The 2nd edition of the Miss Universe Philippines Pageant is finally happening tomorrow, September 30 at the Hennan Resort in Panglao, Bohol.
After a few delays brought by the pandemic we are facing now, the MUP organization is all set to crown their second queen in another new normal setup.
From 100 candidates last July we are now down to 28 candidates that will vie for that coveted Miss Universe Philippines crown, all these ladies went through a tough series of challenges from the headshot, introduction, runway, casting, and interview challenge these 28 girls emerged successful and are all set to strut their stuff up in the coronation night.
So okay we are doing a final hot pick for the first time for Miss Universe Philippines, we have done it several times with Bb Pilipinas before and we chose our top 15 pics and eventually our chosen girl for this year based on their performance in the Preliminary Competition held last week, that’s from the Swimsuit, Long Gown, and Preliminary Interview.
Let’s begin, with 15-11 with Isabela’s Jan Abejero, Corrine Abalos of Mandaluyong, Negros Oriental’s Grace Vendiola, Albay’s Janela Cuaton, and Pasig’s Princess Singh.
Jan Abejero was actually not on my list before the preliminaries, but she really did well in the preliminaries particularly in the Interview round.
Corrine Abalos was actually a strong contender for me, hopefully she’s gonna drop something on the final's night and snatch that crown maybe.
Negros Oriental was a total surprise to me; Grace was actually graceful on that runway with all that confidence and fierceness she’s a stand out on both the Swimsuit and Long Gown.
Janela Cuaton was stunning in her gold gown and sizzling hot on her swimsuit cat walk, one of the top performers on the ramp I should say.
Princess Krista Singh got that beautiful face, she’s that girl that you’ll notice and remember on the ramp.
Next up are my top 10-7, composed of Romblon’s Jane Nicole Miñano, Cavite’s Victoria Velasquez, Parañaque’s Sam Sta Maria, and Pangasinan’s Maureen Wroblewitz.
At this point it was really hard to choose since all the girls are crown worthy.
Jane Miñano actually is that girl that looks really sweet, charming, and all, but don’t mistake her sweet look as she really delivered well in the prelims, especially the interview part.
Cavite’s Victoria Velasquez Vincent is actually on my Top 5 before the prelims, she just needs another vavavooom performance in the finals.
Another eloquent girl from Parañaque, Sam is that girl that’s very silent, but deadly, this girl can really shake up your list if you are doing one.
This girl is very crown worthy, Maureen Wroblewitz got me on her Swimsuit performance and on her Interview performance.
It was supposed to be just Top 5, but I am making it a Top 6 as I scored Misamis Oriental, Manila, and Cebu City the same.
Chela Falconer and Jasmine Umali are the darkest of all the dark horses in the competition, they both aced it in all of the categories and I can say they can pull off an upset if they both deliver a perfect performance in the final's night.
We are down to our top 3, it’s between two national pageant veterans against a Cebuana queen.
Let’s start off, Leren Bautista might be overshadowed by other candidates in the past activities, but her preliminary performances just showed why she’s one of the most anticipated girls at the start of the pageant, she really did make an almost perfect performance in both swimsuit and gown, prolly she’s one of the candidates the will suite well if ever she wins the crown.
Next is Katrina Dimaranan, when Katrina won Binibini in 2012 I was not yet covering pageants, but looking at her credentials she’s the most experienced girl in the competition, has the experience in the international stage, a perfect speaker, got that beautiful figure, she’s just ready to battle it out in Israel this December.
Last, but definitely not the least and one of my personal choices, here’s Steffi Aberasturi. She’s that girl that got a lot of surprise under her sleeves, from different photo shoots, video presentations, even that remarkable CCLEX Runway Challenge video that left us in awe, definitely Steffi along with her team will be the best team to fight.
Why I picked Steffi to be on top, I just wanted a new face to represent the Philippines, no offense meant for other girls, but I believe Steffi can and will deliver.
But to be completely fair, I think this pageant is between Steffi and Katrina.
Anyway, that’s it, you can watch the finals night tomorrow on KTX.ph if you bought the ₱599 all access pass, or if you are in Bohol with a negative RTPCR test they are selling Gold labelled tickets for ₱10000. You can also watch the delayed telecast of the pageant night on GMA 7 this October 3.
