by mrgary » Mon Dec 24, 2018 11:49 pm
Before this year concludes, I would like to post my 15 most favourite Miss Universe candidates from 1969-2018.
15. Angela Visser (Holland, 1989). Angela’s very likeable personality was her plus factor at the Miss Universe edition in Cancun, Mexico that year. She also spoke five languages which made her popular among her fellow candidates in the competition. Before Oxana Fedorova came into the limelight in 2002, Angela dominated the ranking as the “Most Beautiful Miss Universe” and I certainly concurred with the ranking. In the year where European beauties dominated half of the 10 semifinalists, Angela breezed through each category of the pageant with very high scores. Apparently, a hard-to-please Mexican audience was very contented having her as the winner that year.
14. Flaviana Matata (Tanzania, 2007). Flaviana would have to be my Telly Savalas of “Kojak” fame in Miss Universe all these years. She was the first beauty pageant candidate who sported a bald look. I loved this African woman because her beauty was authentic and unscathed. If only she were provided with good styling in her wardrobe and proper training, then she could have been an easy frontrunner of that Miss Universe edition in Mexico City.
13. Maria Margarita Moran (The Philippines, 1973). Well, truth be told I was never a fan of Gloria Diaz. I was always a Margie fan if I were to choose between the two of them, perhaps, because I was always drawn to classy women and Margie had this aura of resplendence in her which would be difficult to describe but could easily be translated by her mere presence. Despite Margie’s well-emphasized overbite whenever she smiled, she still managed herself to look respectable and elegant all throughout the pageant. When Miss Universe pageant was held for the first time in Europe, Margie immediately became an early favourite as soon as she set foot in Athens with her light pink head scarf, long-sleeved printed chartreuse dress shirt and and white bell-bottom pants. Just like Catriona Gray in 2018, the 1973 edition became Margie’s pageant. At the time, it was the press and media people in Greece who chose the Miss Photogenic award for the pageant of which Margie became the recipient. Who could ever forget that rose cabbage on her left shoulder during the evening gown competition? That Auggie Cordero number was truly memorable as Margie descended the historic steps of the Herod Atticus Aphitheatre.
12. Gona Dragusha (Kosovo, 2009). Her evening gown number transformed her into this modern Audrey Hepburn replica. She was very beautiful that night. Unfortunately, she didn’t quite nail the question when Dean Cain asked her, “Pop Superstar Justin Timberlake once said: ‘The worst thing about being famous is the invasion of your privacy.’ What is it about fame that makes many people, including you, want to be famous?” I am not quite certain, however, if the interpreter fully translated the entire gist of the question to her, or not; or, if Gona was just too nervous to compose her answer that she didn’t fully understand the scope of Dean’s question. At any rate, Gona graced us with her ethereal beauty in that Miss Universe edition in Nassau, Bahamas.
11. Alicia Machado (Venezuela, 1996). Alicia might have been the most controversial Miss Universe winner especially during and after her reign but let’s face it, she was magnanimously beautiful during pageant night. You could totally see how she enjoyed each segment of the pageant in contrast to Ali Landry of the USA who was as equally beautiful and stunning as Alicia but became nervous and tentative all throughout the final night. During the preliminaries, Ali led the pageant with a score of 9.350 while Alicia came a close second with a score of 9.323; however, it was during the final night when Alicia gave her all with reckless abandon. She swayed her hips while striking a pose during the swimsuit competition which was quite novel at that time. She flipped her hair and could care less on stage like a Las Vegas diva even when her left earring fell on the floor. She definitely knew how to put on a show!
10. Miyako Miyazaki (Japan, 2003). I have one word to describe her: “CHIC!” She was really a diva on stage. Her catwalk was superb that even with just literally a bra and a skirt for an evening gown, she made the whole ensemble look very cosmopolitan. Among all the modern Miss Japan delegates these past decades, I would place Miyako to be my top favorite among all of them.
9. Denise Quiñones (Puerto Rico, 2001). I like Denise’s beaming smiles. It was Denise who started that "look-at-someone's-crotch-then-look-up" stare on camera during pasarela and the head-tilt-and-smile before striking a pose that became the "mold" for succeeding Puerto Rican candidates just like the likes of Alba Reyes, Cynthia Olavarria, Zuleyka Rivera and recently, Kiara Liz Ortega. To me, Denise is the most beautiful Miss Universe among the winners from Puerto Rico so far. On the other hand, I would've wanted her to be the First Runner-Up to Evelina at the Miss Universe edition in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
8. Miriam Quiambao (The Philippines, 1999). As we all know, Miriam could have easily snatched the crown from Botswana that night had she not fumbled in her response to the final question. Miriam’s signature pose was just a sight to behold in all Miss Universe editions of the '90s. That Halston gown had a winner written all over it.
7. Stefania Fernandez (Venezuela, 2009). Stefania is another classy Venezuelan delegate I’ve rarely seen in years. She was naturally poised and polished despite her being only 18 years old at the time of her competition in Nassau, Bahamas. She became even more beautiful during and after her reign. I don’t know, guys, but if I were to choose between Dayana Mendoza and Stefania Fernandez, I would readily choose Stefania as the more beautiful Venezuelan winner than Dayana. That red gown she wore definitely enhanced her classy demeanour. She became like this Scarlett O’Hara persona who still remained beautiful amid the ravages of the American Civil War.
6. Catriona Gray (The Philippines, 2018). Catriona is my most favourite Miss Philippines thus far. She was the most prepared candidate at this year’s Miss Universe edition in Bangkok, Thailand. No wonder it became her pageant from the moment she set foot at the arrival area of Suvarnabhumi International Airport with her emerald green and navy blue Thai-inspired outfit with southeast Asian gold-plated fashion accessories. She was an innovator in the world of pageants because she went above and beyond on what was expected for her as a pageant candidate. She took the risks of becoming an independent candidate at her local pageant in the Philippines and formed her own team in order to make her vision a reality. Catriona was also a top performer on stage. Her slow-mo-twirl-and-a-step incorporated in her lava walk created massive viral hits on the internet. Indeed, Catriona is “THE PAGEANT SUPERSTAR”!
5. Evelina Papantoniou (Greece, 2001). Aphrodite came alive at the Miss Universe edition in Bayamon, Puerto Rico that night through Evelina Papantoniou. The body, the hair, the catwalk, the face, the projection . . . the works! She was like a “Halley’s Comet” on that Miss Universe night. Her sophistication and sheer chicness were just mesmerizing! In my opinion, she’s the most beautiful Miss Greece I’ve ever seen so far. Evelina barely had two weeks to prepare for the international competition after winning her local pageant, the Star Hellas; however, as soon as she set foot in Bayamon, she gave the Puerto Ricans a run for their money because her presence was just totally hard to ignore. No pun intended but if only Puerto Rican judges Dayanara Torres and Marc Anthony didn’t take part in the judging panel or, perhaps, the pageant was held outside Puerto Rico then Evelina would have probably bagged the crown that night because she was definitely unstoppable. In my opinion, Denise Quiñones of Puerto Rico and eventual winner that night, was so overscored on both swimsuit and evening gown categories. On the swimsuit category, it should have been Evelina who topped this segment, followed by Kandace Krueger of USA, Eva Ekvall (RIP) of Venezuela, then Denise. In the evening gown competition, it should have been Evelina followed by Denise and Eva Siso of Spain. The Top 5 would have been perfect had Spain been included instead of India.
4. Carolina Izsak (Venezuela, 1992). That year, three Glamazons were neck-and-neck in their performances during the preliminaries, namely: Venezuela, Namibia and Belgium; however, Venezuela definitely sent a stunner that year in the person of Carolina Izsak. Carolina was such a breath of fresh air when she graced us with her presence in Bangkok. Her beautiful face, warm personality, queenly aura and winsome smile were hard to go unnoticed. I really thought she already had it in the bag on that fateful night . . . then came Khun Ying Sasima Srivikorn’s tricky question: “If you could know one thing about your future, what would you like to know?” that made Carolina lost her chances for the crown. Her answer was actually reasonable and for that answer, the said judge gave her a high 9.8 score; however, another judge, Robin Leach, only gave her a score of 8.6. Leach was the only one who gave her an 8.6 while the rest of the judges averaged her at 9.4! In my opinion, Leach probably pressed the wrong button. He accidentally keyed in the “8” button instead of the “9” because as I kept repeating that segment of the show, Carolina didn’t do anything wrong especially with her answer. She was nervous, yes, but she didn’t fumble in her delivery. My best guess would have to be that Carolina’s non-inclusion in the Top 3 was a big fluke caused by a mistake of one of the judges that night. Carolina would have ended winning the crown with Michelle McLean of Namibia as her 1st Runner-Up and Paola Turbay of Colombia as her 2nd Runner-Up.
3. Courtney Gibbs (USA, 1988). To me, she will always remain as my most beautiful Miss USA of all time. Courtney exudes this classic and timeless beauty like Grace Kelly. She has this natural aura of class and sophistication without exerting any effort at all. Until now, I am still puzzled how she lost to Porntip Nakhirunkanok of Thailand on that shocking night in Taiwan. She topped the Miss Universe preliminary competition and all of a sudden, she was dismally forgotten in the Top 5 came the finals night. I truly believed she was unfairly underscored during the finals.
2. Amparo Muñoz (Spain, 1974). Amparo was just simply ravishing that night at the Folk Arts Theater in Manila. Her seafoam green gown was just simply amazing. She was definitely a clear-cut winner that night. In my opinion, she was the most beautiful Miss Universe winner in the ‘70s. Her movements were raw and unstudied, her answers unrehearsed, and her beauty was au naturelle. No wonder even Madame Imelda Marcos rooted for her to win the crown.
1. Oxana Fedorova (Russia, 2002). In my personal opinion, Oxana is the most beautiful Miss Universe winner in all these years. Her beauty is definitely grand in scale and reaches people from every corner of the world. That white Gucci gown she wore was simply exquisite. If you’d really think about it, it was just a very simple gown that people might think it was inspired by Bed Bath & Beyond and yet, it was also complicated to execute because it was one of those gowns that would play tricks on a woman’s body. If a woman wore it with no beauty and right curves at all, then she would end up looking like she just stepped out of the bathroom; however, Oxana gave justice to it by making it look like a million dollar gown. Her beauty came out even more ethereal, light and fresh with that lovely gown. I was just saddened she wasn't able to finish her reign.
So there you go, my friends, these are my most favourite Miss Universe candidates so far. How about you, guys? Who are your favourites? Please do share. Thank you.
I wish you all a "Very Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year"!
Last edited by
mrgary on Tue Dec 25, 2018 7:37 am, edited 15 times in total.