MISS INTERNATIONAL 2012 - A RE-ASSESSMENT

by Owen Navarra

NICOLE SCHMITZ – A WINNER BUT NOT REALLY….

Pageant observers say that Nicole is one of the Philippine representatives that is most ready to conquer the Miss International arena. By the time she arrived in Japan, she was followed by photographers, one of the many indications that she was one of the most appreciated candidates. Come pageant night, she gave out one of the most convincing speech that any level-headed panel of jurors would hard put in not choosing her to be the winner. But she did not. How did this happen?

Throughout all the pageant activities, Nicole was a latina personified. Her German ancestry plus her Australian upbringing and probably her training under personal mentor all pointed out to a latina vibe and projection. However, a lot of people were surprised that on pageant night itself, the night that would have mattered most, Nicole despite her projection donned attire with very conservative colors and a hairdo that is reminiscent of the 80’s. Her styling was horrendous so to speak. The color of gown does not suit her. She is more resplendent with red or green colors. That probably spelled her doom despite the very excellent delivery of her speech.

MISS JAPAN AS MISS INTERNATIONAL – WHY NOT?

The Miss International Beauty Pageant is already 52 years in existence and it is only now that they crowned a Miss International from their own country. For the past 51 years, people were witnesses to many Japanese candidates who were really beautiful but did not make it as the winner. When the contest were done in Chinese soil in the previous years that could have been the chance that the Japanese could have crowned a compatriot but they did not. They opted for this year since they had a candidate that excellently delivered a meaningful speech. Although it was probably a difficult decision since it took the Japanese judges quite a time to deliberate on the winner. More so, coming from the heels of the questionable choice of Miss China as the new Miss World 2012 which was done also in home soil, the complex decision is like hara-kiri to the Japanese. 

Personally, as a pageant observer, the Japanese prototype for their Miss International was really far from their choice this year. They have veered away from the doll-like choices they had in the past. Is the Japanese taste changing? Or has the Japanese organizers learned from their counterpart countries wherein they do not have qualms of choosing a compatriot to win in their native soil. Beats me, but from the looks of it, Miss Japan would be a very good Miss International for all intents and purposes. 

CHANCES ARE……

By Jetset Alejandro

Now that the Miss World Philippines has crowned its winner, the quartet has been formed and that we will now await the results of their participation to their international pageants. Let us therefore try to dissect the chances of our candidates.

Even after the Binibining Pilipinas Beauty pageant has been done three months thereafter, pageant fans are still so rabid in throwing their brickbats against the Philippine representative to the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant. Year after year, pageant fans lament about the unsuitability of the choices that were sent to Miss Universe. They would have a litany of reasons why a certain candidate is not appropriate to represent us to the pageant. At deep thought, the fans have every reason to bewail. Most of our representatives are not the best among the lot and thus, we failed miserably in our quest for the title. Only recently in the last two years that our candidates fared well and that they snatched at least a position in the Top 5.

It is also interesting to note that the winners of the recent pageants are veterans in the ramp one way or another. They are either repeaters or cross-over candidates. Take the example of the Philippine candidate to the Miss Universe, she joined last year and ended-up as first runner-up and then rejoined this year. On the other hand, the Philippine candidate to the Miss International Beauty Pageant is also a repeated. She joined the pageant in 2007 where she is semi-finalist and this year she copped the second plum. As for Miss Earth, she is also a repeater. She represented Butuan City in 2010 and ended up as a semi-finalist and for this year, she won the title. And lastly the winner in the Miss World Philippines is called a cross-over candidate. She was seen shashaying in the ramp for the Binibining Pilipinas 2010 title but ended only as a semifinalist. As everybody knows she is now the recently crowned representative to the Miss World. 

Janine Mari Tugonon

Now what about Janine Mari Tugonon’s chances? In 2011, only a few pageant fans took a close look at her. I posted my comments in a very popular pageant forum that the girl is pretty, fresh and had a classic Filipina vibe but I got oft remarks and I never ventured to further my discussion about this girl. And when she made it to a first runner-up position, I told myself, the judges saw what I saw. And what is this that I saw? The Janine that I saw in last year’s competition has the natural charms and exotic Filipina appeal. She may not be totally dusky but her charisma was overwhelming and that she attracts others to her because of this. Added to this, she has an inherent intelligence that would make her recite lines to a question even with her eyes closed. However, I lamented that she was packaged so differently for this years’ pageant. She underwent tanning. She was styled and made up like Morticia. They used those darkened eye shadow techniques that does not flatter her face. She was dressed with the unconventional dresses that do not suit her. With that kind of packaging, expect the rabid fan to say his/her thoughts and they are also not flattering. There were those that defend her and such defense got lost with the cacophony of voices against her. What is my say about her chances then?

The first question to answer that question is that, does Janine has what it takes to be noticed? If Gloria was noticed because of her unconventional beauty with wit, intelligence and demeanor and on the other hand, Margie was noticed again for her unconventional beauty and regal deportment, what could easily be noticed with this girl? Ok, let me go back to the initial question, did she possess something to get noticed easily? My answer is NO and YES.  NO if she persists to use the present packaging that she has now. YES if she goes back previous character. If you would notice the last two years’ choices, they were natural, fresh looking and exotic. Janine has the height. She can improve her body in the next 6 months and she can improve her ability to give direct, meaningful and sincere answers. I know Janine can dish out good answers to a question but they come out rather memorized or scripted. But knowing her academic credentials, she does give superior answers to a question. Again, however, she should tone down her answers and avoid giving a religious flavor to them and instead learn to give universal appeal to questions thrown at her.

Janine may not be every pageant fans’ choice for Bb. Pilipinas-Universe 2012 to represent the country. She maybe predicted to be a long shot to the Miss Universe title but long shots can also hit the dots and it is the long shot that are remembered most often. Given my preconditions, I believe Janine has a 60-70% of making it to the Miss Universe crown. 

Nicole Schmitz

Nicole because of her fair-mestiza looks is very much favored to win at the Binibining Pilipinas. We cannot deny the fact that most pageant fans still prefer the fair-skinned mestiza and she is a hit amongst them. She personifies confidence and is a very good conversationalist. The Miss International Beauty Pageant favors doll-like candidates and she fits this prototype. In my previous write-ups, I have always criticized the way they doll-up Nicole. She is not her when she is given too heavy make-up. She is more natural and attractive when she has less make-up. For this girl, less is beautiful. I am happy to see her latest pictures and she has an uncanny resemblance with Miss Margarita Moran, former Miss Universe 1973 at some angles. Pageant fans put too much pressure in her because for them she has all what it takes to be the Philippines’ 5^th Miss International beauty titlist. If we try to dissect the capability of Nicole barring any unforeseen circumstances she is a  95% shoo-in to the Top 12 and it would not be surprise to see her being crowned as the title holder.

Stephany Stefanowitz

Stephany was not a personal favorite. But I predicted that she will win. She has the height; she has the runway skills and the ability to push forward her thoughts. The one thing that gets in the way for her is that she seems to be a clone of the Miss World First Princess 2011. I don’t have anything against being a look alike but her facial features seems to come out to strong and that she should need to use facial makeovers that soften those features. Added to that, she speaks in a heavy tone and thus makes everyone have a difficulty of liking her.

In the 11 years of Miss Earth Beauty Pageant we do not see a certain prototype among their winners. Their second winner is a diva who was later on dethroned because of her divanesque attitude. She was replaced by a sweet and dedicated candidate from Kenya. In the way I see things for this years’ pageant, Stephany would be able to enter the semifinalists and we will see from there if she got what it takes. 

Queenierich Rehman

Queenierich is my favorite to take the plum for this years’ MWP. She has the facial beauty that is coupled with good body symmetry. She is exuberant and engaging in the runway and thus there is no question why she won the crown handily.  She is a perfect candidate for any international pageant for the country.

Although she is my choice for the crown, one pageant observer says that Miss World does not only fulfill the criterion for physical beauty but also must possess a beautiful mind, beautiful thoughts and deeds. She must be a substantial woman with an identity to stand out and tall. True, I saw most of these qualities in Queenierich. But does she possess the beautiful deeds that Miss World is looking for? When we talk of beautiful deeds, we talk about the woman that possesses with a beauty for a purpose? Has Queenierich embarked on a program to highlight this criterion that the Miss World Organization is looking for? By this time, Queenierich might be cramming as she is to fly to Ordos, Inner Mongolia to compete for the Miss World Beauty Pageant by mid-July. Her preparation is so short that she might not be able to psyche herself competing among more than 100 candidates.

Well, we will see in her the mark of readiness when she performs competitively against all other beautiful women around the world and make herself the best beauty with a purpose. I have high hopes for her. 

After carefully assessing them, I am again reminded by what the first Miss Universe of our country, Miss Gloria Diaz has said. Competing in an international beauty pageant is 99% luck and thus, it would still be lady luck that would determine our candidates’ chances. You may be most prepared and most beautiful candidate to grace the pageant and yet luck is not on your side. So basing from this, why do I get this feeling that only one will come out triumphant among these 4 beauties, and she is not even amongst my favorites to win her national crown. Such gut feel. 

Photo Credits: philstar.com, crunchyroll.com, mwp.com, quotednews.com

NICOLE SCHMITZ : A NEW HOPE FOR ANOTHER MISS INTERNATIONAL CROWN

by Raphael Porciuncula




“I would rather be someone respected. Because that means if you maintain your integrity, dignity and self-respect, and that means, in turn you will be loved by whoever matters and everyone loves you.” – Nicole Schmitz, Binibining Pilipinas International 2012

All this girl really needs is just the ticket to go to Okinawa, Japan this coming October since she’s very much ready to compete. Everyone is excited about her and when she was announced as the representative to the Miss International pageant, many pageant fans were upset because they were rooting for her to represent the country in the Miss Universe Beauty pageant. This girl was born in Sidney, New South Wales, Australia on June 28, 1988 to retired chef Udo Schmitz and Filipinas salesperson Leilani Maturan. Her mother is from the Queen City of Cebu.

Nicole is no stranger to beauty pageants. At the age of 16, she was Miss Teen Philippines First Runner-up and went on to win later the Miss Mandaue Philippines 2006 where she was Best in National Costume and evening gown. This was quickly followed the year after with a semi-finalist performance at the Binibining Pilipinas 2007. She was chosen as Miss Avon at that time. When she went back to Australia, she joined Model Quest Australia where she was adjudged as the winner in 2007. The awards she got were Best in Ramp, Best in Street Wear, Best in Swimsuit and Best in Evening Gown. A year after, Nicole joined the Miss Philippines-Australia contest where she was adjudged as the winner and with special awards such as Best in Long Gown, Best in Swimsuit, Best in National Costume and Miss Photogenic. The array of titles and awards speak for Nicole’s great performance onstage. Nicole does not only possess these pageant credentials, she had also ramp, print, TV Hosting and Presenting experiences. She was seen on numerous commercials and magazine layouts.

When asked why she joined back Binibining Pilipinas 2012, she answered that “It is something that she dreamt of for so long as she wanted to represent the other half of herself (Nicole has dual citizenship ; Australia and Philippines) in an international beauty pageant. Her winning the Binibining Pilipinas International title is her gateway to competing with other girls from different parts of the world. She said she had been passionate about this goal and the only way to make this a reality is join the contest once again. She said, she needs to get this out of her system before she gets older and cannot qualify anymore for any pageant.

Now that she had been crowned Binibining Pilipinas International, she will not rest on her laurels and believe the people that she is all ready to join the Miss International Pageant even it is to be held now. She takes the challenge with so much concern that she is ready to undergo the rigorous training Binibining Pilipinas will give them. She will also take a long look into her terpsichorean skills and will try to polish her dance steps to prepare her further in her international contest. She is an optimist and she promises all those who believed her that she will try as much as possible not to leave any stones unturned just to get ready for the contest.

By winning the national title, she says that this would open a lot of doors for her. Although there are so many opportunities knocking at the door now, her main concern is to prepare for her international pageant. Some people attribute her appeal to the combination of her Fil-German heritage and she is very thankful for the complement. Although she is a veteran on stage, she still looks at Rodgil Flores as the source of the confidence she essayed in the contest. Her training under him made her in good stead.

Nicole despite her Fil-European ancestry and generally grew up in Sidney, she always looks at Cebu, her mother’s birthplace as her second home. She looks at Cebu with so much fondness – the natural beauty of the place, the people and its colorful culture. Her stay in the Philippines is mostly in Cebu and life is always joy in every sense.

Nicole has adapted quite well with life in the Philippines. She is always thankful with all the people complimenting about her beauty. She says that she is a product of intermarriage and that you don’t define people by the way they look. The Filipino people are an intermixing of different cultures and thus there is no singular look of who and what a Filipina should be. We should celebrate this occurrence and thus project the new Filipina in the any world stage and be proud to celebrate that heritage.

As a pageant observer, she is my Top bet to win the Miss Universe Philippines crown. Although she did not win the Top plum, she won the Binibining Pilipinas International crown. She will be competing either in China or Japan where her mestiza features would be well-appreciated. Her communication skills are above par and thus it would prove her stead well when she delivers her speech in front of the judges.

Indeed Nicole is a very fine young lady who finished a bachelor degree in Psychology and is presently finishing her Law Degree at the Macquarie University in Australia. Kudos to my personal bet.

PHOTO CREDITS: Joy Ann Burton-Titular, Ron Titular, BPCI, Emerson Cebanico, WZ2012, Pinoystar blog, watchmisspageant.com, ABS-CBN, Mingsworldtravel.biz

KNOW YOUR BB. PILIPINAS 2012 CANDIDATES (#7 to #12)

Candidate no. 7 is Patricia Lae Santos Ejercitado. Pat as she is called by her family and friends is 23 years old, stands at 5 feet and 7 ½ inches tall. Her vital stats are 34-22 ¾-34, she lives in Cainta, Rizal with her family. Her mother who hails from Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan married at a young age to her father who hails from Sta. Magdalena, Sorsogon in Bicol region. Pat graduated with a degree in Interior Design at the University of Sto. Tomas and has passed the interior design licensure exam last year and she’s now a certified Licensed Interior Designer. Aside from being a licensed interior designer, she is also into painting which she considers herself as one who falls in love with canvasses. Although stereotypically artists are considered introvert, she is more of a fun loving and outgoing little Michelangelo. She enjoy going out of town, seeing the beaches and the different parts of the Philippines from which she get her inspiration for her artworks. Before joining the Bb. Pilipinas in 2010 she was a typical boyish girl and was having a hard time walking in high heels, maintaining her balance and at the same time keeping her posture as poised as it should be. But then she realize it was fun and she is now back enjoying the time of her life.

Given the second chance to prove herself at this year’s Bb. Pilipinas and pursue her childhood dream of becoming a beauty queen, she has prepared for this year’s competition with more confidence and determination to win one of the titles. She think that what makes her standout in this competition is her natural skin color which she take good care of as it is one of her best assets, her exotic look and her winning spirit. God, family, friends and those people who believe in her are her sources of inspiration to win in this competition.

To all her supporters, she want to thank all of you for believing in her and inspiring her to work even harder for this years Bb. Pilipinas. She appreciate all the effort of giving her suggestions and words of encouragement. She said, "Let's all pray and hope that GOD will reward us the coveted crown. Let us enjoy this celebration of Filipina beauty and not lose its essence by maintaining peace and friendship in supporting your own bets. God bless us all."

Photo credits: CriticalBeauty.com ; Information source: Beauty Mania website. Thanks! :)

*****

Candidate no. 8 is Nicole Maturan Schmitz. Nicole was born in Sydney, New South Wales on June 28, 1988 to German retired chef Udo Schmitz and Filipina salesperson Leilani Maturan. Now 23, Nicole first competed for Bb. Pilipinas in 2007 and was fortunate enough to make it as a top ten finalist. She also joined several pageants in Cebu (where her mother originally came from) and Australia, and has a string of beauty titles to her name: Miss Mandaue 2006, Miss Teen Philippines 1st runner-up 2006 and Miss Philippines Australia 2008.

Nicole graduated with two degrees to her name – Psychology and Law. She wants to be a media lawyer in the future even as she also hopes to be able to work as a clinical psychologist for children.

It took the 5' 7 3/4" Nicole five years to take a second crack at the coveted Bb. Pilipinas crown. Having learned her lessons from her first try, Nicole, whose tale-of-the-tape reads 34-23-34, has come back prepared to face the challenge to be crowned as the next Bb. Pilipinas queen.

Photo credits: CriticalBeauty.com ; Information source: Malaya.com.ph

*****

Candidate no. 9 is Mary Jean Lastimosa. MJ as she is called by her family and friends is 24 years old and from Davao City. She stands at 5 feet and 8 inches tall, a graduate of the University of Mindanao with a degree in Computer Engineering. MJ has an Arab/ Filipino blood. Her family were leaving abroad except her sister. MJ has been joining beauty pageants since her teen years and has won some of them. Here are the list of pageants she has joined, Mutya ng Tulunan 2003, Lakambini ng University of Mindanao 2004, Mutya ng North Cotabato 2004, 1st runner up, Davao's Loveliest 2005, 1st runner up, Mutya ng University of Mindanao 2006, Miss Regional PRISAA 2007, Miss National PRISAA 2007, 2nd runner up, Mutya ng Davao 2008, Reyna ng Aliwan 2008, BB. Pilipinas 2011, 2nd runner up.

MJ's hobbies/talent are internet surfing, working out, reading and dance sports.

Photo credits: Bb. Pilipinas Charities, Inc., CriticalBeauty.com and Pilipinas Beauties. Thanks! :)

*****

Candidate no. 10 is Jillean Camille Manibog Orbina. Jill as she is fondly called by her family and friends is 20 years old and an AB Mass Communications student at Philippine Women's University. She stands at 5 feet and 8 inches tall, representing the province of Isabela. She was 2nd runner-up at Mutya ng Taguig 2011.

Jill's father is half Mexican and her mom has a Japanese blood. She's been living independently and had some experiences on runway projects and photo shoots. Jill loves to sing which is evident at the Talent Competition where she sang "Torete".

Photo credits: Bb. Pilipinas Charities, Inc. and CriticalBeauty.com. Thanks! :)

*****

Candidate no. 11 is Marie Virginia Cecile Molo Peter. Marie as she is called by her friends and family is 21 years old and stands at 5 feet and 8 1/2 inches tall. Marie is of Filipino, Norwegian and German descent. Her mother is pure Filipina originally from Tangalan, Aklan. Whereas her father is half Norwegian and half German. She was born in Kalibo, Aklan where she was enrolled in Aklan Learning Center for Kindergarten and Prep. School before they moved to Norway at the age of 7.

She have lived in Fredrikstad, Norway for 14 years before she moved to Munich, Germany in 2010 for a one year study. And now back in the Philippines competing for one of the Bb. Pilipinas 2012 crowns. She is representing the province of Aklan and asking for the support of her fellow Aklanons.

Photo credits: CriticalBeauty.com. Thanks! :)

*****

Candidate no. 12 is Ayelee Marie Bajal Dasalla. Ayelee is a 21 years old registered nurse and was born on December 25, 1990 in Mariveles, Bataan. She graduated at St. Paul College in Manila with a degree in Nursing. Ayelee stands at 5 feet and 8 1/2 inches tall with a vital stats of 34-23-35. Ayelee is the first runner-up at Miss Bataan 2011.

Photo credits: BPCI and CriticalBeauty.com. Thanks! :)