Tidbits and details about this year's contestants and the event!
4/1
by Thiago Castro
* Members of the exclusive and private discussion board Pageant Cafe have been voting for their MTQI favorites. Their combined scores will give us a list of favorites at the Olympics section. Compare their list to yours and come back for updates every two days!
* If some girls are all smiles and love the cameras (like Miss Tanzania!), others don't seem to be having as much fun. Miss Turkey, Hurriyet Ozkilic (photo), barely smiles, while Miss Scotland, Amanda Thurlow, gives the photographers an attitude whenever she's asked for a photo.
* Miss Curaçao, Tihaisa De Palm, made everybody laugh when she "stole" a flag from one of the chaperones and started imitating her with gestures and a carried Chinese accent: ""one liiine, plizzzzz", "I said no more pictuuuures", "go back to the liiiiiine", "go back to the buuuuus", "no stop for pictuuuuuures"! Even the chaperones started laughing hysterically!
* Favorites: two South American beauties seem to be getting some special attention from journalists and photographers covering the pageant: one is spectacular Miss Chile, Marie-Ann Salas, who's been able to maintain her favoritism since the first day of competition and many believe will take it all. The other is Miss Brazil, doll-faced Kelly Pedrita, who's been growing in favoritism by the minute.
Then there's Miss Cuba, Gwendalyn Cabrera, with her perfect figure; Miss Canada, Sahar Biniaz, who is very popular among the Chinese; Miss Trinidad & Tobago, Rea Nelson, who's incredibly tall (1.93 m) and grabs lots of attention; both Serbia and Montenegro also remain among the press favorites, they look amazing on stage; Siberia, Svetlana Bleskuvoba, who has a perfect face and beautiful eyes, she's another strong possibility for the crown; Miss Puerto Rico, Cassandra Castro, a gorgeous 100% Latina beauty; and African stunners from Angola, Congo and Zambia, showing that Africa has a very competitive group of girls this year. The list goes on, so one thing I can tell for sure: I am happy I won't be a judge!
* The girls were very happy when they were given the afternoon off after rehearsing for the all-fun Miss Disco competition. Some went out for shopping or sightseeing, while others preferred to stay at the hotel and rest. The Miss Disco competition takes place tonight.
Photo: "Smile, Miss Turkey!" (GB photo/Thiago Castro)
3/29
by Thiago Castro
* The first ever Miss Turkmenistan to participate in a Grand Slam pageant, Vera Maksimova joined the group today. She is very excited to be in China and hopes to represent her country well. When asked about the main tourist attractions in her country, smiling Vera answered "Ertogrulgazi Mosque, the biggest mosque in Turkmenistan, and the Carpet Museum, which has a large collection of antique carpets, something the country is known for producing".
* In Shen Long San the girls visited a motorcycle store, where the "bikes" are sold by just USD 500! Many of them jumped to have photos taken pretending to ride the motorcycles, but Misses England and Northern Ireland got way to excited, and fell with the bike on the floor! When made sure that they had not been injured, other girls started laughing with the episode!
* Miss Angola (photo) is not only very beautiful, but also super friendly. She spoke of how pageants have been gaining importance in Angola with the positive results achived by Angolan beauties in Miss World and Miss Universe lately. "Now I need to keep up with those girls and do well here"", said Patrícia Agostinho with a smile on her face. Patricia said Global Beauties is very popular in Angola. After MTQI, she will get ready to participate in Miss World 2008.
* 115 participant countries! Yes, Miss Tourism Queen has just broken its own former record (108) with the most countries and territories to have ever joined a Grand Slam beauty pageant. Miss Senegal, Sophie Pouye Seleh, was the last one to land in Chinese soil. Congratulations to MTQI on a well-done job!
3/27
by Thiago Castro
* Klodiana Dermishi made history as she became the first Miss Kosovo to participate at a Grand Slam pageant after this former Serbian territory declared its independence earlier this year.
* Clara Estarque, Miss Martinique, has one of the most lively personalities around! She is alwayshappy and ready to extend a helping hand to a contestant or anyone in need. Miss Martinique is showing the true spirit of an event such as this!
* Keeping that same spirit is Miss Romania, the very classy Delia Duca. When she found out GB was covering the pageant, she joked, "Hum, great, but I should start behaving then!". She is not only beautiful, but is always in a good mood and has very pleasant conversation.
* Miss Siberia, Svetlana Bleskuvoba (photo, left), already has many fans in China. Tall and blonde, her serenity and classic beauty are visibly appreciated by the Chinese. Not as tall, but just as lovely, Miss New Zealand, Kimberly Powell, is another local favorite.
* Miss China, Tong He, was the most applauded delegate during the evening gown competition, along with Miss Taiwan, Hung Tzu-Wei. However, in the end, it was Miss Venezuela, Maria Lourdes Caldera, who won most judges' votes and was considered "Best in Evening Gown". Most other delegates thought her victory was well-deserved.
* There are a few crossovers from other pageants competing at Miss Tourism Queen International 2008. Sharon Persaud of Jamaica resides in Canada and will be competing at Miss Canada Universe next month; Amy Holbrook of the United States was Miss International's 1st runner-up in 2004; Chile's Marie-Ann Salas was a semi-finalist at Miss International 2007; Hungary's Ildiko Bona was at Miss Universe 2007; Puerto Rico's Cassandra Castro was a Miss World delegate back in 2004; Bolivia, Montenegro and Serbia will all compete at Miss Universe 2008, in Vietnam; Silvia Cornejo of Peru was at Miss World 2006 and was a finalist at Reina Sudamericana 2006; Miss Cyprus competed at Miss World last year, and Miss Belgium at Miss Earth 2007 (thanks to the Pageant Cafe crew for the help!)
3/24
* Miss Tourism Queen International is about to break its own world record, as 112 countries + regions are expected to compete in 2008. Last year 108 delegates took part in the contest, the largest number in Grand Slam pageant history. The final number for 2008 shall be confirmed in the next few days.
* In 2008 new regions of tourist interest join the pageant: Bali (Indonesia) and Siberia (Russia). Hawaii (USA), Fernando de Noronha (Brazil) and Borneo (Malaysia), have returned.
* Two countries are big "misses" in this year's pageant: Spain and Colombia. Spain never confirmed its entrant and Miss Colombia suffered an accident few days before leaving to China. Although she is doing all right now, Colombia won't have a representative in Miss Tourism Queen 2008.
* Misses Brazil and Fernando de Noronha lost their luggage in their way to China. With a borrowed gown, Miss Brazil appeared at a dinner party wearing tennis shoes! "None of the girls lent me high heel shoes, so I decided to launch a new fashion trend in China: evening gown with tennis shoes!", said Kelly Pedrita, Miss Brazil, showing a surprising good mood!
* If the first impression really counts the most, three delegates are expected to shine on April 10's big final event: Miss Chile, Marie-Ann Salas (photo, right), Miss Montenegro, Dasa Zivkovic, and Miss Serbia, Zorana Tasovac, have caught the journalists' attention and are so far the most photographed and interviewed by the press candidates in China.
* What most press journalists who have returned to cover the pageant agree on is that the level of contestants this year is considerably higher than last year's. There are at least 50 girls with high chances of landing in the semi-finals.
* Speaking of the semi-finals, there will be 20 semi-finalists in this year's pageant. The first preliminary event, the evening gown competition, will take place tomorrow night.
* Spanish speaker can follow the pageant this year by accessing Edwin Toledo's blog, a subsidiary of Global Beauties. Visit Bellezas del Mundo HERE.
(by Thiago Castro)
