IN an unscientific survey among my Facebook friends who are pageant superfans-slash-experts, I asked them their Top 15 bets for the 65th Miss Universe and to explain their Top 5 choices. The forecast is based on initial impressions on the candidates before their official glamshots and videos are released, and ahead of the preliminary competitions.
In random order, here are my friends’ wish list of winners from among 86 contenders:
Aleq Africa—a fashion insider whose video with his BFFs VJ Floresca, Martin Bautista and Lex Librea went viral in 2010 as they jumped in orgasmic joy when Venus Raj entered the Miss Universe (MU) finals after a 10-year drought—said, “This year’s batch is unpredictable due to new management, which is WME/IMG.” His Top 15 are Brazil (Raissa Santana), USA (Deshauna Barber), the Philippines (Maxine Medina), Colombia (Andrea Tovar), France (Iris Mittenaere), Dominican Republic (Rosalba Garcías), Turkey (Tansu Sila Çakir), Uruguay (Magdalena Cohendet), Barbados (Shannon Harris), Germany (Johanna Acs), Russia (Yuliana Korolkova), Kosovo (Camila Barraza), Mexico (Kristal Silva), Australia (Caris Tiivel) and Canada (Siera Bearchell).
Aleq’s Top 5: the Philippines—sentimental favorite; her exposure and experience in the fashion and modeling industry give her an advantage over the other nonmodels; camera projection is effortless; USA—confident and spontaneous whenever she deals with the media; her background in military gives her the strength to fear no one; Brazil—anyone gets mesmerized with her charm and effortless beauty with curly locks, the camera just loves her; Colombia—fresh and regal are two words that best describe her; and France—she is very sultry and posh. This must be due to the culture embodied in her grace and style.
Jil Lasaca, a Dallas, Texas-based physical therapist, cheered for Venus Raj in Las Vegas in 2010, MJ Lastimosa in Miami in 2014 and Pia Wurtzbach in Las Vegas in 2015. Her top bets are Australia, USA, Puerto Rico (Brenda Jiménez), Russia, Slovenia (Lucija Potocnik), Mexico, Ukraine (Alena Spodynyuk), China (Li Zhenying), Indonesia (Kezia Warouw) and Canada. Thailand (Chalita Suansane), Venezuela (Mariam Habach), Colombia, the Philippines and Brazil are her Top 5 choices. “Lots of beautiful women. Tough choices,” she said.
Mara Chua, a young designer with refreshing candor, shares her thoughts: “Turkey is gorgeous. Barbados did not disappoint. Venezuela is Venezuela. Sierra Leone (Hawa Kamara) could be Africa’s best chance. Among the Europeans, I’m looking at Ukraine. Singapore (Cheryl Chou) looks like a doll. I like this year’s Vietnam (Danng Thi Le Hang) more than last year’s.” The rest of Mara’s initial choices are Brazil, Colombia, Malaysia (Kiran Jassal), Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, Curacao (Chanelle de Lau), USA and Haiti (Raquel Pélissier).
Yeoh Navarrete Egwaras, a superfan/model mentor who is religiously following the arrivals and activities of the candidates, offers his favorites so far: Australia, Mexico, USA, Indonesia, Ukraine, Great Britain (Jaime-Lee Faulkner), Panama (Keity Drennan), Dominican Republic, Kenya (Mary Esther Were) and France. “Honestly, it’s so hard to choose because there are so many beautiful girls this year. And everyone is so prepared,” he said.
“Colombia and the Philippines have innate charm and presence. They look prepared and ready. They also have an amazing fan base. I like Thailand because the girl looks like she’s willing to murder someone for the crown. Her national pageant has done all they can to prepare her. Also, her wardrobe has got to be the biggest and the most expensive in this batch,” Yeoh said. “Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Australia and Indonesia will really fight for places on the Top 5. I feel like all of them are fierce and beautiful. Their placements will be determined by their performance during the preliminaries and finals.
Cata Figueroa Jr., renowned fashion director, will direct the “Mindanao Tapestry” show, which will be held in Davao City on January 19. His choices include USA, Venezuela, Ecuador (Connie Jiménez), Barbados, Thailand, Mexico, Canada, Sweden (Ida Ovmar), Puerto Rico and Brazil.
Cata’s Top 5 are Philippines (Internet voting); Indonesia (tall and oozing with confidence); Colombia (revenge); Ukraine (stunning); and the Netherlands (Zoey Ivory, naturally beautiful).
Pablo Ragay-Cabahug, Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines member, will be one of the designers specially selected to dress up the candidates for the “65th Miss Universe: Designers’ Showcase and Charity Ball” at the SMX Convention Center on January 22 or 23 (the schedules keep changing).
His initial bets include Haiti, Venezuela, USA, Croatia, Barbados, Mexico, the Netherlands, Indonesia, France and Dominican Republic.
“My Top 5 are Australia—she is so fresh. She’s vibrant and you just love looking at her face. Brazil is not your typical Miss Universe candidate. She’s elegant and stunning. Thailand, for me, won’t have a hard time cracking the final five because she is the most prepared candidate in this batch,” Pablo explained. “Colombia and the Philippines: My feeling is that we will have the same top 2 finishers as last year’s. Andrea and Maxine for me are the strongest candidates for this year. Maxine may have her flaws at Q&A but it’s impossible that she won’t sail through the swimsuit and long-gown portions.”
* Disclaimer: Photos of candidates are incessantly shared on social media that sometimes original owners aren’t attributed. No copyright infringement intended.