LAOS - Kisun Pansengmueang. I only pegged him as a "Bubbligh Under" choice because he wasn't as buffed as the other guys out there and I knew there were better Laotians out there like his very successful Mister Supranational counterpart, Sanonh Maniphonh. But I do understand how his boyish looks and very enthusiastic energy has won over the Thai audience and selection committee. He doesn't really go deep with his speeches, just letting his high energy delivery do most of the talking for him.
CHINA - Keda Luo. I pegged him as a Top 20 finisher, but I can understand how his features can appeal very much to a Thai audience that they elevated him to this level. Though he can ony speak Mandarin Chinese, the speeches he delivered were generally very solid and sensible. His "essence" speech delved on his athletic background and his Top 11 speech talked about learning to recycle garbage and understanding how that helps impact the world-at-large.
KOREA - Hyunjae Yun. He undeniably has the charisma of a K-pop or K-drama idol, and for that alone I did correctly predict he'll finish at this level. For his "essence" speech he didn't speak about anything of his own background but just communicated the value of leading the world with benevolence. For his Top 11 speech, his message is about people's obsession with looks that hinders self-esteem but he says we all should counter that by learning to love ourselves. Generally solid messages and good thing he delivered them with generally good English.
PUERTO RICO - Jose Ali Garcia. Though I might have found him a tad too scruffy for comfort, he was garnering heavy buzz and was one of the front-runners in the popular vote. His speech rounds feature him going bilingual, speaking first in Spanish usually about the more sensitive parts of his background (like death of father at a young age and being raised by a single mother, or about his advocacy work) to a rallying cry about helping children in English. He truly belonged in this level.
MEXICO - Bryan Gonzalez. I pegged him as a Final Three finisher simply because of his clean-shaven good looks (I call this the "Classic Latino Handsomeness" or CLH archetype). He seems a solid communicator (albeit only speaking in Spanish), but admittedly not as compelling as other speakers out there, and that is what probably cost him a Top Five finish.
ENGLAND - Baltej Tattla. I thought he evoked the vibe of the reigning Mister Global, Jason Dylan Bretfelean from India, as he is of Indian heritage and seems to be a good speaker, that I pegged him as a Final Three finisher. However, I noticed that this guy's accent leans toward the working-class side of his country, something I mgiht term an East London accent though some might argue it's actually Multicultural London English MLE)--with a whole bunch of glottal stops in his speech (think the phrase "bo'o o' wa'uh" for the phrase "bottle of water"), I lean towards the former. I wonder if the Thai selection committee took that accent against him as they are more accustomed to the posh Received Pronunciation (RP) accent delivered by other people of British descent like the reigning Mister International [New Era] from their own country, Kim Thitisan Goodburn. He expressed pride in being a cricket player in his "essence" speech, and mentioned about statistics about mental health adn why this is an important advocacy for him. Though he earned his slot as the winner of the Popular Vote, I believe he didn't fnish 11th and came close to making the Top Five--four of the Top Five delivered stronger, more impactful speeches and the fifth finalist was just too charismatic to be eliminated.
The Top 11 switched to tuxedos as T-Modex and Lita had another backstage interview seqauence with them (the guys they interviewed already switched to their tuxedoes by the time they interviewed), and they went back onstage as the Top Five was announced. There was then a production sequence where the Final Five do catwalk alongside a corresponding number of female Thai models carrying suitcases, supposedly evoking a James Bond spy thriller. Such female models were on hand as they present the Final Five questions from their suitcases.
I only got two fo teh Final Five correct. If I only knew how strong interview would play in the choice of winner, I would've improved on my forecast. :
4TH RUNNER-UP: BRAZIL - Luiz Henrique Mascarenhas. I thought he would've finished in the Final Three, and almost presumed he would be the winner. He did win three special awards, one during their swimsuit competition and two more during the final, a sponsor's prize from Vincent Clinic, and Mister Congeniality. But when he had to do the speech rounds, you would see his vulnerability--he's not that strong a speaker, especially in his attempt to speak English all throughout. He did give a good message in his Top 11 speech about men learning to have empathy and love, and that it's alright to express love with people of the same gender and express respect for women, but he gave a very generic answer in the Top Five Q&A round when asked about the first thing he would do as Mister Global to address the crises facing our world--just a simple talk to the organziation as of course he cannot do it alone but would need the help of everyone to join in his cause. With that, he ended up as 4th Runner-Up--still a great showing, but prior to the final many expected more.
3RD RUNNER-UP: THAILAND - Patrick Pho-Ngam Forttner. I pegged him as a Top 11 finisher, but I sense if any of my predicted Final Five fell by the wayside, that would make room for him in this level, and he did earn this spot. Based on his name he has biracial heritage, which is why he's fluent in English. He iwas one of the silver medalists for the Voice of Change special award, indicating he has a strong public advocacy. He is most notable for his impassioned, declamatory delivery, like in his "essence" speech where he connected his background as an athlete with empathy about all the issues going on in the world. For his "local-to-global" speech, he talked about his country being the land of "smiles" and how that can be used to bring peace and harmony with everyone around the world as with the camaraderie developed among the gentlemen in this contest, they can be examples of bringing peace and harmony. For his Final Five question, he also gave a strong answer when asked about how to deal with sexual harassment, especially from people in power--he again gave an impassioned speech about speaking out against those poeple as being a leader is about taking responsibility to do the right thing. I have a feeling he came close to pulling off an upset and make the Final Three, but the goodwill generateid the Final Three with their previous speeches prevented this guy from advancing further.
Admittedly I got the entire Final Three wrong, as little did I realize how speeches and interview holds a heavy weight in this edition. The guys who delivered the best-composed speeches or delivered impactful stories were the ones who eventally made this lofty level. For the final round, they were asked about what would be the way they would advance the organization's aim to espouse social causes, and then after that there was the final catwalk.
2ND RUNNER-UP: NIGERIA - Favour Ogbuokiri. He garnered buzz by being the first to arrive in Thailand for the competition. I thought he was a strong contender and the "black-man-most-likely" in this batch, though I only pegged him as a Top 20 finisher because I don't know how to make room for him as I was then very impressed with Latinos like PANAMA, ECUADOR, and DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, who we all know missed the cut. All throughout his speeches he focused on his background of surviving a tough, impoverished childhood, and how he can use this to help other rise above their circumstances. His very consistent messaging all throughout might have also connected with the project he was involved in that granted him a gold medal award in Voice for Change. For his final answer, admittedly he gave the relatively weakest answer as he didn't specify a cause, only stating that he will hold regional seminars for whatever causes the pageant organization will espouse.
1ST RUNNER-UP: SPAIN - Manuel Romo. I only pegged him as a Top 11 finisher simply because I bought on the hype towards PANAMA, which turned out to be a fizzle. Unofficially I ranked him 6th. Little did I know that he has a strong advocacy (being a joint gold megal winner for the Voice for Change special award sponsored by Mouawad's CJ Talks) and that he can communicate very effectively in English. For his "essence" speech, he was dressed elegantly in a blue suit and spoke about being a lawyer and that the profession has the ability to benefit society by using it to ensure justice and that people's rights are uheld. For his "local-to-global" speec, he spoke about being bullied online when he won his title, but he didn't let that get to him and overcome it because e believed in the causes he represents. For the Top Five question about how he would counteract negative perceptions about male pageants, he gave good points that like female pageants, male pageants these days do not simply focus on good looks and great physique but also about men sharing their cultures and values to build a better world, like what this pageant is aiming for. With that he advanced to the Final Three, where in his final speech, he went back to the topic of his "local-to-global" speech and said he would focus on anti-bullying initiatives. Because of his handsomeness, elegant presence, and all the good points he delivered in his speeches, this is why he emerged at the top.
MISTER GLOBAL 2024: PHILIPPINES - Daumier "Dom" Corilla. I feel it's a big injustice that he missed the Final Five at Manhunt International 2020, even if some noted he was relatively reticent in those days. I thought that him finishing in the Final Five in this pageant would be vindication enough for him--especially as I felt his physique wasn't as buffed as the impressive physiques of the other contenders in his batch. Little did I know that a subtle shift in the pageant's focus would work to his advantage and provided him with a path fo dominate the competition. First he was savvy with his wardrobe choices for the "essence" speech round and the couture fashion segments, where he respectively sported a white tuxedo and a red suit respectively. But his big winning factor was the way he delivered his speeches. Almost all of his speeces are well-thought and composed and delivered logical points. For his "essence" speech, he spoke about being an actor and tha actors can use their craft to inspire people to all different possibilities in this world, ultimately to bring a better society. For his "local-to-global" speech, he spoke about the Filipino value of bayanihan, on how people in a community look after one another and that if we share this value to the world, imagine how we can resolve and prevent conflicts. I felt that he had a slight stumble in his Top Five question "Can men be feninists?" He gave this vague and generic answer about not always being able to choose where we landed but that we can choose ow we would ultimately end. For me, this was almost what I call a Carolina Iszak*3 moment, but I have a feeling the judges were just too impressed with his elegant presence and his previous speeces that he was given a pass and advanced to the Final Three, where he clinched the deal by talking about quality education and that he'll focus on looking for ways to get this education accessible to everyone. With that he won the top prize and earned the highly hyped bespoke blue jacket.
*3 So-named because of how the judges at Miss Universe 1992 penalized the erstwhile Venezuelan front-runner after a less-than-impressive answer in the Final Six interview round, preventing her from advancing to the Final Three and a presumed victory.
Because they decided to hold almost all rounds of the competition in one night, this edition could be a challenging watch to sit throught as it lasted five hours long. Hopefully they would streamine and do a proper prelimianry competition in subsequent editions, like the way they did in previous ones. I am generally pleased with the cerebral direction this pageant is taking--the question is if they can sustain this direction and find ways to finesse it further in future editions. Let's see if this would bring forth growth for subsequent editions. For now, though I'm slightly surprised at the results, I'm mightily pleased with my country's victory in this pageant.
JUST ME!
JOSEPH
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