AT THE HOMESTRETCH: Miss World 2009 (Part 2)

by Joseph Vitug

EGYPT – Samah Shalaby. Another attractive but rather unpolished contestant. She couldn’t seem to capitalize on her strengths well.

EL SALVADOR – Elena Isabela Tedesco. Well, in real-world standards she can pass for attractive, but in the rarefied standards of this pageant, she barely makes a memorable impression.

ENGLAND – Katrina Hodge. Many pageant fans and pundits expected that the original winner, Rachel Christie, would bring forth the breakthrough for this country since the United Kingdom was split up into its constituent countries in this pageant, as her athletic pedigree (she’s the daughter of 100m Olympic gold medalist Linford Christie and she’s training as a heptathlete for the 2012 London Olympics) would place her as a favorite to win the Sports fast-track. Too bad she got caught in a bar brawl over another beauty queen’s boast about flirting with her hunky boyfriend (Tornado from the UK show “Gladiators”, a version of that athletic contest “American Gladiators”). Now, this lady was touted to be a soldier who was about to be deployed to Afghanistan before she got the assignment to take over Rachel Christie’s responsibilities as Miss England. Considering the rigorous athletic discipline required of a soldier, one would assume that she would still figure very well in the Sports fast-track. But surprisingly, she was not short-listed into this fast-track, failing to figure into the Top 12. Despite the potential of standing out amongst the British Isle (including Ireland) contestants as she’s the sole brunette, she seems to be clearly overshadowed despite being obviously attractive and trim. Still, she’s a worthwhile contender.

ETHIOPIA – Lula Gezu Weldegebriel. Her features are not exactly my cup of tea, but those distinctive semi-Afro curls allowed her to make such a major impression that she got shortlisted into the Top 20 in Beach Beauty and got to model a golden gown at the One and Only resort. She has a good shot of making the final cut as her features are the kind of “native” look Miss World judges tend to favor for non-Latin and non-European contestants.

FINLAND – Sanna Anniina Kankaanpää. This brunette is another pretty face that couldn’t make a major impression with the stunners and lively personalities out there.

FRANCE – Chloe Mortaud. During her stint in London and Abu Dhabi, pageant fans and pundits were wondering where the radiant Mocha Babe back in the Bahamas was. It turned out she took a savvy strategy of conserving her energy during the early activities and then turning on the competitive fire when it counts. It is indeed the right strategy considering the lengthy 35 days she would be competing, on top of the exhaustive overnight flight commute to go to France to crown her successor then returning back to South Africa for the competition. The strategy yielded great results, so far—her surprisingly buffed abdominals catapulted her into the 4th place in Beach Beauty, and she made heads turn in her flowy beige-and-pink floral print gown during the Top Model fast-track event to figure in the Top 12 in both the Designer’s Award and in the fast-track proper. She can conceivably improve upon her placement in Miss Universe.

GEORGIA – Tsira Suknidze. She has the attractive but severe Slavic look that may not be in vogue in this pageant, but could conceivably give her an edge if she were at Miss Earth (it’s close to what I had dubbed “Bosnian Vamp”). She has the consolation of being shortlisted in the Talent competition.

GERMANY – Stefanie Peeck. The original winner of this country’s national pageant was the notorious Alessandra Alores—she was better known for competing six years ago at Miss Universe, Miss International, Miss Intercontinental, and Miss Europe as Aleksandra Vodjanikova and baffling fans and pundits on why she won her national pageant—there was salacious talk that she won her national pageant through dubious means on both occasions. To the fans and pundits’ relief (and possibly karmic payback), scantily clad photos published on FHM had led to her being disqualified and her runner-up competing in her stead. This blonde girl is attractive, but extremely raw and unpolished that she is no way in serious contention for the finals.

GHANA – Mawuse Appea. Some photos from the Top Model fast-track event showed this cocoa-complexioned lady radiating and looking gorgeous, but other photos showed her looking plain. I would regard her as a worthwhile contender.

GIBRALTAR – Kaiane Aldorino. In all Grand Slam pageants, this country never made the final cut prior to this moment. This is especially frustrating as this country has been a stalwartly loyal participant in this pageant—it debuted in 1959, and participated continuously without fail from 1964 onwards, and they had a handful of gems scattered through the years. When this great looking and polished contender with the cheerful smile won in her national pageant, fans and pundits felt that she would be a worthwhile contender but that would be as far as she would go as she is representing a tiny territory and not a pageant powerhouse. Little did we know, the judges at Beach Beauty were in the mood for someone fresh regardless of what country one is representing, and with the freshly scrubbed beachy vibe she exuded and her surprisingly sexy figure (it reminded me of Miss Earth 2009 Larissa Ramos), she was a worthy winner of the Beach Beauty fast track and finally bringing forth the long-awaited breakthrough for this country in any Grand Slam pageant. She also earns extra brownie points for also figuring in the Top 12 in the Sports fast-track and Top 22 in the Talent fast-track.

GREECE – Alkisti Anifanti. She has the looks to potentially be in serious contention, but an apparently serious lack of motivation in her appearances had turned her into a middling competitor instead.

GUADELOUPE – Beatrice Blaise. Her face makes her arguably one of the weakest links in a formidable Caribbean contingent.

GUATEMALA – Alida Boer. Back in Mexico 2007 and in this pageant, this lady exudes charisma and glamour, and she is touted for her intelligence and superb communication skills. She is a BWAP finalist, and she also has the potential to shine in the judges’ interview to become a sleeper choice for the semifinals. Wonder why when she competed at Miss International last year, she looked rather plain and surprisingly “butch”? Glad she’s back in her element here.

GUYANA – Imarah Radix. She looked decent enough in the Top Model fast-track event, but otherwise, let’s just say it’s a nice consolation that she was shortlisted for the Talent fast-track.

HONDURAS – Blaise Masey. There are some moments where she has a passing resemblance to Miss Universe 1987 Cecilia Bolocco, but I don’t think those sort of features would be appreciated in this pageant.

HONG KONG CHINA – Sandy Lau. There are angles where she looks cute but otherwise she’s a middling contender.

HUNGARY – Orsolya Serdült. Pre-arrival studio photos and shots of this great-looking and trim-and-sexy blonde in earlier events seem to indicate she could bring forth the Hungarian breakthrough in this pageant. Placing 3rd in the Sports fast-track seemed to augur big things for this lady. But then, as the days wore on, she seemed to fizzle and was overtaken by the likes of Miss Croatia.

ICELAND – Guðrun Dögg Runnarsdottir. This gorgeous brunette generates a lot of compliments amongst pageant fans and pundits, but not enough for her to have an inside track into the finals. Still, she seemed consistently strong enough that she doesn’t deserve to be overlooked.

INDIA – Pooja Chopra. She is not as conventionally beautiful as, say, her predecessor Parvathy Omanakuttan. She frustratingly doesn’t seem to exude as much charisma and seemed to be relegated to the background most of the time, along with the fact that she doesn’t even seem to convey the sophistication and elegance we have come to expect from Indian beauty queens (she’s almost as granny-frumpy as Sara-Jane Dias two years ago). It may seem that figuring in the Top Six of the Sports fast-track may be consolation enough. But there are some pundits who believe she may have an extra edge that she might make the cut after all—she has a dramatically uplifting life story that could warm the hearts of the panel of judges, and reportedly that story is also reflected in the cause she espoused for Beauty with a Purpose, and she is now a finalist for the fast-track. Much remains to be seen if the drama would pay off.

INDONESIA – Karenina Sunny Halim. Almost two decades ago, we expect contestants from this country (if they manage to participate—there usually would be a furor over their participation in pageants by Muslim clerics then) to occupy the cellar. Since they renewed active participation in the past few years, they had fielded surprisingly worthwhile and competitive contenders like this one. She had made her country proud by being short-listed in the Talent fast-track and making the Top 12 of Beach Beauty.

IRELAND – Laura Patterson. This pretty blonde teenager seemed a bit younger than her 19 years of age. She does generate compliments but is not likely to make the final cut.

ISRAEL – Adi Rudnitzky. This curly-haired brunette is attractive enough, but not in serious contention for the finals.

ITALY – Alice Tattichi. I admittedly did not really regard her as highly as other pageant fans and pundits, but I was eventually won over. She is indeed gorgeous and glamorous, and her blue gown with the unconventional silhouette was worthy of being shortlisted for the Designers Award. She also made the Top 12 in the Top Model fast-track. We could possibly see her make the final cut.

JAMAICA – Kerrie Baylis. Her features are not to the liking of several pageant fans and pundits including myself—I found her nose a bit too prominent for comfort. But she was prominent in the various Miss World fast-tracks that she seemed to be in serious contention for the finals: she was second in the Sports fast-track, Top 20 in Beach Beauty, and Top 12 in Top Model. On top of that, her provocative blue and flesh gown garnered her third place for the Designers Award (I think the gown was not as revealing as it may seem—think Kurara Chibana’s black gown with white panels during the finals of Miss Universe 2006; it may seem sheer or bare from a distance, but it’s actually opaque). Many pundits may find her a headscratcher, but for some odd reason, she seems to be garnering favor with the powers-that-be.

JAPAN – Eruza Sasaki. Yes, she’s cute and she knows how to stand out by wearing standout wardrobe like the traditional Japanese dress she sported during the FIFA World Cup Draw street party, but otherwise she would not be in serious contention if it weren’t for the fact that she won the Sports fast-track. Anyway, she brought forth a breakthrough as it has been 29 years since this country figured in the semifinals in this pageant.

KAZAKHSTAN – Dina Nuraliyeva. Looking at a close-up photo of her during the Top Model fast-track event, she made me recall Miss International 2005 Precious Lara Quigaman. She looks striking and gorgeous, and I believe she may have an outside chance winning over the judges in the closed-door interview.

KENYA – Fiona Konchellah. I initially did not notice her that much as my attention was initially on Angola, Cote D’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, and South Africa, but upon closer inspection, this extremely dark-complexioned beauty belongs in the higher echelons of competitors. Will there be enough room for her in the finals?

KOREA – Kim Joo-ri. Traditionally the winner of the Miss Korea pageant typically competes in Miss Universe. But it seems they decided to change things up and this year’s winner is sent to this pageant. She is making a strong impression as she is as cute and pretty as we remember most Korean contestants to beauty pageants are, and she is short-listed among the Top 20 in Beach Beauty. Her violet satin ballgown also got her short-listed for the Designer’s Award. But what is most memorable about her is her terpsichorean skills, displayed in full effect as she performed a traditional Korean dance as part of a medley of cultural dances during the Talent fast-track event and her lovely ballet number that earned her 1st runner-up in that event, behind the tied Mz. Canada and Sierra Leone.

We are at the halfway mark. With the second batch accounted for, let me trot out my leaderboard again and share with you what I think of the contestants’ prospects:

TOP CONTENDERS: BARBADOS, FRANCE

SHOO-INS: CANADA, GIBRALTAR, JAPAN

LIKELIEST: ANGOLA, BELGIUM, BOLIVIA, BRAZIL, CROATIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ETHIOPIA, GUATEMALA, ITALY, JAMAICA, KAZAKHSTAN, KOREA

EXCELLENT: ALBANIA, ARUBA, BELARUS, BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA, COTE D’IVOIRE, ECUADOR, ENGLAND, GHANA, HUNGARY, ICELAND, INDONESIA, IRELAND, KENYA

CHARITY FACTOR: INDIA

CHARM FACTOR: BAHAMAS

VERY STRONG: AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, COLOMBIA, COSTA RICA, FINLAND, GEORGIA, GREECE, ISRAEL

STRONG: ARGENTINA, BOTSWANA, CURACAO

VERY GOOD: CYPRUS, EGYPT, HONDURAS, HONG KONG CHINA

GOOD: BELIZE, EL SALVADOR, GERMANY, GUYANA

FAIR: BULGARIA, DENMARK, GUADELOUPE

COMING UP: LATVIA TO PUERTO RICO

 

The views are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of GlobalBeauties.com!