Miss Universe 2010

Ms. Philippines Answering Her Question for the Ms. Universe Beauty Pageant 2010, held in Las Vegas Nevada

Okay, I read somewhere that this year’s edition of the  Miss Universe Beauty Pageant was one of the toughest to judge as there were a lot of very beautiful contestants to choose from.

And once again, Miss Philippines was among the top picks in the preliminary phase and even on the night of the pageant itself.

And rightly so as she went on to go to the Top 15 (chosen last) and into the semifinals (top 10). And then ultimately into the Top 5 Finalists (again chosen last).

And as they say time and time again, it boils down to the question and answer portion.

And this year’s edition would probably be remembered as the year the crown slipped away from the Philippines, on the last and final answer of the night.

This could have made the country a three-time winner of this world pageant joining only four other countries with 3 or more winners. (Sweden, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the USA).

Now with still two crowns, the Philippines is still in the Top 15 or so countries in the world with two or more winners. But the last one was won in 1973 (or 37 years ago) and this could have been the year. Anyway, there is always next year. Curses, foiled again…

At any rate Miss Philippines’ answer in the final round is now the talk-of-the-town and of the beauty-world so to speak. And it is also abuzz in all the social networking sites.

And this is the same in online forums all over the web. Here’s one from the many discussions in Yahoo Answers:

What big mistake have you committed in your life and what have you done about it?

that one I answered and got the Best Answer…

And so that how it is on this Miss Universe crazy country in the Far East.

Entry for September 11, 2008 – World Class Filipinas III

Welcome, welcome, welcome…

Welcome back if you have been a past guest.

“Tuloy po kayo.”

I know it is 9-11 today also known as Patriot Day in memory of the victims of the 9-11 attacks of 2001.

But as my mind has now been busy thinking about World Class Filipinas, I have been drawn of course to the most visual aspect — the beauty of the people of the Philippines, which have been drawing international acclaim since the Americans first came here.

Anyway, I did a little research that even though the country have yet to bag a Miss World Title, the country has bagged numerous other titles in numerous other pageants since the 1950s.

Currently, the country has won four Miss International Beauty Titles

• Miss International 1963 Gemma Cruz
• Miss International 1970 Aurora McKenny Pijuan
• Miss International 1979 – Mimilanie Laurel Marquez
  Face of the 80s winner in New York in 1985
  and First runner-up Supermodel competition in 1986
• Miss International 2005 Precious Lara Quigaman

The country has also so far won four Miss Asia Pacific Beauty Crowns:

• Miss Asia Pacific 1982 Maria del Carmen Zaragoza
• Miss Asia Pacific 1983 Gloria Aranas Dimayacyac
• Miss Asia Pacific 1989 Lorna Villanueva Legaspi
• Miss Asia Pacific 1993 Michelle Aldana

And numerous other smaller international pageants too many to mention in here.

But surely the Philippines is or was once among the favorites in any Miss Universe Beauty Pageants, at least from the 1950s to the end of the 1990s.

Winning twice already:

In 1969, with Gloria Diaz, becoming only the third Asian to win the title & the Philippines’ first.

And in 1973 with Margarita Moran, who also won the Miss Photogenic Award, becoming the pageant’s second winner from the Philippines.

And not only that from 1954 to 1999, the country come up with six finalists and six semi-finalists, not a small feat for a tiny island country.

And the Finalists were:

1963 Lalaine Betia Bennett
1975 Rose Marie Singson Brosas
1980 Maria Rosario Rivera Silayan
1984 Maria Desiree Verdadero
1994 Charlene Bonnin Gonzalez
1999 Miriam Redito Quiambao (First Runner-up winner)

The Semi-Finalists:

1954 Blesilda Mueler Ocampo
1965 Louise Vail Aurielo
1966 Maria Clarinda Garces Soriano
1972 Armi Barbara Quiray Crespo
1974 Guadalupe Cuerva S��nchez
1987 Geraldine Villaruz Asis

As far as the Miss World though, none so far, the latest that came closest to winning it was Second Runner-up (Princess) Sharmaine Ruffa Rama Gutierrez in 1993. She was the winner of the Queen of Asia and Oceania for that year.

And twenty years before that, there was Evangeline Luis Pascual, who became First Runner-up in 1973.

And here’s a little trivia for you, did you know that if Miss Evangeline Pascual would have won the Miss World Crown that year instead of being runner-up, then the Philippines could have been the First Country to have Won In All the Three Big Beauty Pageants of the World, namely Miss International, Miss World & Miss Universe.

So there you go, that is why the Filipina is known worldwide for their inherent grace, poise, beauty & splendid English among many others attributes.

Definitely, something to think about.

Now what happened since the start of the new century even in the last decade?

It looks like our proficiency in spoken English & other atributes have slowly left us… what do you think?

 

 

Prime Example?