KATRINA JAYNE DIMARANAN: AGAINST ALL ODDS

by Dominador Agbayani



Beset by problems confronting her family in the United States, Katrina has attended 13 schools before finishing her high school education. She was confronted also with adjusting to every school and every environment that she transferred to. In most cases, children who are put into this kind of situation develop reclusive attitudes. But not with Katrina, she has learned to become independent and be self-determined. It is in these qualities that develoved her into a much stronger individual.

Katrina is born to both Filipino parents Leonita Rivera and Ramon Dimaranan from San Juan, Metro Manila. They migrated to the United States when she was still a kid and had experienced the difficult side of life in the Bay Area in California when her parents separated. The family was homeless for a while even to the point that they have to make use of a terminal bathroom as their sleeping quarters with her siblings. These challenging experiences did not tear down Katrina but made her much stronger and she developed an attitude that all those worrying things will come to pass and there is another side to life - the brighter side.

It is not surprising to hear Katrina answer the question given to her in the final selection of the winners. She said, she will education the prime importance if she will be given a chance to become a president even in just a day. Katrina experienced the need of a better education as seen from her constant changing and transfers of school. Everyone should be schooled at least. And at 18 she was able to do that despite mounting odds. And so in the near future, she hopes to finish a degree course in Psychology not just to equip her with wisdom and education but to relate with people from all walks of life and share with them her life experiences.

This dusky beauty that towers 5'9" with body measurements of 34-24-35 won Miss Talent during the competition activities. She was described as the girl with a Rhythm and Blues (R and B) voice. As we all know, this music genre was popularized by African-Americans and the audience who heard her remarked that she is a Filipina with a "black" voice. She gave out a very professional performance and the pageant fans were easily attracted and convinced that she is one of the candidates to watch out for. One pageant fan underscored it most: "I do not know what is in her but every time I see her, there seem to be a force that gets me attracted to her." Well simply put, Katrina is the girl that possesses the proverbial X-factor and she has evidences to boot. She is the recent winner of Miss Philippines-USA and she is full of singing talent.

This looker has definitely improved from the time she was seen during the screening period up until she was chosen and crowned Binibining Pilipinas Tourism 2012. Under Jonas Gaffud's Aces and Queens mentorship, she has bloomed into a competitive young lady. She has a gift of gab, great personality and immense confidence - the three traits that made her what she is now - the new Binibining Pilipinas Tourism 2012. Katrina;s maturity and sophistication even at the age of 18 will probably get us a new crown from the Miss Tourism Queen International Competition to be held in China sometime this year. Kudos and we wish her the best of luck.

"Despite all odds, things will turn out right." - Katrina Jayne Dimaranan

Photo Credits: www.facebook/katrinadimaranan, Paul Cortes, Missosology,info

QUEENTESSENCE FINAL HOT PICKS FOR BB. PILIPINAS 2012

By Jetset Alejandro

After a careful reckoning and watching the girls from afar and making notes for every movement and developments among them, the Queentessence staff gathered all their choices and using the formula that the rank 1 gets 5 points, rank 2 gets 4 points, rank 3 gets 3 points, rank 4 gets 2 points and rank 5 gets 1 point. We feel that at Queentessence, we should declare our say in our Final Choices and compare it with the final results come pageant Day. This is how we try to get the pulse of the viewing public, pundits and pageant fans compared to the choices of the judges sitting that fateful night.


Let us see how the staff made their choices:

Rose Ann Aguilar has this charming countenance. She has a beautiful demeanor that in the process of comparing one candidate to another, you get this consideration that you will choose her. From the other possible candidates that could possibly be Top 12, Rose Ann fills that spot and who knows, even if it is a shot, she will be a tough consideration that will matter in the end.

Ranked Number 11 is Sherlyn Gonzales. Sherlyn is despite being petite, shines through. She is very charming and she is always a favorite among pageant fans.

Elaine Kay Moll ranked 10th among the Queentessence Staff. There are those that who have misgivings with her. Most of the staff say that she lacks POWER - personality, dressing, poise and elan. The only Power that goes for her is height. But a thing of beauty is not only height. It is the totality of the person. And I just felt that she should have trained much more and joined when she is ready - very much ready.

Liezl Alcantara was pretty good in her outings. She is creating a big buzz among pageant pundits and fans. However, she ranked 9th this time as compared to our survey. There seem to be a nagging feeling that despite her beauty, charm and height, she seemed unprepared for the work ahead. Her lights seemed to be dimming. But it would not really hurt if she is the unexpected who would snatch the Bb. Pilipinas International title or a runner-up position at that.

Jillean Camille Orbina is a tall and lithe individual who when styled properly will be a force to reckon with in the pageant arena. However, Jill's weakness is that she seem not to care what her looks would be. In the Operation Smile activity, she had a bad hair day. In the Meet and Greet Activity, she seems just around clowning with her fellow contestants and the fans. She was not properly groomed. She started out just as right but pfft....If she would take a big stride and improve on her weaknesses, Jill can be a threat to the Top 5.

Gina Joy Howell is in our 7th position. She is such a beauty but lacks the great personality to come out really shining among the 30 candidates. This is the problem with her, she seemed to be marginalized when she is with other candidates. She should learn to put make up on herself and that she should contour her face to make it look fiercer as she looks so bland in the boobtube and on pictures. She has an ace in sleeve though. She can communicate and convey her thoughts.

Roxanne Joy Jesalva is in the 6th position. She is such a beauty but she never had the chance to really shine as her handlers are groping so much on what make up and styling should be done on her. They should have done that prior to the contest. Her performance in the primer showed that she would need to train more in terms of public speaking. She needs to heighten the level of her performance so as not be overshadowed by the first 5 candidates.


The results of our voting was very close as we had a triple tie for the Top post. And thus, we needed to deliberate on who should be sent for the Top pageants. There was triple tie among : Patricia Lae Ejercitado, Nicole Schmitz and Janine Tugonon. 
We discussed and we highlighted the positive points of every candidate and where they would be most appropriate to compete.

Second Runner-up - Analie M. Forbes

-Analie is great. She is full of charms. She embraces the great notion of beauty and thus she practically has the beauty that said it all.
As we have said, we may be wrong and our choices just remains to be our choices and that matters, we have voiced out our preferences.

First Runner-up - MJ Lastimosa

-After a great soul-searching I feel MJ did not rise up to the occassion. She is so tense-filled and it showed in her perfomance. Her uneasiness and anxiety said it all. I know she is dying for the MUP crown but we greatly think she is not ready for it. There are other girls that might even upstage her. We may be wrong and we hope we are wrong.

Bb. Pilipinas Tourism 2012 - Janine Tugonon

- Although a lot of people says she's the one for the MUP, most of our staff think that she does not fit the mold for that contest. Her oriental appeal may not also be appealing for the Miss International Pageant. The MTQI is best suited for her. Her oriental features and her haughty demeanor is just the right fit for this contest.

Bb. Pilipinas International 2012 - Nicole Schmitz

-Nicole though has all the trimmings for the Miss Universe Philippines title. However, her mestiza features is much fitter and better for the Miss International Competition. She would be able to espouse her ideas much better in the speech section of the contest.

Miss Universe Philippines 2012 - Patricia Lae Ejercitado

- This girl is exotic. She is incarnation of the kayumangging kaligatan Philippine Goddes. She is simply radiating and glowing. No amount of criticism dampened her appeal. She is therefore the fittest candidate to be crowned Miss Universe Philippines title.