BINIBINING PILIPINAS CROWNS ITS 2013 WINNERS!

By Arnulfo Distor

“Sensitivity is the one thing that women can teach men”- Ariella Arida

The golden edition of the Binibining Pilipinas adhered to the template of choosing the winner for the Miss Universe Philippines title. A BS Chemistry graduate from the University of the Philippines who hails from the province of Laguna was crowned in a night of glittering fashion. Ariella “Ara” Arida, was not a fan favorite but wowed the audience on the fashion show and finally claimed her call to fame on the coronation night. She was also chosen as Best in Swimsuit.

Bea Rose Santiago was chosen as the Bb. Pilipinas-International 2013, a multi-talented model and grew up in Canada but eventually came back to her Filipino roots to fulfill a dream to represent the Philippines in the Miss International contest. She said that the ideal Filipino is both proud and happy. She emphasized that love of her mother country the Philippines make the family go back to their roots every year. She was also adjudged as Miss Avon.

Bb. Pilipinas-Tourism is Joanna Cindy Miranda who had two special awards during the evening. She was adjudged as the Miss Petron 2013 as well as Cream Silk Beyond Beautiful Woman Award. When asked what personality quality people remember about her, she quipped that she is unstoppable and that she wanted to do everything and she does as long she knows it is the right thing to do.

Erstwhile fan favorite Mutya Johanna Datul settled for the Bb. Supranational title. Mutya was well-loved as she had a lot of fans rooting for her. She won the Miss Photogenic and Best in Evening Gown special awards. I am not at a surprise of the two special awards she had. She was always good in pictures and she was simply resplendent in the evening gown department as even noted Philippine fashion designers were admirably clapping for her during the segment. Everyone was on their heels during the Question and Answer portion where pageant fans think that this is her waterloo. When asked by Ambassador Roberto Mayorga about her advocacy, she said, she wanted to extend help to people in need especially those people who are within the sponsorship of the BPCI charities.

Pia Wurtzbach, another front-runner was first runner-up.  When asked about the greatest achievement of Bb. Pilipinas, she quipped that it is not only the candidates but also everyone because the organization has touched a lot of people’s lives and it has become an inspiration to everyone.

Fifteen semifinalists were chosen and the others that completed the circle were Parul Shah, Maria Angelica de Leon, Merry Joyce Respicio, Camille Carla Nazar, Amanda Noelle Navasero, Ellore Noelle Punzalan, Charmaine Elima, Rhea Nakpil, Grace Yann Apuad and Imelda Schweighart.

Photo Credits: Bb. Pilipinas, Critical Beauty, OPMB, Missosology

QUEENTESSENCE’ FINAL PICKS

By Rolando Rafael

My experience for this years’ edition of the Bb. Pilipinas 2013 was quite tiring and exhausting. Imagine looking at 50 candidates and you reach a saturation point that sometimes you cannot separate the real beauty from the mediocre ones. The Philippine-based team had difficulty on what approach we are going to follow in terms of choosing our Top 20. But eventually, we selected the Top 20 based on selections for the Top 10 girls with the most beautiful face, the Top 10 girls with Beauty of Physique and Fitness, the Top 10 girls with Strong Personality and X-factor and the Top 10 girls were good communication skills. We collated them and came out of the Top 20. The Top 20 is our choices but we will try to give our predictions based on the realities of the contest.

The Top 5 candidates that went into our criteria selection are as follows:

1.   Mutya Johanna Datul (39) –Mutya had been very consistent among the pageant followers. She scored high among the girls with the beautiful face, beautiful body and personality and X-factor rating. She was however, rated lowly in the communication skills department. Some pundits say that despite the deficiency in that department, she could be a very good representative in Miss International, Miss Tourism pageants as well as the Miss Supranational. She would probably had a difficulty clinching the Miss Universe Philippines title as this contest would require an innate ability to communicate what is in your head easily.

2.   Charmaine Elima (13) ranked second to Datul. She scored high also in the face, body and personality departments. Although she is a Cum Laude graduate, her interview as seen in the Primer was in the dialect and was even tentative in some aspects. Although we saw her in the preliminary interview dishing it out in the King’s language and she seemed comfortable with the language too. She therefore maintained an enigma status and thus keeping the fans guessing if she still has some more aces kept up in her sleeves. It would be very interesting to see her during the final pageant and be part of the semifinalists.

3.   Ria Rabajante (1) is such a great surprise to be seen in our Top 5 rankings. Ria scored high in all the departments but she was in the middle ground. Her average pulled her up as the others did not do well in other departments. Will this kind of middle ground be seen during the final night? It could be as Ria is not only beautiful facially but has the body to die for and she had the facility of the English language at hand.

4.   Pia Wurtzbach (15) was almost in everyone’s rating card. She has the beauty and body to speak of. However, she was also tentative in her interviews. We can feel the discomfort that she has when conducting her interviews. I just hope she stands her ground during the final night.

 5.   Imelda Sweighart is a darling (45). She is beautiful. She is sexy. She communicates pretty well but lacks quite the height. But with Olivia Culpo’s triumph in the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant last year, the playing field has practically been changed and she stands a greater chance in getting a slot to the Top 5.

6.   Maria Cristina (Krisma) Pascual (50) basically tied with Imelda for the 5^th position but I placed Imelda in a higher ranking as she is the more popular girl. Krisma also ranked highly in the facial, body, personality and even in the communication skills department. After the fashion show, she has practically evolved into one of the more likeable candidate in the pageant.

 7.   Mercegrace Raquel (28) shot to prominence during the press presentation because of her catwalk skills. The countenance of Mercegrance however is at par with the other girls in the leaderboard as she did exceedingly well during the fashion show. Hence, we were not surprised with a high ranking for her.

8.   Bea Rose Santiago (20) shot to prominence also during the press presentation as well as in the National Costume show. She was very regal in her movements. When the swimsuit pictorials came out, she was seen as someone who would be threat to any of the crowns being offered on April 14. The parade of beauties and the fashion show further underscored the innate characteristics of Bea that made her a possible winner of one of the Bb. Pilipinas crowns.

  

9.   Maria Angelica De Leon (31) is everyone’s talk of the town. Pageant intrigues say that she is the anointed one. With the results of the fashion show there are indications that the gossips, intrigues and rumors may have basis after all. It is such a pity that such buzz came to be because she can never put to claim that she really had the crown by her own merits.

10.                   Nicole Kim Donesa (4) is such a surprise candidate to penetrate the Top 10 amongst the staff. But she did well in the communication skills department in which she ranked first giving the more facially gifted candidates a run for their money.

11.                   Hannah Ruth Sison (19) is another candidate that is good in all departments. She has a beautiful face, body and good personality. Being a faculty member, she communicates pretty well and shows good rapport also to her audience.

12.                   Maria Teresa Gorgonio (30) is an admirable candidate who can communicate her thoughts very well. This will be her ace against the other candidates.

13.                   Jacqueline Alexandra Mayoralgo (42) is another candidate that has excellent communication skills. This aptitude of Ms. Mayoralgo will probably put her in good stead for a semifinalist slot.

14.                   Aiyana Mickiewicz (47) is another candidate that showed great ability in the communication department. With mestiza looks, she is a good candidate to make it to the semifinalist selection and may have great chances of winning the Bb. Pilipinas-International crown.

15.                   Zandra Flores (3) is a very exotic candidate but is limited by her height and her ability to catapult herself amongst the other great contenders.

16.                   Carin Adrianne Ramos (17) is another beautiful candidate that fits the prototype of a Miss International winner.

17.                   Joanna Cindy Miranda (16) is another potential Miss International candidate representative.

18.                   Pauline Quintas (29) has an aura of both Aurora Pijuan and Guadalupe Sanchez both of whom are quintessential Filipina beauties. Will Pauline live up to those expectations?

19.                   Anna Fernandina Buquid (26) is the tallest candidate but she still looks raw for this edition. We just hope that if this girl does not win in this years’ edition, she will come back much matured and much better trained. With better preparation and training she will surely snatch the coveted crown.

20.                   Parul Shah (33) is another exotic candidate in the mold of Venus Raj. But does going along the Venus Raj route repeat a Miss Universe performance where exotic beauties prevail?

There are three others on our list that made a dent on the Top 20 as they tied with Parul with the last slot and they are the following: Maria Sofia Gloria Mustonen (5), Abbygale Monderin (8) and Amanda Navasero (46).

As many other pundits say, the choices are varied. There are so many permutations that can be made out of the 50 candidates. There are so many possible levels of selection and whatever you would want to employ, some choices would come out differently. But on the possible candidates to enter the Top 20, let us winnow the candidates and let us see on what probable pageant can they represent the Philippines best of.

If we are to judge here at Queentessence, our choices would be as follows:

         Miss Universe Philippines – Charmaine Elima

         Bb. Pilipinas-International – Ria Rabajante

         Bb. Pilipinas-Tourism – Mutya Johanna Datul

         Bb. Pilipinas-Supranational (First Runner-up) – Pia Wurtzbach

         Second Runner-up – Imelda Sweighart or Krisma Pascual

But facing the realities of the contest, we predict the following:

         Miss Universe Philippines – Maria Angelica De Leon

         Bb. Pilipinas-International –Krisma Pascual

         Bb. Pilipinas-Tourism – Charmaine Elima

        Bb. Pilipinas-Supranational (First Runner-Up) – Mutya Johanna Datul

         Second Runner-up – Pia Wurtzbach

QUEENTESSENCE’ SURVEY RESULTS POST-PARADE OF BEAUTIES

By Arnulfo Distor

We waited for the Parade of Beauties before we came out of Queentessence’ survey results. When the glam pictures of the candidates in swimsuit came out, a lot of people were impressed with the results but there seem to be a lingering feeling that the pictures were retouched (basically an old term for photoshopped). True indeed because when the candidates were seen in the Parade of Beauties, many of the bystanders who were there during the event remarked “wow, the candidates probably ate too much that’s why they looked big!”  - This is just a gentle aphorism about the candidates’ physique and fitness which were very distant from their swimsuit pictures. We did interview the bystanders and asked their Top 3 candidates which we collated and came out of our Top 20.

Surprisingly, Mutya Datul still came out on top, followed closely by Charmaine Elima. Mariel De Leon is a very popular choice probably because of her pedigree. Mercegrace Raquel kept up with the pace while Anna Fernandina Buquid zoomed again in likeability rating and joined the 4 in the Top 5.

Previous Top 5 choices kept within the striking distance. Pia Wurtzbach and Ria Rabajante are still around the corner while the sweet image of Imelda Sweighart who was everyone’s sweetheart among the fans maintained her rating at a striking distance. Krisma Pascual zoomed up in terms of likeability while Bea Santiago and Hannah Sison maintained plausible ratings. The rest are seen in the pictures as posted.

Queentessence’ will come out of its own personal choices before the pageant night as the one we are posting are based on the choices of our respondents. 

THE THERESA FENGER FIASCO: A COMMENTARY

By Jetset Alejandro

The recent pullout of Theresa Marie Fenger from the Bb. Pilipinas 2013 contest due to disregard of rules, she had a photoshoot with FHM and her picture clad in a bikini came out in the Men’s Magazine when she was still with the girl singing group Eurasia. Many pageant fans debated about this issue whether the picture was offensive or not. Offensive or not, Ms. Fenger went against the rules and was promptly given the door. It was right and just that the organization should replace her with another candidate because in the past there are other disqualification cases that were basically the same in terms of issue.

Well, Ms. Fenger and her team know this beforehand since this had been a prickly and tickling issue eversince but should I say they probably have done this in bad faith as they proceeded as if the rule was not in place. That’s why even though Miss Fenger was starting to inch her way up there, when the issue came out I failed to sympathize with her since she knew beforehand that her posing for FHM would basically cause her disqualification eventually. Some say, she quit but that is the good way out rather than being given the disqualification order at hand. What is she aspiring for in the future? Will she come back a-la MacArthur, I shall return when the rule is already lifted? The truth at hand is that Ms. Fenger is already 25 years old and she will only be qualified for the Miss Universe Philippines title since Miss International and Miss Tourism contests peg their age limit until 23 years old. And I believe that rule will never be lifted in so short a time. If Miss Fenger still dreams big to be the Philippines’ representative to an international beauty pageant, then she should look her way to the Miss World Philippines and Miss Philippines-Earth. Or even the Mutya ng Pilipinas which sends its winners to the Miss Intercontinental and Miss Tourism International Beauty Pageants.

Ms. Fenger knows the rules and she took the risk in getting exposed eventually. No one was raising the issue against her as most pundits think she is not a front-runner in the contest. During the Press Conference and the National Costume Competition, it was said that the matriarch of the Bb. Pilipinas gave a resounding admiration to her by clapping deliriously. Suddenly she has emerged as a candidate of consequence and this probably sounded an alarm among the candidates’ handlers, followers or fans and thus, the expose was done in one pageant forum which went viral in various pageant forums picked up even in other countries’ forum.

The quintessential Filipino “talangka” character or the crab-mentality is again at works here. What is the “Talangka” mentality? This mentality is defined as when people want to pull other people down. When the Filipino realizes that her neighbor or competitor is going up the ladder, they find ways to pull their compatriots down. It is a common attitude amongst the Filipino and you can see it around the world. This is one of the reasons that even in other countries, they cannot unite. There are so many organizations amongst them and that they believe they can lead the pack. All become leaders and no one follows.

So it is the same in beauty pageants! Those who pull down are actually doing it intentionally. When someone is leading the pack, they throw so many brickbats. They would want to curb, suppress or restrain the eventual triumph of the leading candidate. This gives them the sense of security that they are able to sabotage the efforts of others even though they do not win at all as long as the leading contender will not win.  For them it is better to see others fall than to see them on top. What is important is that the competitors are down and the provocateurs are on top.

It is really a wonder why the team of Miss Fenger was caught sleeping on their job. They have been lording it over for some time that pageant fans are raising their arms about their high-handed tactics on winning the most sought title in the Binibini. Or has it occur in their minds that they have acquired the power to influence the organization clandestinely and that it will close their eyes to the travesty of the rule?

They might have forgotten that power of the internet. With the advent of social networking, it has galvanized pageant fans against inequality in the enforcement of the rules and regulations of the pageant. The rumor mills, rumor-mongering and the destructive letter writings have acquired new visages through the internet world. Candidates’ attitudes, pageant secrets and many other things just surface in many pageant forums to the surprise of the level-headed pageant followers. It becomes a heyday for everyone. But these continue to become a fare in the most followed national pageant because the organizers put credence to these controversies and innuendos. Had the pageant organizers been more transparent in the choices of the winners then, there would have been none of slightest controversies.

Be they be rumors without any basis, pageant followers are given the pleasure to be updated not only because of the news bits entertainment value but because it makes them aware that things like this do happen. It makes them aware of the issues at hand. And when they realized that the organizers have taken them for a ride, they rise up in arms and fought for what they think is right. They have done it in past and surely they can do it again. The pageant fans have made beauty contests a life of their own and tampering with their life is certainly a transgression on their treasured being.

As a blog writer, I believe that this phenomenon clearly underscored Marshall Mcluhan’s words, “the medium is the message.”  The internet world being the new medium of social networking has become an extension of everyone’s self. The personal and social consequences are very vast and therefore it is far-reaching. Any new technology that comes with therefore becomes an extension of us. These advances in technology has finally taken a toll and grasped with the pageant world.

Photo Credits: Bb. Pilipinas, FHM, Penguin Books, Guides.wikinut.com

QUEENTESSENCE POST-TALENT COMPETITION SURVEY RESULTS:

We did a survey among pageant followers as well as known pageant connoisseurs. We asked them to write 15 possible candidates who would probably be included in the semifinals. Some completed the list; while some just placed the candidates they feel based on their standards. On the other some, some only listed 1 or 2. This is just a preliminary result as we are still waiting for some results of those we have written to send in their choices. We had 9 people responding to our email requests while on the FB page we created there were around 16 people who answered the survey already. Hence we have at least 25 respondent’s choices.

Based on our survey, here is the Top 15. We included the next 5 slots since their scores are so near the last 5 ranking candidates. These results will surely change after more responses come in. And we will do another similar survey after the press-presentation as we continue to gauge the pulse of the adoring pageant lovers.

Top 5 based on the Survey: Charmaine Elima, Mutya Johanna Datul, Ria Rabajante, Pia Wurtzbach and Pauline Quintas

Ranks 6 to 10 : Imelda Schweighart, Maria Sofia Gloria Mustonen, Bea Rose Santiago, Merry Joyce Respicio and Ana Fernandina Buquid

Ranks 11 to 15 : Parul Shah, Aiyana Mikiwiecz, Carin Adrianne Ramos, Zandra Flores and Bencelle Bianzon

Ranks 16 to 20: Mariel De Leon, Cindy Miranda, Vania Valiry Vispo, Hannah Sison and Cassandra Naidas

QUEENTESSENCE’ TAKE ON THE BINIBINING PILIPINAS CANDIDATES (SERIES 5 OF 5)

Candidates 41-50

By Arden Bautista

Candidate Number 41 is Ariella Arida. She is 24 years old and is from Alaminos, Laguna. She is a graduate of BS Chemistry in UP Los Banos. Ariella tried out at the Miss Philippines-Earth last year but was not quite lucky. She persevered as she underwent fitness training and what a revelation, she now has a well-toned body and great projection. Can she slug it out with the other candidates who are also gifted with beauty, brains and power?

Candidate Number 42 is Jacqueline Alexandra Mayoralgo. Jacqueline is 24 years old and hails from Makati City. She is a titleholder of Miss Makati Tourism in 2008. She is a professional singer.

Candidate Number 43 is Rhea Nakpil. She is 23 years old and she is from San Mateo, Rizal. Rhea is well-known to everyone as she is working in the celluloid world. However, she took time out from her showbiz life to face another challenge in life which is the Bb. Pilipinas 2013.

Candidate Number 44 is Gabrielle Monique Runnstrom and is 19 years old and from Las Pinas City. She once participated in the Miss Resorts World 2012 Beauty Pageant. She is characterized by one pageant fan as someone who is an interesting mysterious beauty with good facility for words. Would she be lucky this time?

Candidate Number 45 is Imelda Schweighart. Imee is not new to the world of beauty pageants. This 18 year old Fil-German lass won Miss Silka Philippines in 2010. She used to be a co-host of TV5 Primetime Show “Willing Willie” until she succumbed to the call of the Bb. Pilipinas competition. With her mestiza features and her celebrity status and photogenic at that, many people say she would go the way of Nicole Schmitz as Bb. Pilipinas International winner.   

 Candidate Number 46 is Amanda Noelle Navasero. Miss Navasero at this early stage has already a monicker - Miss Casual! Why the tag? Well, she was seen as in very casual outfit and look when she submitted her application to be a candidate. And when the callback was made, she transformed into someone with a sweet aura.

Candidate Number 47 is Aiyana Mikiewicz, a Fil-Ukrainian-German-Scandinavian descent young lady who hails from La Union. Aiyana is Mutya ng La Union 2012 and she has tucked into her belt different regional titles that underscore her claim for a possible Bb. Title. Would she be successful in a national pageant?

Candidate Number 48 is Angeli Dione Gomez. Angeli is Reyna ng Aliwan 2012 and Miss Resorts World 2011 candidate. This sweet looking girl is from Toledo City who can also give the frontrunners a run for their money.

Candidate Number 49 is Herlie Kim Artugue. She is from Cebu and she joined the Miss Cebu City 2012 Beauty Pageant 4^th runner-up. Herlie also did fashion shows when she was in Cebu.

Candidate Number 50 is Maria Cristina Ann Pascual. She is Krisma to friends. Krisma is Miss PSBA 2012 where she finished her Accountancy course. This young lady who is said to be like a latina is bubbly, striking and has a ready smile for everyone. She is said to be very conversant and thus her communication skills are above par. Let us see how she will fare in this year’s pageant.

For this last set of candidates, strong candidates are the following: 45 and 47.

Bubbling up: 41 and 50.

For our strong candidates, we have a total 18 candidates and bubbling up candidates with 8 candidates. We therefore have a total of 26 candidates in contention, just a little more than half of the total candidates. 

In our next issue, we will try to pare our choices as we see them in the press presentation and in their other activities. I have included some inputs made on the candidates during the talent competition to make these first choices.

QUEENTESSENCE’ TAKE ON THE BINIBINING PILIPINAS CANDIDATES (SERIES 4 OF 5)

Candidates 31-40

By Arden Bautista

Candidate Number 31 is Maria Angelica De Leon. Mariel as she is fondly called is the daughter of Christopher de Leon and Sandy Andolong. She is tall at a height of 5’9”. She is a source of debate and brickbats among pageant fans in forums and most of the feedbacks are negative. I hope she does not get jarred with all those flaks as she is gloriously beautiful when I saw her during the talent presentation. She is regal and she sang an aria and she had a melodious voice. She really had to work on her physique as she is on the voluptuous side. Since she has good communication skills, this lady would be in the forefront of the competition.

Candidate Number 32 is Cindy Abundabar. She is 24 years old and is a Nursing Graduate from Goa, Camarines Sur.  She was second runner-up in Miss Bicolandia 2010. She loves to follow TV Series. Unfortunately, during the talent competition, she did not register to me as someone who will put up a good fight on competition night.

Candidate Number 33 is Parul Shah. This tall young lady of 24 years has Indian blood like Venus Raj. She is a dusky beauty and was chosen as the Panagbengga Queen sometime in 2009 and represented the City of Pines in the Aliwan Festival at the Cultural Center and she wounded up as second runner up. Parul has very distinctive features and with good communication skills she is a force to reckon with in this pageant. During the talent presentation she was really a stand out and if she keeps the momentum, then it would not be surprise to see in the winning column.

Candidate Number 34 is Grace Yann Apuad. This tall girl is from Agusan del Sur and she is 24 years old. She joined the Supermodel of the World Philippines in 2003 and was a finalist. She also was a participant in the Miss Teen Philippines pageant held last 2004.  Since then she was not also part of the glitz and glamour of the fashion world but she also dabbled in the celluloid world. Grace has her own fans to speak of but personally, she lacked the spark that we saw in the other candidates.

Candidate Number 35 is Theresa Marie Fenger. She is 25 years old and is from Quezon City. She has dabbled in the entertainment world with the screen name of Lana Roi. She is a former member of an all-girl singing team called Eurasia. She is a former Miss Global Teen Canada and Miss Mayan World in 2004. She was also chosen as Miss Vancouver Universe Canada and won the 2009 Century Tuna Superbody Search. Theresa is a well-applauded candidate. However, she lost the spark that I saw in her when she won in Century Tuna 4 years ago. Her greatest feat is when she opened for the concert of Jennifer Lopez when she visited the country for the first time.

Candidate Number 36 is Angel May Villafuerte. She is a well-applauded candidate as she is a dead-ringer of Miss Shamcey Supsup. She can pass it off as a sibling or twin-sister of 2011 Miss Universe Philippines. Will she be able to rise above the occasion and do a winning performance come April 14?

Candidate Number 37 is Maria Teresita Alain Baccay is 22 years old and is presently staying in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. She once participated in the Miss World Philippines but with no such luck as a winner. She is described by other pageant writers as someone with an ultra-feminine beauty. She is a dead-ringer of another candidate –Mutya Datul.

Candidate Number 38 is Mariz Ong.  Mariz is another cross-over candidate. She participated in the Miss World Philippines 2012 and also with no luck in the winners’ circle. She is from Echague, Isabela and is an Information Technology graduate from the University of La Sallette.

Candidate Number 39 is Mutya Johanna Datul. Mutya once participated at the Mutya ng Pilipinas last year and was said to be a frontrunner but she crumbled during the pageant when she gave a poor answer to the question. Mutya has a very pretty face and bubbly personality. With a universal beauty and a height that is above-average, she is surely a face to contend with. However, if did not train to conquer her Achiless heel, then I would say, she might be given a runner-up position just like other winners in the past.

Candidate Number 40 is Jan Helen Villanueva. She is a 19 years old young lady who loves singing and dancing and is from Norzagaray, Bulacan. She is described to be a delicate beauty with porcelain looking skin.

In this set of candidates, I find the following to be strong candidates:

31,33 and 39.

Bubbling up candidates: 35 and 36

To update you on the strong candidates that we have felt so far, they are: 1,3, 5, 13,15,17, 20, 24,25, 26, 28, 29, 31, 33 and 39.

Our bubbling up candidates are: 2, 14, 19, 27, 35 and 36