by Dominador Agbayani
There
were already writers who did reviews of the facial expressions of the last two
standing in the Miss Universe contest. And it is fun to watch and see the
candidates react when the final winner is announced. Just like in 1996 one of my
Miss Universe favorite, Alicia Machado, reacted with so much surprise when she
was announced as the new title holder. Compare her with Miss Aruba who
practically was just smiling but seems obliviously accepting her fate as the
first-runner up. Alicia’s facial reaction can be rooted down to her early
pageant wherein she was just aspiring to be a runner-up but came out with the
title of Miss Venezuela. It was indeed more surprising when she bagged the
title of Miss Universe 1996. Although her reaction was not dampened since she
was the crowd favorite and was leading at the scoreboard all throughout.
In
1997, the first back to back victory for Venezuela should have been possible
when Marena Bencomo fought it out with Brook Lee for the title. Brook Lee was
extra succinct and a good conversationalist at that and that was the reason she
edged out the Venezuelan to create a back to back win and make history in
Miami, Florida. Obviously, we can see in Miss Venezuela’s face the air of yearning
that she almost made it.
Now
in 1998, another Venezuelan, Verushka Ramirez almost made it to the top plum
but was practically side-tracked by a girl from Trinidad and Tobago. Come to
think of it, had Marena been successful and Verushka luckier, it would have
been a triple treat in 1998! But this is the one people have been underscoring;
a country would have difficulty making a repeat victory in Miss Universe.
Although we will see later that this phenomenon was broken in recent years. Verushka
might have the same facial expression of awe and disbelief when the
announcement was made as she thought she gave a good answer. Most people who
knew how to speak Spanish thought that the translation for Miss Venezuela’s
answer was botched by the interpreter giving way for the triumph of Wendy
Fitzwilliam. However, we cannot snatch back that victory from Wendy too as she
had a very good Miss Universe year for that matter.
Trinidad
and Tobago hosted the 1999 Miss Universe Beauty Pageant and a replacement for
the original Miss Philippines shone mightily during the pageant proceedings.
She was all there and ready to be crowned the third Miss Universe for the
Philippines but was denied the crown as the pageant annotators said, she choked
mightily on her answer. And Miss Botswana who was just waiting in the wings
grabbed the opportunity and gave an answer that eclipsed Miss Philippines’
chance to become the third Miss Universe for her country. It is therefore not
surprising to see two diverging facial expressions on these two candidates.
In Nicosia, Cyprus, we saw the reemergence of India as a powerhouse of beauty. Lara Dutta was a shining star in all the phases of the contest. And she finally nailed it when she gave out an outstanding answer to her question. It is not surprising therefore to see Claudia Moreno, Miss Venezuela in her congratulatory mode to Lara’s still surprised reaction. It wasn’t even a through thick and thin win because as the scoreboard had shown, Lara was only edged out by Miss Venezuela, Colombia and Spain in the evening gown segment. The swimsuit and the interview segment showed Lara leading the way. Note that from 1996 till 1998, there is always a Venezuelan in the Top 2. In 1999, there was a brief lull because in this year 2000, another Venezuelan figured in the Top 2. Such a great performance among Venezuelan candidates really!
In
Bayamon, Puerto Rico in 2001, it was a battle of a candidate molded in
pageantry versus someone in molded in the fashion world. It was very obvious,
who the winner will be – the one molded in pageantry. Denise Quinones obviously
was the leader in all aspects during the pageant night but everyone loved the
sultriness of Miss Greece. She was a Goddess so to speak. But in the end, a
girl meant for pageants was crowned Miss Universe of 2001.
In
2002, an unassuming girl from Russia took the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant by
storm. From the time she arrived, she was the cynosure of many eyes. It was no
surprise then that even an ugly gown was carried with aplomb by this years’
winner. Miss Panama can just acknowledge the victory of Oxana Fedorova whose
beauty was etched in every pageant connoisseurs’ book as the Timeless Beauty of
all Miss Universe. After 4 months however, Miss Panama who was first runner-up
became the new Miss Universe as Oxana was dethroned. The reasons for her
dethronement were still not clear up to now.
For
the year 2003, the candidate of Venezuela almost did not make it to the Miss
Universe Beauty Pageant. After all the hullaballoo that came with her
participation, she was finally able to participate. She came in first runner-up
to Miss Dominican Republic who was trained in Venezuela too. Miss Venezuela
kept a low-profile during all the activities but her roundedness as a participant
truly radiated and was noticed and thus even keeping this kind of profile, she
almost sneaked past Amelia Vega.
It
was a battle royal between Shandi Finnesey and Jennifer Hawkins in 2004. Shandi
was all grace and glamour but she was upstaged by Jennifer Hawkins of
Australia. If you looked at the picture of the two standing, Shandy seemed to
be praying for that final verdict but alas, Jennifer took the plum and became
one of the most memorable Miss Universe of all times.
In
2005, it was a battle of two deserving candidates. Miss Puerto Rico despite the
loss showed a very queenly demeanor when she was adjudged as first runner-up to
Miss Canada. This was a year that I feel for the loss of Cynthia Olavarria
although one cannot discount the win of Natalie Glebova. Surely, these
non-winners of their previous participations in their national pageants who
later on rejoined the year after remarkably won the Universe in 2005. Natalie
went on to make more waves after her win and Cynthia was always included in
pageant enthusiasts “best first runner-up.”
The
year 2006 showed a great competition between Japan and Puerto Rico. Many
enthusiasts feel that Japan should have taken the crown based on her final
answer but Puerto Rico just took it all. Well, for one, Zuleyka Rivera called
attention to herself because of a gown as heavy as 20 kg(?) and walk with it
with aplomb. If Japan was gorgeous, she was in the same way very resplendent.
It was really a night of surprises.
Come
2007, the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant came back to Mexico for the third time.
For the last two candidates standing, Miss Brazil and Miss Japan were left and
one of them would be announced as the new Miss Universe. Most enthusiasts did
not have Miss Japan on their radar and out of the blues she came out one of the
finalists. Miss Brazil also did exceptionally well but Miss Japan was more
impressive in the Question and Answer Portion. It was obviously a big surprise
for Miss Japan to win hence the final reaction when she was announced as
winner.
The
year 2008 was another Venezuelan victory. If I were to remember my Miss
Universe history, Carolina Gomez was leading the pack in the 1994 edition of
the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant in Manila, until Sushmita Sen grabbed the
final honors from her. It seemed like this again. It was Miss Colombia who was
leading the pack. She was leading in everyone’s scoreboard until the final
question and answer portion where Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela just snatched the
final honors from Miss Colombia. It was therefore a big win again for Venezuela
and a sorry loss for Colombia. Colombia had been trying very much to create a
win but they have always been found wanting in the Miss Universe arena.
Most
pageant enthusiasts in 2009 thought Ada Aimee de la Cruz would take home the
second Miss Universe crown for the Dominican Republic but apparently, a Miss
Universe history will be written in the books. Finally Venezuela’s attempt to
have a back-to-back win happened in Bahamas. It seemed that the two girls were
happy about Venezuela’s back to back win as Ada was similarly ecstatic with
Stefania.
Similarly,
in 2010, another record of sorts was listed in the annals of Miss Universe. The
first Mexican Miss Universe won in 1991 in Las Vegas. And thus, Ximena
Navarette took the crown for 2010 away from the Jamaican candidate who showed
strong performance during the night.
The
2011 edition showed two girls who were rarely hyped at the final stage. It was
Miss Ukraine and Miss Angola. Both were listed as semi-finalists materials or
even as alternates hence, they were not really in everyone’s list. When they
were the last two standing, they surely had smiles in their faces and were
wondering probably how they were the one’s left.
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