Miss World 2015 is Spain!

23-year old Miss Spain, Mireia Lalaguna is the new Miss World!  The runner-ups were Russia (1st) and Indonesia (2nd).  The remaining finalists were Jamaica and Lebanon.

Lalaguna, a student of Pharmacy, was crowned the best among 114 competitors during the annual Miss World gala held at the Beauty Crown Theatre grounds in Sanya, China.  It is the first time in history that Spain wins the coveted blue crown.

Miss Spain, 23-year old Mireia Lalaguna, is a student of Pharmacy from Barcelona. The beauty won against 113 other competitors for the title. It is the first time in the pageant's history that Spain wins the crown. GB Photo/Leonardo Rodrigues
Miss Spain, 23-year old Mireia Lalaguna, is a student of Pharmacy from Barcelona. The beauty won against 113 other competitors for the title. It is the first time in the pageant’s history that Spain wins the crown. GB Photo/Leonardo Rodrigues

MISS WORLD 2015: Spain
1st Runner-up: Russia
2nd Runner-up: Indonesia
3rd runner-up: Lebanon
4th runner-up: Jamaica
Continental Queens of Beauty:

Africa: South Africa
Americas: Brazil
Asia: Indonesia
Caribbean: Jamaica
Europe: Spain
Oceania: Australia
Top 11 Semi-Finalists

Australia
France
Guyana
Philippines
South Africa
Vietnam
Top 20 Quarter Finalists

Brazil
China PR
Ecuador
Kazakhstan
Netherlands
New Zealand
Northern Ireland
Poland
Scotland
South Sudan
Winners, Challenge Events:

Top Model: Spain
Sports: Namibia
Talent: Guyana
Multimedia: Philippines
Beauty with a Purpose: Indonesia

GB´s Review

Are we done with the Miss Universe announcement controversy? Ok, so let’s go back to Miss World for a moment.

Miss World 2015 took place in Sanya, China, on December 19th, in what could be considered a very unique edition of the pageant for different reasons. First of all, for the first time in years, Miss World had no favorites. It was an open field and virtually anything could happen, to the point that a strong Miss Spain passed unnoticed during the three weeks of competition, and in the end deservingly bagged the sash and the blue crown.

Also, for the first time in years, Miss World happened at open air, which looked beautiful and showed its main sponsor, the Beauty Crown Resort, but was very risky (what if it rained?).

There were also a series of conspiracy theories spicing up the days before the big night, which were all empty. Rumors that it was all fixed for Misses Australia, Russia and China to win the title, died when Miss Spain walked away with the big prize.

IMG_4158 copyThe final show, as a spectacle, was good and ran smoothly. The 114 candidates were introduced two by two, perhaps a bit too fast (even understanding that 114 is a considerable number, we believe the candidates deserve more time and focus, having their own names being said, in addition to their countries’ names). Up to the first years of the last decade, all Miss World delegates were individually introduced twice before any cuts, which was ideal.

Former Miss World Wenxia Yu of China then performed a song in Chinese, a tribute to Beauty With a Purpose. The first Leaderboard was revealed after that, and a few surprises were immediately notice, such as the absence of Colombia, India, among others, and very high marks to candidates who were never major favorites, like Northern Ireland and Nigeria.

Presenters this year were Tim Vincent, Angela Chow, and Miss World 2013 Megan Young. Angela returned after a few years, and as usual, did a fantastic job. Megan was just as amazing as in 2014. Tim Vincent could have been better. He forgot to introduce one of the judges, froze when he had to announce another judge’s name and when the Top 5 was called back on stage, he simply forgot to call Miss Lebanon (who obviously returned anyway). But of course, nothing even close to Steve Harvey’s fiasco in Miss Universe, which was to happen one day later!

Steve Douglas announced the leaderboards and called the Top 20 quarter-finalists. He did a great job.

Back to the competition, preliminary events’ winners were announced: Namibia in sports, Philippines in social media, Spain was top model, talent went to Guyana and Indonesia won for the 2nd consecutive year, and third overall, the Beauty With a Purpose award.

For Beauty With a Purpose announcement, videos and a brief explanation of the year’s Top 10 projects were shown before the winner’s name was revealed. It was a good solution and worked better than last year. Nicely done.

The so awaited Top 20 quarter-finalists were then announced by Steve Douglas: Russia, Indonesia, Philippines, Jamaica, Guyana, South Sudan, France, Lebanon, South Africa, Spain, Australia, Netherlands, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Poland, New Zealand, China PR, Scotland, Ecuador, Northern Ireland.

Favorites from Vietnam, Colombia, Venezuela, India, USA and Ukraine, gave space to surprising Indonesia, New Zealand, Scotland, Ecuador and Northern Ireland. However, we should keep in mind that Miss World is different and more complex than other pageants. Therefore, it’s much harder to predict anything. It is really not only about beauty.

Miss Guyana, for instance, might have passed in blank in other beauty pageants, but thanks to her talent, good performance in sports and social media skills, went as far as the Top 10 in Miss World. Beautiful Miss Vietnam, at least, was saved by her fans and advanced to the Top 11 semi-final a bit later in the show.

Again, the 20 quarter-finalists were announced very quickly. Why not give some more time and attention to each one of them?

The was the Top 10 was called was original and interesting to watch. Tim Vincent went contestant by contestant to find out if she had go on to the semi-final or stayed behind. It was tense and exciting, and at the same time showed their scores and placements at that time.

The Top 11 list had Russia, Philippines, Guyana, Lebanon, Spain, Indonesia, Jamaica, France, South Africa, Australia, and Vietnam (popular voting).

It was shocking to see heavy favorites from Brazil and Poland eliminated that early, while Guyana and South Africa remained in the game. Indonesia, after winning BWP, was not much of a suprise. China did not advance, which was absolutely fair.

The Top 10 quickly (again…) returned to the stage as a band named The Wholls performed. Soon after that, the top 5 finalists would be announced by Megan Young.

In Dances of the World 2015, the 114 candidates shared the stage with Julian Believe, a singer from the Bahamas. It was a nice and dynamic number, which should have been the opening number! Misses China, Paraguay, Samoa, Nepal, Slovakia, Zambia and France showed some of the music and dance of their countries. This segment was recorded a couple of hours before the final telecast.

Back to the Top 5, they were Spain, Indonesia (ok, now perhaps a stretch), Lebanon, Russia and Jamaica. Favorites from France and Australia were left behind. As we said in the beginning, this was indeed the year when anything could happen in Miss World!

Megan asked each of the finalists the same famous final question, why should you be crowned Miss World? Jamaica might have given the most impressive answer, however, Spain seemed very genuine, unrehearsed, naturally beautiful and at the same time completely down to earth, qualities MWO looks for in a winner. Stunning Miss Lebanon got a bit lost in her answer, but yet, deserved a top 3 placement, which did not happen.

Instead, it was Miss Indonesia who placed 3rd, who probably conquered the judges with her big heart and wonderful personality. Miss Russia, who led the competition until that point, finished in 2nd place, and the winner was the genuine beauty from Barcelona, Spain. She was crowned by the outstanding Rolene Strauss, alreay considered one of the most beautiful beauty queens of all times.

It is interesting to see a woman from Barcelona to win the first Miss World title for Spain, in times when the Catalan separatist movement is more alive than ever, with many hoping to see and independent Catalonia being born in less than a couple of years, something that Madrid, Spain’s capital, opposes. Where will Mireia Lalaguna stand regarding such a delicate matter?

Regardless of what she thinks about that, we believe Miss World made a fair and right on the target choice again. Mireia is beautiful, kind hearted, down to earth and very beautiful. We are sure she will do a fantastic job as Miss World.

As for the show, it was quite good with a nice and original stage, and interesting elements. To improve even more, in the future it should give more time to the candidates on stage (that’s what people back home really want to see), perhaps making the videos shorter and cutting on musical attractions. Other than that, good job, Miss World!

Here are some exclusive GB photos by photographer Leonardo Rodrigues.