After worrying in my preliminary competition blog about what kind of pageant the 65th Miss Universe Pageant would actually be, about the only thing I didn't like was the opening.
It was all uphill from there.
Don't get me wrong, I love Flo-Rida and loved the opening music, I just didn't care for having the 86 contestants parading on stage with an announcer you could barely hear announcing their home countries. These women worked hard to get there and they should have had their moment and should have been able to introduce themselves and the country they represent.
With all of the talk about setting beauty aside, the top 13 was actually beautiful and since I had mentioned at least 11 of them in my preliminary blog, I was pretty darned happy.
I liked how Steve Harvey spoke with each of the top 13, reminiscent of what Bob Barker used to do in the good old days, and even though it wasn't officially judged, some cracks in the armor of the favorites were shown.
I'm convinced Miss Brazil was doomed from the start with her answer and ultimately she did not advance after the swimsuit round, almost assuredly because of her horrendous response in the Q&A round.
Conversely, Miss Canada probably did advance because of a superior answer and to show that beauty queens come in all sizes. Her hideous evening gown, though, likely affected her into making the cut to the final six.
Miss Philippines coasted into the top six in spite of a mediocre swimsuit and gown due to being the home country representative. A mediocre answer to her first question was definitely a sign of things to come, though. Whereas, the People's Choice, Miss Thailand, only solidified a top six placement with a great swimsuit, decent gown and tremendous answer in both rounds of the competition.
Miss USA was on the bubble to me following an underwhelming preliminary performance, but it was evident from the clip package showing portions of her preliminary interview and her on-stage answer that she was, indeed, a force to be reckoned with. A gown choice that I wouldn't select for a girl competing in anything but a local pageant, sealed her fate and she did not advance to the final six.
If only she had, I would have loved to have heard her answer to Miss Kenya's question, which was a totally inappropriate question for her to have to answer in the first place. This wasn't the Miss USA Pageant, it was Miss Universe, and I would have still given her high points for at least attempting an answer to it.
In swimsuit, I thought France was the clear winner and it wasn't even close, though I would have ranked Colombia and Brazil or Panama - neither of whom advanced to the top nine - second or third. Again, Brazil was already doomed,though, and wasn't going to come anywhere close to winning the crown.
Miss France, on the other hand, only solidified her status following evening gown, where she looked regal, confident and beautiful - the epitome of what a Miss Universe should be.
Would she grab the crown, though, in a year where MUO executives stressed substance over style and Miss France didn't have the story that Miss Kenya, Miss Haiti, Miss Thailand, Miss USA or Miss Colombia had?
The answer, of course, was yes, and then some as decent - but long-winded answers - were enough to give her country only its second crown in Miss Universe history and the first since the second year of the pageant in 1953.
In addition to Miss France, Miss Mexico and Miss Haiti were my favorites in gown, the first two showing that you don't have to compete in stripper shoes and, in fact, you look more elegant if you do not wear those.
France and Haiti were joined in the top six by Miss Colombia, who I thought actually gave the best answer to her question, but did not connect with a Filipino audience who was clearly rooting for Philippines, who gave the worst answer in top 6, and Miss Thailand, who I thought gave the second best answer.
France and Haiti, tho, both were solid and were clearly judges' favorites in other rounds and made it to the top three, where both belonged, along with Miss Colombia, especially if you select the final three on the basis of all areas of competition.
To me, Miss Colombia gave the best answer to the final question, but none really nailed it. Miss Haiti gave a sentimental answer, but it really didn't address the question, and Miss France, again, was a little long-winded, but considering the interpreter didn't give her answer it's proper due - thank you, Victoria Humphrey for pointing that out to me - her answer certainly was appropriate.
In the end, the judges went with beauty over a story and all is well in the Universe tonight, as Miss France is easily the most gorgeous creature to capture the crown since Puerto Rico's Zuleyka Rivera did a decade ago.
And, in the end, the judges got it right and the producers were right on the mark in having two final rounds of questions, which I had feared they would not, fairly compact video packages that allowed us to get to know the top 13 and a slick production that featured the beautiful host country of the Philippines without shoving it down our throats like some prior MUO Pageants did.
Other than the opening, the only other thing I would have changed was to have a cavalcade of swimsuits in the beginning where we saw each contestant in their swimsuit - for ratings sake - and then by doing it allowing only the top 9 to compete in swimsuit and flip-flop it to where the top 13 competed in evening gown, which is my favorite part of the competition and probably is the favorite among real pageant fans, too.
Steve Harvey was both funny and personable as host and should remain.
And, most importantly, he got the winner right this time.
And, so did the judges.
Overall grade: WINNER A+/ PAGEANT - B+ or maybe even an A-
A definite slow start to the proceedings, yes, but overall the rest of the pageant moved along briskly and kept my attention due, in part, to a great top 13 being narrowed down to the right final three.
Good job, MUO and IMG. Keep it up!
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Who Brought Their A Game To Miss Universe
Through the magic of YouTube and the Miss Universe app on my phone, I did not have to get up at the ungodly hour of 6 a.m. to watch today's Miss Universe preliminaries from the Philippines.
As has been the custom for the past several years, both Miss USA and Universe prelims are webcast, which gives pageant junkies - like me - a chance to handicap the competition before the live finals are telecast.
This year is no exception.
Before I get into the actual competition, here are my thoughts on a few things that the new owners of MUO, IMG, have implemented. Some are good and some are bad.
First the bad, the owners have clearly indicated that they are going in a different direction with the winner this year. What that means, though, is anyone's guess.
We do know that contestant videos will be showcased during Sunday night's three-hour event and the organization is emphasizing the 'stories' of the delegate, Whether that means we are going to end up with a Miss Universe who has a sob story that wins her the crown or one who is beautiful is yet to be seen.
I have no problem with having a Miss USA or Miss Universe who is intelligent and articulate, but not at the expense of beauty. Say what you will, but this is still a beauty pageant - and the ultimate one at that,
Maybe I'm old school, but Miss Universe needs to be beautiful and should be the composite of beauty, elegance AND intelligence. I still say the old system that crowned such stunners as Kerry Ann Wells, Anne Marie Potomo, Maritza Sayalero, Shawn Weatherly and Cecilia Bolocco worked best. Have all semi finalists, especially since they have dropped that number to only 12, compete in swimsuit, evening gown and on-stage interviews, where the judges can determine if they have the personality needed for the job.
Then have the top five answer the same question and final rankings based on the composite thought of how each one would be able to do the job as Miss Universe as the final determining factor into choosing the winner.
Pre-packaged videos tell us nothing about a young woman. They are exactly that, pre-packaged, edited soundbites. On-stage interviews would tell us much more about each contestant and that round of the competition needs to be reinstated in place of the videos.
That's just my opinion.
While I am skeptical about what kind of winner we will get Sunday, I will commend MUO for having a mixture of the preliminary judges juxtaposed with final night judges and both groups have just the right amount of former winners on the panel. They, unlike celebrity B list judges, have a better understanding of the job because they did the job.
That's definitely a step in the right direction for MUO.
Now onto the actual preliminary competition.
Since personality and the ability to speak aren't really seen by us in prelims, I have to base that solely on how each delegate introduced themself. That plus my first impression of them gave me my first list of ones I liked and will be one-third of my prelim impression.
First off, Miss Brazil, who has been standing out to me all week, definitely did not disappoint me in the parade of nations. She is stunningly gorgeous and has personality. A surprise to me just off the top is Miss Haiti, who was gorgeous and outgoing. My third star went to Miss Panama, who I've been going back and forth on since the contestants arrived in the Philippines last week. I think she brought her A game with her when it counted. Of course, let's see what she does in evening gown and swimsuit, first, tho,
Others I was impressed with were Belgium, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Mexico (who I did not like in pre-pageant photos), Netherlands, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam.
Beauty wise, i wouldn't put either Miss Canada or Venezuela on my list, but they both impressed me personality wise in the opening and that may count for a lot from the judges seeking to crown a new type of Miss Universe.
Also a few of the young women I've consistently had on my top 12 list like Colombia, France, Sierra Leone and Aruba are still in consideration early on in the show.
A few like Miss Barbados and USA disappointed me in the brief opening, but may rebound in the actual competition,
Now, onto swimsuit....
To me, Miss Chile really started standing out to me and had one of the best bodies and walks in the competition, as did Miss Venezuela, who really worked it, but, still, to me is not facially beautiful, which should be a criteria in judging, but may not be. There's no denying her personality or body, though.
Also top swimsuit scores for me went to Miss Belgium, Panama, France, Thailand and Brazil (whose regal walk makes her look like a Miss Universe to me.) Others I really liked are Miss Haiti, Miss Colombia. Miss USA has a great body (one of the best, but did not work it whatsoever, especially in comparison to some like Miss Philippines, Venezuela, France and Colombia. USA has a story, though, so that killer body, coupled with her story, may be enough to catapult her into the 12.
Next, evening gown...
The most subjective of any pageant category, this is where the judges can really just throw points to their favorites. And my fashion style, your style of fashion and someone else's style may all be different and that's OK, actually good and often is the determining factor into who gains more points and who loses them.
With that said, here are my favorites in gown, keeping in mind that even if I didn't love the gown, the runway walk and personality shown can gain a contestant vital points. And, note, contestants can change their gowns from prelims to final night anyway.
Overall, I was EXTREMELY disappointed in this competition, way too many pale colors and gowns that were all over the place design wise. The gown I liked the best was Panama, tho it got totally deducted in points from me because of the bright red lipstick she wore with the gorgeous gold gown.
I loved Iceland's gown and also Denmark, tho the latter was too pale to wear ice blue. Venezuela was a hot mess in her contraption and Miss USA had a good gown but didn't fit correctly on top and was nothing we haven't seen before, Red is a great color on her, tho,
Brazil still looked regal, but I was expecting more from a front-runner, the same for Colombia. Neither gown overwhelmed me, but Brazil is doing it for me personality wise and with stage presence.
I'd rank Aruba second in evening gown and also loved Spain and Mexico in gowns. Other gowns I really liked were France (tho not sure on the color), Sierra Leone (tho it did nothing for her hips), Curacao (a darkhorse), and Poland. Philippines will be in there, she works everything and I loved the green color of the gown, but not the construction of it. She's one who is definitely saving her best gown for last, which I don't get why they do that, especially in a competitive year where they only cut to 12 instead of 15,16 or 20 like they have done in the recent past.
In the end, I have no clue as to what - or who - they are looking for, but here's my top 12.
1. Brazil (looks like a Miss Universe to me, which will probably hurt her,)
2. Haiti (think she's a legitimate contender and she was in my top three in opening, good swimsuit, great gown AND has a story.)
3. Spain
4. France
5. Thailand
The rest are just in alphabetical order
6. Colombia
7. Curacao
8. Mexico
9. Panama
10. Philippines
11. Sierra Leone
12. Venezuela (who could actually be the winner based on best personality, body and stage presence, tho gown HAS GOT TO GO, and between that and facial beauty, I'd rank her lower, than if you take that out, she'd be fifth or sixth in my rankings.)
I think any of the 6-12 have a legitimate shot at making the top five and even winning the crown.
On the Bubble - Girls I hope make it are Aruba, Iceland, Belgium and obviously USA; also like Dominican Republic and Indonesia and think they could all easily slide into the top 12.
Surprises: Nicaragua in a good way and Australia in a bad way. Australia was one of my favorites going into the competition and she really underwhelmed me all during the preliminary presentation.
So, those are my choices, with some compensation for what I think MUO might be looking for.
To me, it's anyone's guess who ends up as the 65th Miss Universe on Sunday night.
And, I have a feeling we may all be in for a surprise. If I had to guess, I'd say Venezuela might be what they're looking for, but I'd go with any of my top 5 as the winner.
As has been the custom for the past several years, both Miss USA and Universe prelims are webcast, which gives pageant junkies - like me - a chance to handicap the competition before the live finals are telecast.
This year is no exception.
Before I get into the actual competition, here are my thoughts on a few things that the new owners of MUO, IMG, have implemented. Some are good and some are bad.
First the bad, the owners have clearly indicated that they are going in a different direction with the winner this year. What that means, though, is anyone's guess.
We do know that contestant videos will be showcased during Sunday night's three-hour event and the organization is emphasizing the 'stories' of the delegate, Whether that means we are going to end up with a Miss Universe who has a sob story that wins her the crown or one who is beautiful is yet to be seen.
I have no problem with having a Miss USA or Miss Universe who is intelligent and articulate, but not at the expense of beauty. Say what you will, but this is still a beauty pageant - and the ultimate one at that,
Maybe I'm old school, but Miss Universe needs to be beautiful and should be the composite of beauty, elegance AND intelligence. I still say the old system that crowned such stunners as Kerry Ann Wells, Anne Marie Potomo, Maritza Sayalero, Shawn Weatherly and Cecilia Bolocco worked best. Have all semi finalists, especially since they have dropped that number to only 12, compete in swimsuit, evening gown and on-stage interviews, where the judges can determine if they have the personality needed for the job.
Then have the top five answer the same question and final rankings based on the composite thought of how each one would be able to do the job as Miss Universe as the final determining factor into choosing the winner.
Pre-packaged videos tell us nothing about a young woman. They are exactly that, pre-packaged, edited soundbites. On-stage interviews would tell us much more about each contestant and that round of the competition needs to be reinstated in place of the videos.
That's just my opinion.
While I am skeptical about what kind of winner we will get Sunday, I will commend MUO for having a mixture of the preliminary judges juxtaposed with final night judges and both groups have just the right amount of former winners on the panel. They, unlike celebrity B list judges, have a better understanding of the job because they did the job.
That's definitely a step in the right direction for MUO.
Now onto the actual preliminary competition.
Since personality and the ability to speak aren't really seen by us in prelims, I have to base that solely on how each delegate introduced themself. That plus my first impression of them gave me my first list of ones I liked and will be one-third of my prelim impression.
First off, Miss Brazil, who has been standing out to me all week, definitely did not disappoint me in the parade of nations. She is stunningly gorgeous and has personality. A surprise to me just off the top is Miss Haiti, who was gorgeous and outgoing. My third star went to Miss Panama, who I've been going back and forth on since the contestants arrived in the Philippines last week. I think she brought her A game with her when it counted. Of course, let's see what she does in evening gown and swimsuit, first, tho,
Others I was impressed with were Belgium, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Mexico (who I did not like in pre-pageant photos), Netherlands, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam.
Beauty wise, i wouldn't put either Miss Canada or Venezuela on my list, but they both impressed me personality wise in the opening and that may count for a lot from the judges seeking to crown a new type of Miss Universe.
Also a few of the young women I've consistently had on my top 12 list like Colombia, France, Sierra Leone and Aruba are still in consideration early on in the show.
A few like Miss Barbados and USA disappointed me in the brief opening, but may rebound in the actual competition,
Now, onto swimsuit....
To me, Miss Chile really started standing out to me and had one of the best bodies and walks in the competition, as did Miss Venezuela, who really worked it, but, still, to me is not facially beautiful, which should be a criteria in judging, but may not be. There's no denying her personality or body, though.
Also top swimsuit scores for me went to Miss Belgium, Panama, France, Thailand and Brazil (whose regal walk makes her look like a Miss Universe to me.) Others I really liked are Miss Haiti, Miss Colombia. Miss USA has a great body (one of the best, but did not work it whatsoever, especially in comparison to some like Miss Philippines, Venezuela, France and Colombia. USA has a story, though, so that killer body, coupled with her story, may be enough to catapult her into the 12.
Next, evening gown...
The most subjective of any pageant category, this is where the judges can really just throw points to their favorites. And my fashion style, your style of fashion and someone else's style may all be different and that's OK, actually good and often is the determining factor into who gains more points and who loses them.
With that said, here are my favorites in gown, keeping in mind that even if I didn't love the gown, the runway walk and personality shown can gain a contestant vital points. And, note, contestants can change their gowns from prelims to final night anyway.
Overall, I was EXTREMELY disappointed in this competition, way too many pale colors and gowns that were all over the place design wise. The gown I liked the best was Panama, tho it got totally deducted in points from me because of the bright red lipstick she wore with the gorgeous gold gown.
I loved Iceland's gown and also Denmark, tho the latter was too pale to wear ice blue. Venezuela was a hot mess in her contraption and Miss USA had a good gown but didn't fit correctly on top and was nothing we haven't seen before, Red is a great color on her, tho,
Brazil still looked regal, but I was expecting more from a front-runner, the same for Colombia. Neither gown overwhelmed me, but Brazil is doing it for me personality wise and with stage presence.
I'd rank Aruba second in evening gown and also loved Spain and Mexico in gowns. Other gowns I really liked were France (tho not sure on the color), Sierra Leone (tho it did nothing for her hips), Curacao (a darkhorse), and Poland. Philippines will be in there, she works everything and I loved the green color of the gown, but not the construction of it. She's one who is definitely saving her best gown for last, which I don't get why they do that, especially in a competitive year where they only cut to 12 instead of 15,16 or 20 like they have done in the recent past.
In the end, I have no clue as to what - or who - they are looking for, but here's my top 12.
1. Brazil (looks like a Miss Universe to me, which will probably hurt her,)
2. Haiti (think she's a legitimate contender and she was in my top three in opening, good swimsuit, great gown AND has a story.)
3. Spain
4. France
5. Thailand
The rest are just in alphabetical order
6. Colombia
7. Curacao
8. Mexico
9. Panama
10. Philippines
11. Sierra Leone
12. Venezuela (who could actually be the winner based on best personality, body and stage presence, tho gown HAS GOT TO GO, and between that and facial beauty, I'd rank her lower, than if you take that out, she'd be fifth or sixth in my rankings.)
I think any of the 6-12 have a legitimate shot at making the top five and even winning the crown.
On the Bubble - Girls I hope make it are Aruba, Iceland, Belgium and obviously USA; also like Dominican Republic and Indonesia and think they could all easily slide into the top 12.
Surprises: Nicaragua in a good way and Australia in a bad way. Australia was one of my favorites going into the competition and she really underwhelmed me all during the preliminary presentation.
So, those are my choices, with some compensation for what I think MUO might be looking for.
To me, it's anyone's guess who ends up as the 65th Miss Universe on Sunday night.
And, I have a feeling we may all be in for a surprise. If I had to guess, I'd say Venezuela might be what they're looking for, but I'd go with any of my top 5 as the winner.
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