round answer, she first commented on the teeth she had in one of her childhood photos, and then gave a great message about overcoming fears (she actually said the word "damn") and learning that happiness would not come from someone else but from within yourself and if you open your heart, the happiness would follow.
I only placed UNITED STATES (Jenna Dykstra) in my "Bubbling Under" list because I was disappointed with her preliminary evaluation performance and believed she might be shut out because of that. But if the list expanded to 25, I would've included her. It seems based on the answers she delivered in the speech rounds, interview was what made her impress the Panel of Experts enough to keep her in the running and score her highly. There is a side of me that speculates that she did the contestant voiceover of the pre-pageant activities because of that very American accent, but her actual speaking voice is a bit more nasal than the voiceover, so it's most likely not her. But I have a gnawing feeling they would've loved somebody like her to represent all the contestants in relaying their collective experiences, which might be part of the reason why she scored highly. For the Top 12 speec round, I like how she expressed being able to be in a position of power even while embracing beauty and femininity--two concepts that modern 2020s sensibilities wanted ot minimize. One of the childhood photos displayed in the final interview round was a photo of her with a sash, possibly at a children's pageant--she addressed directly to that child to keep on going and remember that every rejection is a redirection, and that God's plan for you may not be your own plan--the last part would strike a chord with Polish audiences as they are generally still very religious even if this modern world prefers to be secular. Based on the interview rounds, I would've put her, CZECH REPUBLIC, and CURACAO in the Top Three, but we all know it's not always the one who delivered the best answers who gets to win...
I had pegged INDONESIA (Harashta Haifa Zahra) only as a Top 12 finisher, ranking 7th, knocking on the Final Five's door when any of my forecasted Final Five fell by the wayside (and well, a whole bunch of them did). It only dawned on me when I witnessed this Talent winner during the final that she is evoking the vibe of a previous winner--our very own Miss Supranational 2013 Mutya Datul. She radiated that vibe I call the "Mutya Sparkle", exuding a combination of humility, enthusiasm, and warmth. When Mutya won her title 11 years ago, there was no onstage interview round, so watching this lady speak gave me a picture of how Mutya would've sounded like if there was such a round then--her English grammar would've been glaringly imperfect, but she would deliver her answers with effusive enthusiasm and sincerity, so even if the content of her answers is not as well-composed as the others, she would win over the Panel of Experts. she would clinch the title as they would love to work with her based on her attitude.
As entertaining as this pageant was, basically this pageant played it safe and kept closely to the same format that served them relatively well over those years. I was hoping that they would think about playing around a bit with their format the way they did with their male counterpart, as that might generate further buzz and excitement that will make this pageant thrive for many years more. Anyway, congratulations to all the winners!
JUST ME!
JOSEPH
