All Details of Miss Universe Philippines 2023 Election
Miss Universe Philippines took place on Saturday, May 13, and the young woman who was the winner raised thousands of comments on social media. I just finished watching the show that lasted almost four hours and, I'd like to share everything that happened in this post, detail by detail.
The Hosts
Nothing negative to say about all the hosts of the event. Xiam Lim, Alden Richards, Tim Yap, and Maureen Montagne shined like stars. Zozibibi Tunzi, Miss Universe 2019, was also a host, although she intervened very few times, but when she did, she made it clear that she is the queen of style, fashion and elegance. Zozi wore several evening gowns, three to be more exact, and all three were beautiful.
Did all the special prizes go to a single candidate?
For a moment I felt confused, and I did not understand what was happening, I saw the faces of the contestants in the background and that placed me in the context: All the special prizes were given to a contestant. Out of 30 beautiful Filipinas, only one won 10 awards, incredible! These special prizes are not related to the organization at all, since they are given by the sponsors of the event, and they were the ones who decided which contestant best fits their marketing strategy, but frankly... Out of 30 beautiful and well-prepared candidates, only one met their expectations? Bohol's candidate, Pauline Amelinckx was the lucky one to be selected by most of the brands; although (and thank God!) Pampanga, Mary Angelique Manto and Makati, Michelle Daniela Dee, also earned one or another special nomination. Pampanga took four and Makati won three. Good for them!
Miss Bohol, Pauline Amelinckx 
The awards continued, and this time it was the organization's turn. They chose the Capiz contestant, Shayne Glenmae Maquiran as Miss Congeniality, while the representative of the province of Aguzan del Norte, Jannarie Sarsoso, was chosen as Miss Social Media. As a curious fact, in this part, the host gave the results in reverse, but he corrected his mistake very professionally and quickly (as Steve should have done in 2015, right Steve?).
The Top 18
Swimsuit: Heart Attack Competition
Many Latinos consider that Asian women show their weaknesses in this part of the competition, but I must tell you that this group of Filipinas is far from making this myth come true. The young women showed off and showed us some amazing bodies, well-toned and with incomparable grace in most cases. In this part of the competition, my favorites were Aguzan del Norte, Pampanga, Tiaong Quezon, Sorsogon, Bacolod, Cebu, Zambales, and Cavita.
The jury chose the Baguio representative as the best in this competition. I confess that I did not see her winning. My top 3 were Sorsogon, Bacolod, and Zambales who I saw as the absolute winner in the swimsuit competition.
Miss Baguio, Winner of the Swimsuit Competition
Miss Bacolod
Miss Zambales
As a second curious fact, I tell you guys that the contestant for Aguzan del Norte, Jannarie Zarzoso, threw her cape during her swimsuit parade, and I didn't understand why! Apparently, her nerves and emotion got the better of her, and she didn't think about what the others would do to be able to walk, she didn't throw it anywhere, no! She left it in the middle of the catwalk, where the others would have to go. Very badly done!
Evening Gowns Parade
All the young women did a beautiful job in this part of the competition, but Makati, Pampanga, Aguzan del Norte, Cebu, Zambales, and Baguio caught my attention, being the best for me the beautiful representative of Zambales, but once the jury and I disagreed. They mentioned Makati as the winner in this category.
The representative of Zambales posing with the evening dress that she wore on the final night.
The representative of Bohol parading in her evening gown
And finally, the key moment arrived. Although there were no surprises, the top 5 were made up of the great favorites of the night competition: Baguio, Pampanga, Bohol, Zambales and Makati.
The jury decided that it would carry out two rounds of questions to all contestants equally; in the first round each one answered a different question; they all gave good answers, but I thought the answers from Baguio and Pampanga were the best; both responded with honesty, warmth and a lot of security. Baguio was asked if she thought trans women should participate in sports activities along with born women, and she replied that they shouldn't. Remember that "Aunt Anne" (Anne Jakrajutatip, owner of the Miss Universe brand is a trans woman and attended the event) and well, I don't think she was very pleased to hear that answer.
The second round of questions was the same for all five girls: The Philippine Tourism Board has just launched an international tourism campaign, what is the best the Philippines has to offer the world? In this round, Bohol and Makati were the best. Both responded forcefully. The weakest answer was that of Zambales who, deviating a lot from the question, gave me the impression she did not understand what she was asked.
This is how the winner and her honor roll emerged: the second runner-up was the representative from Pampanga, the first runner-up was Zambales, the representative from Baguio got the crown of Miss Charm Philippines (she was crowned in another ceremony because Miss Universe now demands exclusivity) the representative of Bohol was named Miss Supranational Philippines (also named at another moment) and the winner of the right to represent the Filipinos in Miss Universe 2023 to be held in El Salvador was the representative of Makati.
There are always likes and dislikes in a beauty pageant. I saw Zambales win from the beginning to the end, but she didn't give the best answers. Makati also stood out throughout the night, and no one can doubt that she was one of the best in the entire competition. She represents the majority of the friendly, hard-working, and determined young women who will surely identify more and more with her towards the Miss Universe contest. From my blog, I support Makati and I will follow her trajectory towards Miss Universe. Congratulations to her and all her fans!
