GlobalBeauties.com – Miss International 2009 Special

by Joseph Vitug

This year’s Miss International pageant boasted a new record as it attracted 64 contestants this year, outdoing last year’s 63.  Another first for this pageant was that after over 40 years where the contestants initially had to touch base in Japan, this time they followed a relatively abbreviated 16-day schedule with all the events in China—basically two areas, Beijing and the finals in Chengdu. Well, that’s the end of the good news, so far. Because this pageant is being held simultaneously with Miss Earth and Miss World, media coverage has been extremely muted, so much so that sometimes we were forced to rely on contestants’ blogs or Facebook accounts for any impression of the action going on down there. Moreover, based on most available photos, this year’s batch was relatively one of the weakest in recent memory—normally this pageant would have been renowned for the high caliber of beauty amongst its contestants, and it had such a high standard last year, but this time the quality seemed to have sharply dropped to a precipitously low level; this was especially exacerbated by the release of unretouched swimsuit photos that were so harsh and merciless they made the sans-makeup Miss Earth prejudging photos seem like sleekly retouched and polished Fadil Berisha photos—and yes, the Miss International contestants were wearing makeup. Extremely few ladies passed the “acid test” of those photos.

Well, with whatever little information we could go by, let me at least attempt to assess the chances of the 64 delegates in landing the Top 12.

ARGENTINA – Maria Mercedes Viaña. She’s simply plain-looking and skinny, another one of the usual run of mediocre delegates from this country of beautiful women.

ARUBA – Christina Trejo. She might be meatier than Miss Argentina, but still, she is plain-looking. She did look better at Miss World last year.

AUSTRALIA – Kelly Louise Maguire. Pre-arrival photos seemed to suggest that she could possibly have an inside track into the finals. However, after arrival, all we saw was a borderline attractive contestant who barely made a major impression.

BAHAMAS – Aisha Delaney. In the real world, she would be considered attractive and sexy. But in the stratified standards of international pageantry? Simply mediocre.

BELARUS – Yana Supranovich. There were so many swimsuit shots of her saved in the Chinese website—I have this gnawing feeling that the Chinese might be so into her that she would probably be one of the “shocking” surprises on finals night. I’m not so into her and I thought she was too skinny for comfort. But still, there were some angles where she looked polished and pretty enough.

BELGIUM – Cassandra D’Ermilio. She was undeniably pretty—one of the prettiest faces in this year’s pageant and arguably one of the best Belgians sent to this pageant in recent years. But could she make the final cut after a long 16-year absence?  (The last one who made it was Christelle Roelandts back in 1993—she was better known for competing in the Miss Universe pageant in Manila the following year and making a major sensation even without making the final cut.) I think it would depend on how the Chinese responded to her rather full figure—so far only Miss Paraguay-Earth Gabriela Rejala could get away with that.

BOLIVIA – Laura Olivera. Well, she was at least attractive enough to be considered a worthwhile, creditable contender, but I didn’t think she had the standout quality to make the final cut.

BRAZIL – Rayanne Morais. Despite the less-flattering photos during the early stages of her stay, her resemblance to actress Brooke Shields may be her ticket to making the final cut. She did pass the “acid-test” swimsuit photo.

CANADA – Chanel Breckenlehner. She does have a pretty face, but her “acid-test” swimsuit photo made her appear rather tarty, which may not be a good thing for the Chinese—remember how last year the press took lots of photos of her predecessor’s underpants, and that probably was one of the factors that she failed to make the Top 12.

CHINA – Wang Qian. Despite being crowned a day or two before this pageant’s activities began, she seemed to be able to compete at such a high level that it’s indeed likely she would make the final cut—not necessarily because she’s from the host country, but because of sheer merit. She was undeniably very, very cute.

CHINESE TAIPEI – Yi Chih Chen. Now, here is a lady who was obviously having a lot of fun in this pageant—because she is unlikely to be in serious contention for the finals anyway. She was just simply too plain and too unpolished, and she belonged in the cellar. Wonder who were those people who were voting for her in the Global Beauties Leaderboard?

COLOMBIA – Lina Mosquera. Much has been said that this mocha-colored lady should have been the one to compete at Miss Universe instead of Michelle Rouillard, and of course her performances in minor international pageants (winner of Miss Continente Americano 2009, Top 7 in Reina Hispanoamericana 2008). So expectations were high that she could conceivably equal Jeymmy Vargas’s win five years ago and breaking the Venezuelan three-year-cycle streak. But so far she seemed low-key in her China photos—but then again she might be employing the Malgorzata Rozniecka (Miss International 2001 from Poland) strategy and was simply reserving her energy to when it counts—the finals.

CUBA – Patricia Rosales. She exuded the vibe of a raw and unpolished Central American delegate. So it might be achievement enough that she was the first ever representative from her country to this pageant.

CZECH REPUBLIC – Darja Jacukevičová. We expect ladies from this country to be pretty. This was one of the rarest exceptions—her only redeeming feature was her slender frame.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Victoria Fernandez. In all Grand Slam pageants this year, this country fielded dark complexioned contestants—all them great looking including this lady. If there would be extra room for a dark-skinned contestant in the Top 12 besides Miss Colombia, I would probably bet on this lady, although there was significant hubbub over the exotic Afro of Miss Martinique and the bonafide African beauty of Miss Tanzania.

ECUADOR – Isabela Chiriboga. She is attractive enough to keep up with the best of them, at least. A creditable performance for this country.

EL SALVADOR – Vanessa Hueck. Her looks were too plain and her figure seemed too skinny for comfort.

ETHIOPIA – Rahel Woldekirkos. Well, she was indeed attractive, but I’ve seen more stunning (and soulful looking) contenders before.

FINLAND – Linda Wikstedt. Her pretty Snow White features (black hair with rosy white complexion) could be her ticket to making the final cut in this pageant and help her improve from her Miss World non-finalist standing last year. This pageant seemed to be the last bastion where this country remained a pageant powerhouse.

FRANCE – Mathilde Muller. She is undeniably an attractive contender who could be a sleeper possibility into the finals.

GABON – Cynthia Mobumba. Her face reminded me of Noxeema Jackson (the character played by Wesley Snipes in the movie “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar), though the “acid-test” swimsuit photo indicated that she was undeniably a natural female—albeit a slender one.

GEORGIA – Maria Sarchimelia. Apparently the best ladies from the country could be found competing in Miss Earth or Miss World. Anyway, we should commend her for being the first representative of her country to this pageant.

GERMANY – Valora Roucek. Oh my! Her “acid-test” swimsuit photo gave me nightmares! To the cellar she goes with Miss Chinese Taipei!

GREECE – Diana Igropoulou. With her plain, unvarnished look and an apparently blasé demeanor, it’s unlikely this lady would be a serious contender in this pageant.

GUADELOUPE – Joelle Clamy. If Miss Gabon had Noxeema Jackson’s face, the “acid test” swimsuit photo seemed to indicate this lady had “her” body—who was her trainer, Shauntay Hinton (Miss USA 2002, best known for her muscular figure)?

HONDURAS – Kenia Andrade. Her pre-arrival photo seemed to indicate a natural-looking and attractive sleeper possibility. But then her China photos seemed to indicate a pale creepy lovechild of Joan Crawford and Lara Flynn Boyle—I don’t remember her looking like this when she competed at Miss Earth last year. Who did her shocking makeover?! Did she use Sammy Sosa’s bleaching regime (Baseball player Sammy Sosa shocked the public by looking much lighter than his usual dark complexion recently)?  Whoever did this to her should be fired and Kenia should sue that person for damages! Dita Von Teese she ain’t!

HONG KONG – Germaine Li. This lady was more attractive than the usual run of mediocre delegates from this territory. She should be commended for a creditable performance so far.

INDIA – Harshita Saxena. After being disqualified from competing in Miss Earth due to her contract with Gladrags, she was finally given a chance to compete in an international pageant, and she’s proving to indeed be a serious contender for the finals. I found her figure a tad too slender for comfort, but then again, Asians do appreciate slender frames. Could she have enough mojo to break the Venezuelan Three-Year-Cycle?

INDONESIA – Ayu Diandra Sari. This lady exuded a vibe of a 1970-1980’s era Philippine sexy actress in her “acid-test” swimsuit photo, but she did convey the right kind of dignified bearing in her national costume.

JAPAN – Yuka Nakayama. Well, she’s attractive enough, but if this is based solely on merit, her status as a shoo-in would be not assured. She would definitely rely on the traditional “Goodwill Factor” in order for her to be guaranteed a slot in the top 12.

KOREA – Seo Eun-Mi. She seemed to follow Yeju Park’s lead to cut her hair short—in fact she actually one-upped the Miss Earth semifinalist by chopping it even shorter into a boyish pixie cut. Wonder how well the Chinese would respond to this standout look? Tp me personally, she didn’t seem to exude the sophistication that Yeju Park projected. Well, she does have a cute enough face to possibly make it as a Top 12 finalist.

KYRGYZSTAN – Altynai Ismankulova. On her “acid-test” swimsuit photo, she sported a blue sequined bikini so skimpy that the fabric of her bikini bottom was just a few twitches from becoming an embarrassing cameltoe—I saw a significant amount of her down there that I’m not that crazy about seeing. Anyway, she was an otherwise worthwhile contender and a welcome debut for this country.

COMING UP: LATVIA TO VIETNAM plus My Leaderboard and “Fearful” Forecast