BB. PILIPINAS 2003: DIAMOND
WHITE, RUBY RED, AND A BLUE SURPRISE by Joseph Vitug This year’s five finalists were a mix of consistent performers and those with irresistible standout qualities that outweigh some weaknesses. Three of them were Mabuhay Beauties—meaning that we had a very good year this time, with all four of our bets making the semis, and three of them vaulting further to the finals (last year, out of four bets, two made the semis and only one made it to the Top Five, as second runner-up at that). So, who’s who? Read on… [NOTE: Though I try to get their interview answers verbatim, admittedly I am not that fast a transcriber, so please don’t assume that what I quoted was the complete transcript. I try my best to give you the main highlights of their answers, though.] 2ND RUNNER-UP: CANDIDATE NO. 20 – NOELA MAE “ELLA” EVANGELISTA. With her doe eyes, smooth-and-dusky complexion, elegant persona, and gamine grace, this lady made an outstanding impression. It should also be noted that she won two special awards: Miss Close-Up Smile, and Bb. Avon. It is no surprise that many people thought that she’s poised to garner a title in this pageant, since she knows how to deliver her best when the moment counts. Physically, that was truly the case. When she opens her mouth… Well, actually Ella is a very good and spontaneous communicator with a very pleasant speaking voice—it’s just unfortunate that there are stronger communicators in her batch. Her situation was similar to the case of Verna Vasquez, that stunning Miss Universe delegate from Curacao six years ago—Verna was the front-runner until the Top Six came, and she wasn’t able to answer as well as the three delegates who advanced further, even though she actually gave a good answer. During the preliminaries, Verna topped both the swimsuit and evening gown rounds, but even though interview is her weakest round, she’s strong enough to be ranked 8th in that category. Ella gave a strong-enough interview in the semi-final round, which assured her of a slot in the Top 5. In her casual chat with TJ Manotoc, they talked about swimming—about how she used to be a competitive swimmer when she was a kid, until she got injured 9 years ago, and now she is happy teaching kids how to swim. The question lobbed by PBA Chairman Atty. Noli Eala was very simple: “What is the best advice your mother gave you?” [Miss Universe trivia: this is the question asked by our own Pop Diva, Kuh Ledesma, when she was a judge at the 1991 Miss Universe Pageant; this question was asked to that charming ingenue, Yulia Lemigova of the USSR.] Ella’s response? “Keep your feet on the ground… No matter how high you reach, look back to who you really are and where you came from.” The final round question went like this: “If you were to speak to the world about peace, what would be your message?” Now this is where Ella fell from favor; to paraphrase Ali Landry when referring to Miriam Quiambao back in 1999: “she choked.” Her response: “If I were to speak the world, I would say that peace starts from an individual and it radiates outward. From an individual to family to society, to the whole world. So, I would say that peace is not... peace is not... peace is not gained, it is to be achieved. Thank you.” She took an unfortunate pause to collect her thoughts, and that led to a rude audience uproar (it’s quite unfair to treat her like that, I know, but I can’t totally blame them). She clearly lost her composure, and the disappointed expression on her face eloquently revealed what she felt of her own performance. Though there is a lot of substance in her message (which fell apart a little at the end), it has to be noted that in a beauty pageant, it is not necessarily what the candidate that they focus on, but how she says it. She was clearly the 2nd runner-up that night. If there is any consolation for Ella, I’m certain she’ll be highly in-demand for modeling gigs and fashion shows—hope she earns handsomely from them even if most likely the BPCI would take a huge chunk off her fees to fill up their coffers. Also, she could be sent to a minor international pageant (most likely those John Singh modeling/tourism/internet pageants) and become a front-runner there (and maybe she might even win it all). Her very appealing and duskily exotic features will definitely cause a sensation, that’s a guarantee. Then, she can try again in this pageant and she might finally nail a title. Her future is very bright—just treat this present outcome as a learning experience. 1ST RUNNER-UP: CANDIDATE NO. 13 – KATE BAESA. To my eyes, this lady (one of our Mabuhay Beauties) was the most physically stunning woman of the night. The judges awarded the best in swimsuit and long gown awards to other candidates, but if you ask me, this lady should have won both. Her statuesque height, her slim, lean and toned figure, and that radiant Julia Roberts smile could not be ignored. She may not have won the swimsuit award because she and her co-runner-up Ella Evangelista were contenders for the Flapper Award, so the Best in Swimsuit Award went to the more buxom Angie Corstorphan instead. In the gown round, this lady glided across the stage like a goddess bestowing her graces to the masses. I don’t know why she didn’t win the Best in Evening Gown award, because I thought she was the best that night, but I have to concede that Carla Gay Balingit (the actual winner of the award) also glided onstage very, very well—anyway, more on Carla later. It’s a good thing that the semifinal interview only constituted 10% of the semifinal score, because it actually worked to this lady’s advantage. In my opinion, she was the weakest interview among the 12 semi-finalists. It doesn’t quite help that she got Spanish Ambassador Ignacio Salas as the judge to ask her the question, because his question was a little challenging and tricky: “Are you confident of winning? And what is it in you that the others don’t have?”. In imperfect English diction, she answered: “I’m confident… I believe everybody here has her own individuality… A good personality and a good heart is what I have.” I thought she might give her finalist slot away to a brainier candidate, but I guess the judges could not ignore her sheer star quality, and she was able to advance. Anyway, even if I thought her interview was the weakest of the bunch, the answer she gave was far better than the embarrassing disasters we heard in the years past. Moreover, she gets brownie points for being magnanimous to the other candidates, and she was sincere when she says that she has a good heart and a good personality (and I believe she does actually have those qualities). Fortunately, she was able to acquit herself in the final round, as she actually gave a great, heartfelt answer to the final question. Her message? “…(L)et us all pray that God would touch their heart to stop war because nothing is impossible to the Lord. He can move mountains, He can touch the heart of the kings and I believe this war wouldn't give good benefits to the lives, especially to the innocent ones, especially to these children.” With that answer, I was already relishing the idea that our Mabuhay Beauties would sweep all three titles this year. I thought Kate Baesa would get the Miss International title, and that even though she doesn’t fit the traditional Miss International mold she would impress the Japanese panel with her striking features and statuesque height. But well, the judges had other ideas… Like Ella, I expect Kate to be deluged with modeling offers, and provide a significant amount of revenues to BPCI. If she were sent to the Miss Tourism World pageant, I have a strong feeling we might have a back-to-back victory. Or maybe we would win the Miss Model of the Universe pageant with Kate’s model-like figure and Amazonian stature. In some ways, Kate is very much like Michelle Reyes, the Bb. Pilipinas 1st runner-up two years ago, as they both share stunning, head-turning good looks and not-so-strong communication skills. But unlike Michelle, who notoriously went off-tangent during the final Q&A, Kate showed that she can answer well during very critical junctures. Like Ella, Kate can also try again and she might be likely to land a title next time. The outgoing queens were clad in blue as they crowned the new queens. Karen was clad in a nice, slim light blue number, Kristine was in a nice cobalt blue number, and Kate was in her famous Miss World sequined midnight blue gown—she seemed to dispel some rumors that she gained all that weight back after her Miss World stint by wearing the gown. It’s quite apt considering the present situation how the queens in blue made way for the new queens in red. Now, here is my take on our new queens. BB. PILIPINAS INTERNATIONAL: CANDIDATE NO. 12 – JHEZARIE JAVIER. I have to admit that before the coronation night, I didn’t have high hopes for this girl’s chances to win. She is indeed pretty, and she has a flawlessly fair complexion, plus she does have great communication skills. But I didn’t know how great those communication skills were until coronation night. In my opinion, she was the best interview all throughout the evening. She won the most special awards among this highly competitive group with three, making me realize that she was a front-runner, after all: Miss Photogenic (or Miss Press Photography), Miss Myra 300-E Inner Beauty, and Miss PAL Sunny Personality. Boyet Blas’s instinct in selecting her as a front-runner was right. After a casual chat with TJ Manotoc during the semifinal round where she talked about the nature trips she spent with her family and linked them to how important quality time is with the family, she was asked by the female Turkish diplomat, Ayzi Digebashoglu if a woman can grow gracefully. Jhezarie of course said yes, as the “spirit can rise” and that aging can be an opportunity for spiritual growth. For her response to the final question, Jhezarie started smoothly with “I would like to tell the world that peace is very important for all of us. And I could express this by singing something that we were taught, but somehow we have forgotten mainly because of worldly desires...” And then she sang about three lines of that famous song, “Let There Be Peace on Earth.” She sang the song generally on-key, except for a couple of off-notes in the middle. I thought she gave the best and most unique answer among this bunch, and I thought the Miss Universe title for her was a cinch. I later found out that her answer turned off many of my colleagues. They all decried: “Why did she have to sing?!” It made me realize a new pageant rule: “If you want to win a pageant, never sing ‘Let There Be Peace on Earth’.” I remembered Thailand’s Tanya Suesoontisook back in Miss World 1997—she made an excellent impression with her vibrant personality, and I thought she should be 1st runner-up to India’s Diana Hayden. But then, she ended up in 5th place, probably because she sang that damn song and the judges found her over-the-top. With her excellent communication skills, many people feel that it’s such a waste that she was only given the Miss International title. She does fit that pageant’s tendency to choose pretty and fair-skinned contestants, but her prettiness is not the type that takes the people’s breaths away at first glance—you need to look closer and talk to her to best appreciate her. She needs to wow the judges when they look at her first before she can bowl them over when she makes the Top 15 and delivers her “cultural speech”. Can it be done? The answer is YES. Another successful Thai contestant popped up in my mind: Piyanuch Khamboon of last year’s pageant. Piyanuch may not have the pretty face that would make the judges awestruck, but she is pretty enough, and fair-skinned, too—very much like Jhezarie. She became a favorite because of two things: her lean, buff figure and her impeccable elegance. So, what Jhezarie needs to do are: 1) go to the gym to sculpt her figure to near perfection; 2) select the most elegant wardrobe; and 3) get the right makeup and hair experts for her to make an indelible impact at Miss International—and they should make her look like an elegant and regal Asian princess, not like a 1980s pageant patty. When she makes the cut by looking sensational enough, she can then provide the clincher by giving the judges a killer cultural speech—Lebanon’s Christina Sawaya won the pageant last year because of her excellent communication skills and a topnotch cultural speech (after impressing the judges with her statuesque height, sleek figure, excellent gown, and flawless catwalk, of course), and Jhezarie can conceivably pull off a Christina Sawaya, or something close to that. A final note on Jhezarie: I thought Ruth Faye Toribio (Candidate No. 8) was the new Annwen in this year’s pageant. It turns out that the new Annwen tag is a better fit for Jhezarie—Boyet noted when looking at her side view profile that she has a physical and personality resemblance to that charming and intelligent Miss World 2000 representative of ours, but a fairer skinned version. When I looked at her, I realized his observation was very true. BB. PILIPINAS WORLD: CANDIDATE NO. 19 – MA. RAFAELA “MAFAE” YUNON. While the other titlists might be considered upsets, this early favorite (and Aussie-raised niece of Miss Universe 1984 3rd runner-up Desiree Verdadero) at least seemed to have fared as well as most have hoped, with a plum prize of Bb. Pilipinas-World. She also won the Lux Super Rich Standout Beauty special award. There might be some detractors who thought she made it despite herself—they would pinpoint her not-too-pretty face, that belly that seemed convex when it should be concave, and an underwhelming gown with a sequined top and a satin wraparound skirt. But her spicily sensual appeal, flawless catwalk moves, and yes, excellent communication skills help overlook those (actually) minor quibbles. To a certain poster named RAF who claimed that Mafae lacked those skills (or was told by people about that, as he claimed): so what is your criteria for good communication skills, anyway? To my ears, Mafae spoke very, very well, and that ultimately was the key to her strong finish. Let’s start with her semifinals interview. In her casual chat, TJ asked her about why she was taking up several language courses. Mafae replied that it was because of her course, which is tourism, and she is determined to finish that course and that to pursue that career she needs to learn those extra languages. Then, TV reporter and morning show host Arnold Clavio gave her a pop culture question: “Which would you choose among these international figures: Cory Aquino, Queen Elizabeth [which one, the 1st or the 2nd , Arnold forgot to specify], or Jennifer Lopez?” Without batting an eye, Mafae chose a “politically incorrect” choice: J. Lo. But she gave a great reasoning for it: first, because she loves to dance like J. Lo, and that J. Lo went through a lot in her life, growing up in a poor area in the Bronx, then worked to achieve her dreams through hard work and belief in oneself. If you ask me, a good communicator is someone who can reason out a “politically incorrect” choice and convince you of the communicator’s sincerity and conviction of her point. That was precisely what Mafae did. Her message of world peace during the final round was likewise very strong: “I'd actually speak to the parents—the role models of the families—first, and tell them that they have to start at home. They have to teach their children to be peace lovers and tell them that war is not a right thing to do. We should be loving, kind people and that's what Filipinos are. And for me to be an ambassador of our peace, I would start with my family.” After her response and comparing that to Jhezarie, Carla, and Kate, I was right that Mafae would get the World title. It was well earned. In some ways, Mafae’s extra preparations for the Miss World pageant would be minimal. She only needs to do three things: first, buff her figure up a little to de-emphasize the convex belly (but then again, last year’s Miss Barbados made several pageant lovers’ heads turn even if she also has a convex belly—so this might become the least of Mafae’s priorities); second, make prudent selections in her wardrobe; and third, study last year’s Miss World tape and observe closely the lively charms of Miss Australia, Nicole Ghazal and mix in a little of Nicole’s spice to her already strongly exotic and spicy persona. I expect all of these won’t be too difficult for Mafae to do. She also has the possible advantage of the voting system that might be again in place in Miss World—Philippines, prepare your cellphones and text on in November! What about concerns about the composition of this year’s Miss World judging panel now that it is going to be held in China? I don’t think they should worry too much about that: I predict the judging panel will still be predominantly Western (and we might see famous Brit photographer Terry O’Neill in the panel again, and maybe even British host Bruce Forsyth, who married a spicy and dusky Miss World 1975, Wilnelia Merced of Puerto Rico), so the Chinese bias towards fairer-skinned contenders should be minimal. BB. PILIPINAS UNIVERSE: CANDIDATE NO. 23 – CARLA GAY BALINGIT. Let me start by narrating the story of last year’s Miss Panama pageant (for this year’s Miss Universe): the favorite of that pageant was the statuesque and near flawless Yanela de Sedas. However, she ended up only as 1st runner-up. There were surprise winners for the two major titles at stake (Universe and World): Stephanie de Roux for Universe, and Yoselin Sanchez for World. The audience might be satisfied with Stephanie’s win, but they were shocked—and some even outraged—with Yoselin’s.win over Yanela. Meanwhile in Germany, the voluptuous Aleksandra Vojdjanikova beat out taller, prettier, slimmer, and buffer delegates for the Miss Deutschland title, and people groaned that she’s such a lousy follow-up to the stunningly gorgeous and hard-working (and most-awarded) Natascha Börger—it took a peace mission to Iraq for public opinion to be assuaged, somewhat. In Hungary, the sexy and pug-nosed Viktoria Tomozi edged out some prettier and slimmer girlish ingenues to win the Miss Hungary – Universe crown. What do these foreign queens have to do with Carla Gay, you might ask? Well, it seems that like the black ladies being crowned around the world last year, this year’s trend seems to be about the big surprise upsets, about underdogs overtaking stunning favorites and bucking conventional wisdom for the right to compete in Miss Universe. Will the Miss Universe pageant in Panama continue in this trend? If it does, it means “uh-oh” for my favorite so far, Dominican Republic’s Amelia Vega—in this case I hope that trend would be bucked like what happened last year when there was the “big black shut-out”. I have to hand it to the judges for bucking the Miriam Quiambao cookie-cutter syndrome that occurred in the past couple of years when selecting the representative for Miss Universe. Also, it cannot be denied that Carla performed very well in both the swimsuit and evening gown rounds, and that she was a strong communicator. But was she the best? To this writer, not really, and showing the program book to my officemates, they concurred with me. In the gown round, where Carla won a “Best In Gown” award, I thought Kate Baesa was the diva to beat, though Carla was among my Top 5 performers in this category (the others? Oh, the favorites like Anna Marie Falcon, Angie Corstorphan, and one of the surprise semifinalists, Arianne Garcia). But this does not mean that I don’t respect the judges’ decision and would not support our bet. Despite the less-than-polished presence and relative lack of height, Carla has a lot of strong virtues going for her. First, she’s undeniably pretty—at first glance, I thought she resembled Maricarl Tolosa, but after her coronation, I saw traces of a rawer Charlene Gonzales (you know, Mrs. Aga Muhlach), and figured that was probably the reason why she scored highly with the judges. Second, I already mentioned about her strong stage presence, especially when the moment counts. Third, she’s actually a very good interview (more on that later). Finally, you cannot deny her track record: she joined nine pageants so far, and she won every one of them! Her “spiritual” and “religious” persona seemed to be working for her, and maybe her victory was because of some “divine” intervention. Will that “divine” intervention continue to work for her in Panama City in June? We can always hope and pray… So what about her communication skills? Was she the best communicator of the night? She showcased her spiritual persona in her casual chat with TJ Manotoc when she talked about the pilgrimages she goes, and how the help her spirit, body, and soul. She also went on to say that the pilgrimages help her “know (her) mistakes, be sorry for them, and (become) closer to God.” Philippine Chamber of Commerce chairman Sergio Ortiz Luis, Jr., then asked her about the three most important things in her life. Carla answered: 1) Education – because it brings her further in life; 2) Family – because she treasures them a lot; and 3) Myself – because that’s the best thing she had in life. I have to say that I’m not that fond of this answer, but I think the judges loved her spirituality and sincerity that’s why she was able to overtake the articulate answers of Antigua, Sadie, and Andaya, and shut out Angie Corstorphan. The spirituality likewise came to the fore in her response to the final question, about her message of peace: “Peace is not just about arms and warfare, it is all about love and understanding. God created us to love each other. And in doing so, peace would be in our world. And let me just share this thing to you that I learned from Saint Theresa: ‘The fruit of prayer silence, the fruit of silence is faith, the fruit of faith is hope, and the fruit of hope is love, unity and peace.’” When I first heard her answer, I thought it was really good, but it sounded as if she memorized her answer, so I didn’t rate her high and thought it would be a toss-up between her and Kate Baesa for the Miss International title, with a slight edge for Kate’s height and striking features. But reading the answer now and soaking it in, I have to say it was the best-composed, deepest, and least-gimmicky of the bunch, and that was probably what the judges perceived in granting her the plum prize. Some people might have given up hope for our chances in landing the Top 10 in this year’s Miss Universe. Me, I’m not totally giving up yet—actually, I think Carla could be a diamond in the rough. She would need significant polishing in order for her to be at her best in Panama, but I believe it’s actually going to be easier than most would think. Remember how they were able to transform Gilrhea Quinzon from a shrill-sounding plain-Jane into a sensuous and polished bombshell with a much more pleasant voice? Carla has so much better raw material to work with and it would be a cakewalk to transform her into a fabulous diva in time for Miss Universe. What would be needed? Okay, a few extra hours in the gym and a carefully monitored diet to polish up an already-okay figure; a visit to a dermatologist to smoothen rough edges in her complexion; hair and makeup experts who could add drama and impact to her good looks; and a modeling coach who would teach her to project like a diva onstage and in photos. The latter is important, because remember the current Miss Universe, Justine Pasek, is about 5’7”, approximately Carla’s stated height, but Justine’s edge is the way she can project onstage and on camera. If Carla wants to make an impact in Panama, Justine Pasek would be her best model to emulate. I know some people feel the results are not the best, but my message to everyone is that we should respect the judges’ decision, support our present bets, pray that the judges will look to them with favor. They might actually surprise us when the moment comes.
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