Bianca Manalo: Bb Pilipinas - Universe 2009

love this photo...

she really should have kept her extensions....

NATIONAL COSTUME COMPETITION
Thanks AP

FjLq wrote:

LOVELY TOP2!
DON'T YOU THINK?

MORE NATIONAL COSTUME PICS
Thanks Bruce Cassanova/OPMB

08.11.09 | Tuesday
Posted 6:43 AM, 08.11.09 (Boston time)



“There were quite a number of fantastic costumes that graced the stage”



The Miss Universe contestants were supposed to make two appearances in New Providence today (Monday), however they only made one. The float parade was postponed at the last minute, leaving many pageant fans who had hoped to get a close up glimpse of the contestants disappointed. Late Monday afternoon, the National Host Planning Committee issued the following statement:

The scheduled float parade of all of the contestants of the Miss Universe 2009 pageant was postponed today due to a series of unfortunate circumstances beyond the control of the host committee. As a result of the intermittent heavy rain showers over the course of the last few days, a number of the floats sustained some damage, causing unexpected delays due to the need for reconstruction. The floats are required to be created to very strict stipulations and it would not have been possible to use just the few that were ready as it is important that all of the floats were completed to specifications for safety reasons.

The host committee deeply regrets the tremendous inconvenience and disappointment caused to the Bahamian public, said Owen Bethel, local coordinator of the pageant. “We do apologize that the announcement was not made prior to everyone gathering along the route but despite the best efforts of the float designer, this was unavoidable.”

We are pleased, though, to announce that the float parade will now take place on Thursday August 20th 2009 at 4 p.m. along the same route and encourage everyone to come out again to cheer the 84 visiting queens from all over the world who are building up for the August 23rd pageant at Atlantis on Paradise Island.”


While I’m not privy to what the floats will look like once completed, I suspect that there may be some aspect of Junkanoo involved. Junkanoo is the premier cultural festival in the Bahamas similar to carnival, in which elaborate but fragile costumes are used. The costumes are usually decorated with brightly colored crepe paper which is very thin and as a result is susceptible to rain. If Junkanoo decorations were used on the floats, that would explain the damage incurred. However, it is unfortunate that word did not come sooner concerning the condition of the floats.

The National Costume competition was held as planned on Monday evening at the Rainforest Theatre on Cable Beach. There were quite a number of fantastic costumes that graced the stage, making it very difficult for the judges. The task of choosing a winner in the costume competition fell to the President of the Senate, the Hon. Lynn Holowesko; the CEO of Mailboxes Etc. in the Bahamas and the Caribbean Mr. Gershin Major; Founder of the Bahamas International Film Festival Leslie Vanderpool; artist John Edward Cox; Junkanooer Kishlane O’brien; entrepreneur Elaine Pinder; and retail executive Rochelle Walker of Solomon’s Mines.

The Rainforest Theatre where the competition was held saw fans from around the world. The Philippines had a large contingent of supporters, as did Mexico. I also heard shouts of “Venezuela” and saw several international flags, including one for Sweden.

Some of the outstanding costumes came from:

· Angola, who wore a traditional dress showing scenes of everyday life in Angola
· Bahamas, whose costume depicted the sun that covers The Bahamas
· Bolivia, inspired by a dance of her country
· China, a dramatic warrior
· Colombia, a colorful traditional dress
· Czech Republic, a gown with a butterfly motif
· Ecuador, representing a bountiful harvest
· El Salvador
· India
· Jamaica
· Kosovo
· Mexico
· Namibia
· Nicaragua, which represented the fury of a volcano
· Panama, representing Diablo in pheasant feathers, glass and crystals
· Peru
· Philippines, a colorful twist to the traditional Filipiniana
· Thailand, a combination of the Thai Hill Tribe and traditional costume
· Ukraine
· Venezuela, an exquisite costume which reminded me of the film My Fair Lady (photo)



The costumes of both Miss Puerto Rico and Miss USA were sports themes. Miss Puerto Rico boxed her way across the stage while Miss USA revved up heartbeats with her Nascar costume. It was announced that the winner of the Costume Competition will be revealed on Wednesday.On Tuesday half of the contestants will be split into two groups a nd travel to the islands of Abaco and Harbour Island. I will be travelling with the Abaco group and will report on that in my next entry.



Source: http://www.criticalbeauty.com/Coverage_ ... ports.html

Sunday's (yesterday) swimsuit presentation show was pretty much the first time we got a glipmse of these ladies sashaying their stuff on a stage. Though it felt like a competition, it was a preview to the Preliminary Swimsuit show that will be held in about a week and a half. No "winners" were announced, unlike last year when Mexico won.

The ladies certainly did not disappoint when it came to "trying their best", but unfortunately, the "best" for some may not be good enough. Up close, it is truly obvious to everyone who the top contenders are, if there was no preliminary interview competition, that is.

I separated the Top 15 into two groups. Top 10 is just so ahead of the rest that they need their own separate distinctive category.

GROUP A-1: Top 10 (in alphabetical order)
Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Russia, Slovak Republic, Sweden

GROUP A-2: Top 11-15 (in alphabetical order)
Albania, Colombia, Iceland, Peru, South Africa

Group B: Top 16-25 (in alphabetical order)
Brazil, Dominican Republic, France, Hungary, Ireland, Jamaica, Romania, Spain, USA, Venezuela

Group C: Top 26-30 (in alphabetical order)
Canada, Indonesia, Italy, Poland, Ethiopia

Russia and Czech Republic were just awesome! These two ladies walked that runway amidst ooohhs and aaahhhs from the audience. They were mesmerizing and every inch the supermodel that they are or should be. Gorgeous face, flawless skin, rockin' body, fierce attitude. Australia and Belgium were just okay here but who can deny their exquisite faces. They say that the swimsuit category is won from the neck up -- if so, then they did extremely well.

Philippines just blasted onto the stage with a new fabulous attitude. With the confidence of a rising diva, she sashayed that runway amidst cheers of both her countrymen and the locals thereby cementing her place as one of the favorites. Puerto Rico is right there behind her. Not to be outdone, she captured the crowd with those hips and reminded us once again why her little island nation has one of the highest success rates in Miss Universe. Not surprisingly, she sported the semi-wedgie look by hiking up her swimsuit bottom up in the back to show "more". This "style" was started by Eva Ekvall in 2001 and "copycat-ted" by many Latina contestants ever since.

I am still on the fence with Colombia. I love her hip haircut but it needs to be styled differently. I don't like the curls and I think she would look better with her hair sleeked back with a "wet" look. While Albania, Peru, and South Africa rise in rank... down go Dominican Republic, USA, and Venezuela. Dominican Republic just looks old and tries a little too much. USA, though having one of the best bodies in the competition, has lost her spark. No one is excited to see her or what she will do. Many times I forget that she's even there. Venezuela is too subdued.

Finally, Japan is starting to get her groove on. Though still suffering from her horrible over-cooked tan, she is slowly but surely emerging "from the ashes" as her "orange glow" fades away, albeit slowly. Even though she seemed to have lost her pre-arrival confidence, she does have a great body. Hopefully, she'll be able to regroup and bring us the Japan that we expected before her horrible trip to the tanning salon. Another lady that has a rocking bod is Canada. Nice, toned and lean... but she does not seem to be having a great time. She looks like she's just going through the motions. I overheard someone behind me comment that "Canada looked bored" while someone from the other side of the tent yelled for her to "smile".

The competition is heating up now that the ladies had a taste of "competition". The National Costume competition is next. Stay tuned.

Next Leader Board update: Wednesday, Aug 12th.

Source: http://pageantzilla.blogspot.com/

one of my top bets !!!!!!! go philippines!!!! :-107--: