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.
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