by Jetset Alejandro
I
have looked forward to the airing of Miss Philippines-Earth 2012 at TFC a day
after the pageant was held as I am out of the country and cannot watch the live
proceedings of the pageant. It feels like déjà vu watching it. To acquaint some
of the readers about the meaning of déjà vu, it means “already seen” or having
experienced it some other time. Well, it really seems it is. Why do I say it?
The scoring system is patterned after the Miss World Contest that I have
watched in recent times. The challenges are different and varied as seen in
this pageant. And the winner, it seems like I have seen a similar winner in
the Miss World Philippines pageant who eventually became First Princess in the Miss World 2011. And lastly, it was boring and to say the least, the Miss World
Beauty Pageant bored me to death. However this pageant was just a notch higher
as it bored me only to the brink of death.
Let
me painstakingly make a run down of what the pageant was all about:
THE
VENUE AND THE STAGE:
The
venue is at the SM Mall of Asia Center Stage. It is the latest offering of SM
for its entertainment arm. Considered the top of the entertainment areas at
present, we were in awe how grand and spacious the stage was. There was not
much stage design seen but I surmised the interplay of the lights was supposed
to take over the grandeur but it did not.
THE
PRODUCTION NUMBER:
We
were introduced to a dazzling jazz number by selected dancers (probably ABS-CBN
dancers) when we saw the entrance of the first set of candidates with similar
outfits and with a blue shoulder shawl. Then they were followed by other
candidates with similarly colored outfits but this time with no shoulder
shawls. The candidates gyrated onstage and swayed their hands and simply, there
was not much variation or excitement created by the production number. I just
felt that the production number should be an imprimatur to the big bang ahead
but nay, it just created a ripple. Add to this is the camera panning which
lacks focus and clarity and of course, the lighting which makes us difficult to
discern what is happening onstage. I have this complaint about lighting during
the Miss Earth 2011 and Binibining Pilipinas 2012 production and yet ABS-CBN
does not seem to listen to gripes from spectators on TV like us. They should up
their ante concerning this in order to satisfy their viewing customers. In any
way, it should always be the dictum, “the customer is always right.”
THE
HOSTS:
We
were introduced to the hosts of the pageant in the person of Marc Nelson,
Rovilson Fernandez and Ginger Conejero. Marc seemed detached and uninspired.
Rovilson upped his vigor but he rubs the audience and Ginger tried very much to
put the proceeding to a higher level and sometimes succeeds but just so-so most
of the time. Further, Rovilson irks me more when he was introducing the members
of the Board of Judges when he makes side-remarks after formally introducing
them. Hosting decorum please for Rovilson.
THE
JUDGES:
1. Mr. Frederick Alegre –ADBOARD
2. Gen. Lina Sarmiento –PNP Chief
Superintendent
3. Ms. Christine Cunanan – Travel
life Executive Officer
4. Mr. Joey Mendoza – Executive
Officer for SM Supermarkets
5. Miss Empress Schuck –
Artist,Actress, Model Philippines
6. Mr. Bryan McClelland – Fil-Am
Socio-Ecological Entrepreneur
7. Mr. Raffy Chico- Best Western
Premier Manager
8. Ms. Shalani Soledad-Romulo
–Valenzuela City Councilor
9. Hon. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel –
Senator, Republic of the Philippines
10. Ms. Rachel Grant –Actress, TV
Model Host
11. Ambassador Extraordinaire of
Indonesia to the Philippines – H.E. Kristiato Llegogo
THE
SWIMSUIT ROUND
All
the candidates paraded in their swimsuits. It seemed like eternity seeing all
the 47 candidates parading in front of the audience. Since all the candidates
needed to be presented in their swimwear, there is no clear focusing on the
particular candidates. The lighting and panning are again very wanting. After
the swimsuit round, the first set of finalists was announced and they are as
follows:
1.
Miss
San Juan City – Samantha Purvor
2.
Miss
Negros Oriental – Glenna Duch
3.
Miss
San Francisco, Cebu – Princess Leiza Manzon
4.
Miss
Tabuk City – Glennifer Perido
5.
Miss
Puerto Princesa City – Thoreen Halvorsen
THE
EVENING GOWN COMPETITION
The
girls again paraded in their evening gowns. As the girls are sashaying in their
evening gowns, the group of 4 ABS-CBN talents (Boys are Boys) performed. I
really don’t understand why they have to allow this travesty. At the outset,
the boys came out flat on their song and they never recovered till the end. It
is disaster at my end and again, it irked me just like having Rovilson as one
of the hosts for the pageant. After the evening gown parade, the next set of 5
was announced as follows:
6.
Miss
Quezon City – Stephany Dianne Stefanowitz
7.
Miss
Fil-Belgium – Roxanne Corluy
8.
Miss
Muntinlupa City – Kathleen Subijano
9.
Miss
Indang Cavite – Jaydielou Dilidli
10.
Miss
Vigan City –Mary Candice Ramos
THE
QUESTION AND ANSWER PORTION
We
saw all the candidates in Tan Gan’s gowns which were pretty beautiful and
elegant. Let us have a run down again of how the girls answered:
- Samantha Purvor was asked how
fun was San Juan City? She answered that people in San Juan City are warm,
loving and compassionate. She went further by trying to beat around the
bush. Oh oh. Hmmmm….Seems like the crown is not for her.
- Glenna Duch of Negros
Oriental was asked what the causes of climate change are. Well she gave an
answer and went further how we can overcome climate changes. She was
eloquent though but I don’t know how the judges would find her answer.
- Princess Leiza Mazon of San
Francisco, Cebu was asked what type of renewable energy she recommends the
country would use. She answered it should be solar energy because as a
tropical country we are blessed with the sun all year round. She wanted to
say more but because she heard the bell, it seems like she would like to expand
her answer more. But in reality, she had nailed the answer only that she
gave an uncertain look after she answered.
- Glennifer Perido was asked
about the environment suffering from the results of economic development.
What can she say about it? She said, a country needs to be developed for
the betterment of the people but it should not be at the expense of the
environment. The pros and cons of a project should be discussed and that
its effects in the environment should be tackled. She said that if we lose
the environment, the future will not be good.
- Thoreen Halvorsen of Puerto
Princesa was asked about a question about the Underground River’s being
adjudged as one of the New 7 wonders of the world. What does she think be
done to protect the place so that future generations can enjoy the place?
She said the government in Puerto Princesa is doing everything to make the
place sustainable and that only 500 tourists per day will be allowed to
see the place.
- Stephany Dianne Stefanowitz
of Quezon City was asked if she had any super powers what would it be and
how will this super power help preserve Mother Earth. She answered that
she would like to have a super power to clean the environment so that the
future generation can have a clean place to live in.
- Fil-Belgium’s
representation, Roxanne Colruy said she will push forward environmental
concerns as part of her projects when asked what she can do as a winner of
the pageant. She said other things but I was not able to pick it up since
most the candidates seem to rush their answers because of the 30 seconds
limit to answer the question.
- Kathleen Subijano of
Muntinlupa City was asked how will she teach the children about
environmental preservation and she quipped that it is really important to
start with the children and she has a niece for whom she can start
teaching the ways of protecting the environment.
- Miss Indang in the person of
Jaydielou Dilidli was asked what she had learned about joining the
pageant. She remarked that she learned about the concept of sustainability.
And that we should look at sustainable and renewable sources of energy.
- Lastly, Miss Vigan City Mary
Candice Ramos was asked about the biggest environmental problem and what
she thinks is the answer to this problem. She answered about sustainability
and she enumerated a barrage of answers and made it difficult for me to
follow her trend of thought but she seemed so confident of her answers and
quite eloquent.
THE
FAREWELL WALK
Outgoing
Athena Imperial made her last walk as Miss Philippines-Earth and she did it in
the Tagalog language. She was followed by her court after. It was supposed to
be a touching gesture but it seemed like a put on to me. I wonder though.
ANNOUNCEMENT
OF WINNERS:
The
announcement was quick. After the 10 finalists answered the questions, the 5
winners were announced from them. In previous selections, a Top 5 was called
and they were asked same question from where the eventual winners are crowned.
The following are the winners:
Miss Philippines-Eco-Tourism : Miss
Vigan City
Miss Philippines-Fire: Miss Puerto
Princesa City
Miss Philippines-Water: Miss San
Juan City
Miss Philippines-Air: Miss Tabuk
City
Miss Philippines- Earth: Miss Quezon
City
TIDBITS:
- My personal Top 5 were Vigan
City, Pagadian City, San Juan City, Tabuk City and Quezon City. I
correctly predicted 4 in the Top 5 with almost the same ranking except
Pagadian City. I don’t know why Puerto Princesa was out of my radar. The
reason probably is that her pictures do not do her justice. One of our
writers even questioned her inclusion as one of the finalists in the
evening gown competition. But come to think about it, watching her last
night at TFC I must admit I overlooked her qualities. Note that the
winning Top 5 came from the cities.
- As to the Top 10, I
correctly predicted 8 out of 10. As told earlier, Pagadian City is one of
my favorites. I see in her a diva from her looks alone. Can this be the
reason why she was eased out of the Top 10? Another personal favorite is
Miss Cabugao. Miss San Francisco, Cebu placed in the Top 10 instead.
- I don’t know if the reason
of announcing the first five of semi-finalists after the swimsuit round is
just for novelty. I don’t see any other reason. Then the other five is
after the evening gown round. Is it to underscore the fact that Miss San
Juan City topped the swimsuit round and then the evening gown was topped
by Miss Quezon City? Well, for one, I find the process so disjointed and
it did not appeal to me. I would have preferred that the ten girls were
announced after the production number and they compete for the swimsuit
and evening gown rounds. Then a casual interview is done to select the Top
5 and from where they are asked a final question.
- Every year, there are
innovations into the Miss Philippines-Earth Beauty pageant and since there
is no consistency, pageant observers do not know what to expect. This is
good in a sense since everyone is kept on guessing what it would be for a
particular year. But these innovations sometimes put the organization in
question because of their penchant for change. Take for example last year
where only 10 candidates mattered during the final pageant and thus,
eventually crowning someone that pageant fans dislike. In fairness though, the organization was
transparent about their scoring system for the challenges that would
constitute preliminary scores plus their scores with the pre-judging
panel. However, they should have placed a percentage of how much will come
from the challenge scores and how much will come from the pre-judging
interview and personality scores. I am saying this because a lot are
questioning Miss Mandaluyong’s inclusion in the Top 10 because she only
garnered a score of 74 in the challenges and there were quite a number
that had a higher score than her.
- The Miss Philippines-Earth
season just came after the heels of the Binibining Pilipinas Beauty
pageant and that after the Binibini season, it zaps out pageant fans
energy and enthusiasm. Truth to tell, our interest with Miss
Philippines-Earth has dampened not only a bit but to some extent. The
town/province representation should be more strengthened but candidates
which are of better and of international caliber should be chosen. I still
prefer the regional representations. The candidates are better chosen in
the regionals.
Photo Credits: Miss Philippines-Earth.com, ABS-CBN
