MARIE ANN UMALI: Bb Pilipinas - World 2009

The elusive Miss World crown seems ever nearer with the victory of 22-year old hazel-eyed Marie Ann Umali at the recent Bb. Pilipinas beauty pageant. Blessed with a 35 - 25 ½ - 36 figure and a towering height of 5'7", Umali convincingly won the Bb.Pilipinas World crown over 22 other beauties, earning the privilege of representing the Philippines in the prestigious Miss World pageant to be held in South Africa.
This year’s Binibining Pilipinas pageant is actually a redemption for Marie, as it is her second time to join; having landed as one of the semi-finalists on her first try. This time, she was more ready, confident and focused, having recently graduated from college. She also spent the entire year after the 2006 pageant preparing and focusing on the pageant and the crown. Judging by her impressive performance, her preparations paid off as she also won the top two most coveted special titles, the Best in Long Gown and the Miss Photogenic awards.
Ann, as she is known to friends, hails from Batangas City. She is a graduate of the De LaSalle University - College of St. Benilde where she took up Tourism, and plans to pursue a career as a flight attendant prior to putting up a restaurant. Her dream of becoming a restaurateur is a spin-off of her penchant for cooking and baking. When not dabbling with pots and pans, Ann likes to travel, watch movies and, every girl’s weakness, shop.
Aside from fulfilling her duties and responsibilities as Bb. Pilipinas World, taking part in humanitarian missions to uplift the plight of marginalized Filipinos, and improving the morale of the country’s wounded soldiers, Ann is also training tirelessly and diligently to fulfill her most cherished dream of becoming Ms. World. To achieve this, she is currently taking language courses in Spanish and French, reviewing her Philippine History, Geography, Economics and Arts & Culture. She is also trying to learn as much as she could about South Africa. Her fitness regimen, meanwhile, consists of Pilates and Gym training. She is also taking jazz, hip-hop, ballroom and native (Filipino) dance lessons.

To prepare for the intense media scrutiny that beauty queens are normally subjected to, she is undergoing on-cam training, like hosting and angles, plus hair & make-up lessons since she will have to do her own hair and make-up during the Ms. World pageant.
Despite the seemingly daunting task ahead of her, Ann is not one to whine and complain. She actually has a ready smile that she generously bestows on every person she meets. She is constantly thankful for the privilege of being a beauty queen and is more than willing to undergo any challenge to take home the title and be the first Filipina to be crowned Miss World.