Miss Grand 2016: Indonesia wins its first ever Grand Slam title!

Indonesia´s Ariska Putri Pertiwi made history in Vegas as she was crowned Miss Grand International 2016. In addition to winning the contest´s new crown, US$ 40.000 in cash and a luxury apartment to live for her entire year of reign, she became the first woman from Indonesia to win a Grand Slam title. “Indonesia, I did it!”, were some of her first words after being crowned by Australia´s Claire Elizabeth Parker, the 2015 title holder.

In a difficult year to predict anything, GB did it again: Indonesia was one of our 5 “golden bets“.

The Westgate Resort Theater in Las Vegas served as host for MGI´s 4th edition. The 1st runner-was Nicole Ignacio Cordoves, Miss Grand Philippines, Supaporn Malisorn, Miss Grand Thailand, was the 2nd runner up, Madison Sara Anderson, Miss Grand Puerto Rico, was the 3rd runner up, and Michelle Gabriela Leon, Miss Grand United States, was the 4th runner-up.

The Top 10 had the representatives of Korea (thanks to the popular voting), Peru, Ukraine, Macau and Bahamas. It was the first time in history Macau had a semi-finalist in a Grand Slam contest.

Rounding out the Top 21 (with Korea jumping from nowhere to the Top 10, the “top 20” became a “top 21”) were the candidates from Jamaica, Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Venezuela, Malaysia, Cuba, Australia, Vietnam, Tahiti, Wales.

The biggest surprises of the night were the inlusion of Mexico, with front-runners from Brazil, India, Ecuador and Paraguay being left behind. Venezuela and Malaysia not advancing to the Top 5 also shocked those following the live webcast of the pageant.

It is interesting to note that the “top 3” not only had three women from Asia, but who were also from countries with millions of pageant followers, all very present in social medias.

During the show, an exciting announcement was made: Vietnam will be the host country for Miss Grand International 2017.

The new Miss Grand International is 21 years old, 1.73 m-tall, and a student of Medicine at the Medical Faculty of the Islamic of North Sumatera University.

The show: As usual, Miss Grand International was entertaining and the production was good, but not as outstanding as last year´s unforgettable spectacle. Going out of its “comfort zone” was a bold move by organizers, which brought to the contest more media coverage and new followers, but it is undeniable that Miss Grand lost in terms of pre-final cultural activities, local fans´involvement and final show cameras, stage and lighting quality. Nevertheless, it was properly delievered with one of its trade marks: electrifying and well elaborated choreographies associated with great music choices.

The winner: Indonesia was always a favorite for the crown, and although Puerto Rico gave the best answer to the controversial final question and had a flawless performance all night long, we had mentioned that it would be difficult for Puerto Rico to take the crown after three other Spanish speaking Caribbeans were chosen in 2013, 14 and 15 (In 2015 the Dominican Republic had the original winner, but she was dethroned 5 months after being elected). She deserved at least 2nd place, but the judges´ decision must be respected. As a student of Medicine with lots of discipline, we believe Ariska will do an excellent job as an ambassador for the “Stop the War” campaign.

Congratulations to the winner and to Indonesia, well deserved!!