Delegates to Miss Universe Philippines 2020 have blown into town. In all my years of covering these events, the tallest, most beautiful girl on stage doesn’t usually end up winning. There have been countless times when the girl who knows when to hold back and when to give it her all runs away with the crown.
By Alex Y. Vergara
Instagram nearly broke down yesterday, and, based on the title of this piece, I guess most of you already know why. Nine months and a raging pandemic later, the first-ever edition of Miss Universe Philippines (MUP) is now on its final leg, as delegates representing almost every corner of the country started trooping to Holiday Inn at Resort’s World Manila during the last few days to mark the official start of the contest.
In less than two weeks, this beauty pageant-crazy nation would finally know who’d represent the Philippines in this year’s Miss Universe. Apart from the delegates themselves, their respective teams and fans also lost no time in posting pictures of their bets on Instagram and Facebook wearing their “arrival” outfits, never mind if most of these young women live or have homes here in Metro Manila.
From Manila, the women would travel in batches to Baguio where a series of preliminary events, from interviews to runway shows, have been lined up for them. The search, which was originally slated on May 3 at the SM Mall of Asia-Arena, culminates on October 25, 10:30 a.m. Organizers haven’t announced the exact place yet, but I heard from a source that their would be no audience inside the venue.
And instead of calling all 52 delegates on stage, our source also said that they would be called in batches of 10. The girls are literally on their own, as no members of their team would be allowed to join them backstage. The socially distanced setup also means that there would be no professional hairstylists and makeup artists on hand to assist them. As if putting their best foot forward isn’t difficult enough, they would also be doing their respective hair and makeup before each show.
MUP has also done away with the “tradition” of rooming delegates, who would be staying at the Baguio Country Club, in pairs. In fact, before they could even travel outside Metro Manila, each delegate should have tested negative from a swab test she took during their brief stay at Holiday Inn.
My source also said that one delegate, an early favorite, had already backed out of the contest after testing positive nearly a month ago.
The women’s journey, which began on the eve of what we now know as the biggest and deadliest pandemic in living memory, started in mid-February when organizers of MUP, led by former beauty queen Shamcey Supsup and beauty queen maker Jonas Gaffud, officially introduced the delegates to the media at the Manila Hotel.
This year marks a milestone for the local search, which, to an older group of “beau-con” aficionados, used to go by the name Binibining Pilipinas-Universe.
In case you’ve been distracted all these months by the virus, the search broke away sometime last year from Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc. (BPCI), which exclusively held the local franchise for more than 50 years, to become a separate entity in charge of crowning the queen of queens: Miss Universe Philippines!
(BPCI, under Stella Marquez Araneta, is still very much alive with a different set of delegates competing for a number of crowns, including Binibining Pilipinas-International. But it has arguably lost a great deal of luster and allure for both fans and wannabe beauty queens with the exit of what many believe is the one crown that matters.)
If there’s one thing this development has shown, holding a long-drawn-out search for a beauty queen during a pandemic—where virtual events, from individual swimsuit photoshoots to so-called “ring light” series of interviews and product endorsements, and time-released “pasabog” (attention-grabbing) photos on Instagram have become the norm—has also intensified the competition between each woman’s styling team, which usually includes her designers, fashion stylists, makeup artist, hairstylist and photographer.
Even in the old days, a woman, no matter how beautiful she was, needed the help of other people, either their advice and their money or both, if she were to go far in this game. But a delegate’s dependence, especially on a styling team, has become more pronounced these days due to the dearth of actual in-person events.
In short, in an extended pre-pageant season based mostly on images and impressions, it’s fair to say that MUP’s maiden edition has partly become a series of proxy battles, which have been fought largely on social media, between the ladies and their style teams.
And in all my years of covering these events, beauty pageants aren’t always won by the tallest, most beautiful girl on stage. Being smart plays a huge role in winning or losing. There have been countless times when the girl who knows when to hold back and when to give it her all runs away with the crown.
Yes, it’s a beauty pageant, all right, but it’s also, as Miss Universe Organization president Paula Shugart loves to point out, a series of job interviews. And you certainly don’t wear something frilly or impractical while posing for pictures with half a dozen suitcases behind you. That’s why in my book, these girls, whose arrival pictures accompany this story, slew the competition.
They look chic, lovely and appropriate without appearing predictable and boring in their respective outfits. While Michele Gumabao, for instance, went corporate, she didn’t forget to have fun, thanks to those prints and pops of color. To finish off the look, she carried a small Hermes Birkin, projecting an image that means business. Yayamanin! (Looking rich!)
Her rival, Alaiza Malinao, also had fun in a totally different way with a youngish look consisting of a long and billowy chiffon dress paired with faded jeans. With her height and slim build, the Davao lass was easily able to get away with it. Bonus point: dusty orange flatters her dusky skin tone.
For her part, Bella Ysmael wore a hot pink, PPE-inspired ensemble that made the slim and rather petite ballerina from Parañaque taller. Another fitting outfit in these COVID-19 times.
Marinduque’s Nina Macalino, another delegate on the petite side, also went for a solid color–a sleeveless scarlet number with a thigh-high slit that not only made her look current and flattered her morena complexion, but also made her look taller and slimmer. Thank goodness! Neither she nor Bella gave in to the temptation of wearing out-of-date platforms, which I still saw on a number of delegates.
As for most of the other girls, they should save that ruffled mini, long gown and cocktail dress for bigger future events. They also should stay away from those unflattering jumpsuits and weird, over-the-top palazzo pants that make them look short and draw attention away from their lovely faces.
The road is still long. After all, it’s only Day One of the competition! Take it from past titleholders, the girl with an eye out on the crown should know when to peak.
