Miss Earth 2009: All eyes set on Miss Earth finals
She walks like a queen in a five-inch stiletto, gracefully waving her hand to the people. Even when she is only in a skimpy bikini, she is all smiles, notwithstanding the lack of sleep, and with her beautiful face and body, she could be the next beauty to be crowned Miss Earth.
On Nov. 9 at the Clark Expo Amphitheater in Angeles City, 85 beauties from around the globe will compete for the title of Miss Earth. The pageant will be broadcast on ABS-CBN and to many countries worldwide via Star World, The Filipino Channel and other partner networks.
Now on its 8th year and touted as the world’s third most popular beauty pageant, this year’s competition focuses on the theme “green lifestyle.”
As early as Oct. 19, delegates from Asian countries arrived, and Miss Philippines Paula Karly Henry, a native of Cebu, has been busy welcoming the world’s most eco-friendly beauties.
“Everyone here is beautiful in many different ways,” Miss Venezuela Daniella Torrealba said during a dinner hosted by the Department of Tourism for the Miss Earth delegates at the Mandarin Oriental Manila.
As the only pageant in the world with a defined purpose, Carousel Productions has gathered the world’s most beautiful women with varied backgrounds and physical attributes. Miss USA is the oldest candidate at 26 while there are few candidates in the 18- year-old group, including those from Argentina, Cuba, Germany, Israel, Malta, Sweden, and South Sudan.
Miss Guam Jennifer Neves, who is also one of the oldest delegates, is the tallest candidate at 185 cm while Miss Mexico Abigail Elizalde, who stands at 183 cm, and Miss China Ying Kun Zhou at 182 cm, are the next tallest. At 165 cm, Miss Ghana Adoley Addoh is the shortest beauty queen in the pageant.
Some beauties are already veteran of international beauty contests. Miss Nicaragua Thelma Rodriguez competed in the Miss Universe this year but failed to win a title. Miss Ethiopia Kidan Tesfahun is also a thank-you-girl in this year’s Miss Tourism Queen International in China.
Nine countries have sent their respective delegates for the first time and these are Bhutan, Congo D.R., Guam, Luxembourg, Malta, Rwanda, Scotland, Serbia, and South Sudan. While these countries are trying their luck in this prestigious beauty pageant, 20 countries have decided to withdraw and these are Cameroon, Denmark, Fiji, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nepal, Niue, Norway, Paraguay, Sierra Leone, St. Lucia, Tibet, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, US Virgin Islands, Vietnam, and Zambia.
Confident beauties
Last year’s winner Jessica Nicole Trisko, a Canadian beauty queen with Filipino heritage, will crown her successor on the final night. Online polls and betting are starting to heat up. But those will be invalid once the pageant culminates at Clark Expo Amphitheater.
Standard Today talked to some of the global beauties joining the Miss Earth, and most of the delegates said they are confident that they are going to win the most coveted crown. Miss Philippines said that she has one in 86 chances in winning the title.
“I underwent training with my mentors; emotionally, physically, mentally and everything that is needed to be done. I went abroad to promote the pageant and I believe it gave me a lot of exposure,” Miss Philippines said.
Early favorite Miss Mexico, an Electronic Communication Engineering graduate, who says that Mexico and the Philippines have a lot of similarities in terms of culture, food, and traffic, said: “Although English is not my first language, I will not have an interpreter on the final night. I will try my very best to express myself. I think this will be a very good advantage.”
“Of course, my favorite candidate is myself. We don’t get to meet everybody, every time we leave the hotel, we are divided into groups, so to know who the best delegate is lies on the final pageant night,” Miss India Tanvi Vyas, whose environmental message focuses more on creating awareness among slum people, enthused.
The frontrunners
According to a Web site that tracks the events concerning the pageant, 16 beauties are the early favorites based on an online poll. They are the delegates from Spain, Romania, Tanzania, Greece, Brazil, Botswana, Colombia, Czech Republic, the Philippines, Kosovo, Jamaica, Slovak Republic, Thailand, Poland, Bosnia, and Mexico.
At the recent national costume competition held at the Pagcor Theater, some beauties proved their potential, like Miss Philippines who was awarded Miss Photogenic. The towering Miss Mexico was awarded Best in Swimsuit. She also received Gandang Ricky Reyes Award. Miss Panama won best in National Costume and Miss Greece, who received minor awards like Miss Micu Confidence and Joel Cruz Signature Award, were some of the crowd favorites.
Beauty for a cause
Miss Earth contest has been continuously gaining popularity throughout the world. Aside from beauty that every delegate must possess, environmental involvement and awareness are never forgotten. During her reign, Miss Earth tours and works worldwide as spokesperson for the Miss Earth Foundation, the United Nations Environment Program (Unep) and other environmental groups. Moreover, national Miss Earth winners from various nations are doing their own part in their home countries promoting environmental causes.
On the pageant night itself, 85 women will prepare for the culmination of their bid to be the next Miss Earth. Part of their grooming is hairstyling, and it’s inevitable for their stylists not to use hairspray. How would their perms look like without CFC (chlorofluorocarbon or the chief pollutant of the ozone layer)?
“Some of the women here are not for the advocacies that the Miss Earth has been involved with. They are just here for the sake of representing their country. What you see on TV or in photograph is entirely different from what they are in real person,” a delegate from Europe who wished not to be mentioned said. “Joining a beauty contest is really tiring, some of us are already planning to go home because we don’t feel free, but we don’t have a choice,” she concluded.
During the dinner organized by the DoT, there were delegates who answered questions sarcastically even they already knew that they were dealing with the press. Some girls complained of being sleep-deprived as they only have four hours a day in bed.
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com
