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 5th 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
