Miss Earth 2015 at the Singapore F1 Grand Prix

Last Sunday, I had the chance to have chatted up reigning Miss Earth Angelia Ong. The raven-haired beauty was a VIP guest at the Singapore F1 Grand Prix!

The Ilongga beauty was had a blast in Singapore and this could be seen in her photos on the pit and racetracks. FYI, not everyone is allowed to take photos there, you really have to be a VIP guest to even go down to the where the racers are. Her Singapore trip marks Angelia’s 8th country visited. She even told me that she would have loved to meet up with me in Jakarta if she had the time… how sweet is that?

For those that asked, her India trip has been delayed indefinitely so we just have to wait and see on that. She also told me that since her South Africa trip was postponed, the ME-SA org promised her that they will be inviting her even after her reign is over. And guess what? Angelia still has a pending travel back to New York. Now that spells out how she is loved by many.

We can’t wait for more good things to happen for this beauty.

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When a Group Shot becomes a Beauty Battle at MWP2016

This is what happens when a group shot suddenly becomes a beauty battle…

After the Press Presentation of the candidates of the Miss World Philippines held a couple of weeks ago, the girls from Aces & Queens suddenly became the center of attention after Sash Factor photographer Andy Cayna asked the girls to line up for a group shot. The girls suddenly went into full on glam despite wearing casual jeans and polos from Folded & Hung. These shots became reminiscent of the Bininbining Pilipinas Jag Jeans group shots.

The girls were (from left to right): Catriona Gray,  Vinie Camille Dy Quiangco, Arienne Calingo, Alyanna Cagandahan, Lauren Asuncion and Sandra Lemonon.

Who do you think won this round?

Miss Venezuela 2016 Futuristic Glamshots

Check out these futuristic glamshot of the 24 ladies competing for the 4 titles at Miss Venezuela 2016.

Amazonas – Anjuly Claret De Gouveia Rodríguez, 24, 5’11 1/2″
Anzoátegui – Melanie Gerber Jung, 19, 5’9 1/2″
Apure – Fernanda Konacri Zabián Rodríguez, 19, 5’7 1/2″
Aragua – María Lucibeth Bencomo Gudiño, 23, 5’9 3/4″
Barinas – Jelaning Betania Fargas González, 19, 5’9 1/2″
Bolívar – Melanie Alexandra Bermúdez Rivas, 21, 5’10”

Carabobo – Frinddy Stefanya Bocaranda Juge, 19, 5’9 3/4″
Cojedes – Sarahim Sariht Dávila Hernández, 24, 5’9″
Delta Amacuro – Ysabel Cristina Cedeño Terán, 24, 5’9 1/2″
Distrito Capital – Yanett Díaz Dib, 18, 5’11”
Falcón – Tulia Rosa María Alemán Ferrer, 23, 5’9 1/2″
Guarico – María Victoria D’Ambrosio Díaz, 20, 6’0″

Lara – Hielimar Elizabeth Sargó de Marchi, 23, 5’11”
Miranda – Rosangélica Piscitelli Ferreri, 22, 5’11”
Mérida – María Fernanda Paredes Sánchez, 21, 5’11 1/2″
Monagas – Keysi Mairin Sayago Arrechedera, 22, 5’11”
Nueva Esparta – Diana Macarena Victoria Croce, 19, 5’9 3/4″
Portuguesa – Viviana Valente Rueda, 22, 5’9 3/4″

Sucre – Victoria González González, 21, 5’11”
Táchira – Betania Rojas Rincón, 22, 5’9 3/4″
Trujillo – Mariana Palazzo López, 19, 5’10”
Vargas – Paola Antonella Massaro Escalona, 24, 5’10”
Yaracuy – Reneta Carolina Bello Lacal, 20, 5’10”
Zulia – Raymar Lisett Valbuena Cardozo, 20, 5’10”

 

Mireia & Rohit’s Visit Moves MWP Finals Night!

Guess who is coming to Manila?!?! It’s no other than the reigning Miss World Mireia Lalaguna and Mister World Rohit Khandelwal!

Miss World Organization has requested for Miss World Philippines finals night to be moved in order to accommodate the visit of reigning Miss World Mireia Lalaguna and Mister World Rohit Khandelwa. They will join our panel of judges on October 9, 2016, Sunday, 6PM at the Manila Hotel. The entire pageant calendar will be moved to give way for more activities for the two winners here in the Philippines.
Instead of September 25, the MWP2016 Coronation Night is now going to be on October 9 with a broadcast LIVE on GMA. The MWP Gala Night has been reset from Sept. 20 to Oct 5 at 6pm, the Enderun College Tent, Mckinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio
Aren’t you excited for this news?

UPDATE!!! (Sept 20, 2016)

MWP GALA- SEPT 27, Tuesday, Enderun, Fort Bonifacio , 6pm . Ticket prices: Platinum p10k, Gold p7,500 , Silver p5,000 .

MWP CORONATION NIGHT Oct 2, Sunday, Manila Hotel, 6pm. Broadcast via GMA.

Miss World and Mr World will fulfill their commitment to visit the Philippines Oct 9-11. They will devote their time to “Beauty With a Purpose ” charitable activities. ( PGH and Tuloy Streetchildren Foundation)

Did Kagandahang Flores snub Miss World Philippines?

Since this is a sensitive topic, I opted to post verbatim the article published by tempo.com.ph below…

The 25 official candidates of the Miss World Philippines 2016 beauty pageant were presented to the press and there were no girls from the Kagandahang Flores beauty camp. Did the KF camp snub the beauty contest?
The KF group headed by pageant guru Rodgil Flores has said that his team got busy in their preparations for other pageants.
“Hindi naman snub. Nagkataon lang na naging busy kami sa ibang pageants,” said Flores.
The beauty queen maker said that he has even received a text message from Cory Quirino, chairperson for Miss World Philippines, inviting his camp to join the annual search.
Last year, two KF girls finished in the Top 5 of the Miss World Philippines pageant – Emma Tiglao won 4th runner-up and Mia Allyson Howell, 2nd runner-up.
Candidates fielded by the KF and its rivals Aces and Queens under Jonas Gaffud and John dela Vega camp are the most-awaited girls in Philippine pageants.
Like their counterparts in Venezuela and Colombia, both rival camps train their girls hard for the pageant. They are known for their special skills and techniques in making beauty queens.
Flores has earlier said that girls training for pageants should give their full commitment. The pageant expert has said that training in a beauty camp does not guarantee a crown for the girl in the pageant.
The KF beauty camp has successfully groomed beauty queens 2005 Miss International Precious Lara Quigaman, 2013 Miss International Bea Rose Santiago, 2008 Miss Earth Karla Henry, Miss Tourism International queens Angeli Dione Gomez and the late Rizzini Alexis Gomez, Miss Earth 2014 Jamie Herrell, and Miss Earth 2015 Angelia Ong.
Other stellar queens in the group are Miss Intercontinental second runner-up Kris Tiffany Hanson, and Miss Tourism International second runner-up Glennifer Perido. In 2014, KF girls swept the Top 5 for Miss Philippines Earth contest.

As explained by its head honcho himself, it was not a snub but rather a fully packed commitment with several other pageants. After all, they cannot be everywhere all the time… and we should just leave it at that.

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SOURCE:
http://tempo.com.ph/2016/09/07/famous-beauty-camp-snubs-miss-world-contest/

Valerie Weigmann Rocks New York Fashion Week!

If you thought only Janine Tugonon is making waves in the US, then think again! During the past several days, we have seen former Miss World Philippines, Valerie Weigmann rocking the runways of the fashion capital, New York.

Valerie’s set card for MSA Models

Walking the runways of the NY Spring-Summer 2017 Fashion Week is no joke as hundreds of models elbow each other for a limited number of spots on the designers’ shows. Valerie has booked shows for Phillip Plein, Vicky Zhang, Vipe Active Wear, NikiStavia and gotten word that she also screened for designer Anthony Vaccarello’s show. 

Way to go for my favorite MWP winner! I wish more success for Val as she truly is deserving of it…

Miss Universe Barbados 2016, Shannon Harris

Meet the newly crowned Miss Universe Barbados 2016, Shannon Harris!

Age : 21
Height : 5’10” / 177cm
Occupation : Model / Entrepreneur
She beat out 13 other candidates for the title and romped away with $115,000 worth of prizes including the $10,000 new Miss Universe Barbados crown. Shannon is signed with Elite Model Management.

Cas Winters & Andrea Biondo: Universal Ambassadors

By September 21st, the expected 55+ candidates of the Mister Universal Ambassador competition would have assembled in Bali, Indonesia for its 2nd annual pageant.
Two of the hunks competing for the title are Netherlands’ own Cas Winters and the Philippine rep Andrea Biondo. These two guys have several things in common: 1) they are both halfies, 2) they speak several languages and 3) they both good to look at.

Andrea stands 5’11” tall and is 23 years old. Growing up in Italy the Filipino-Italian speaks several languages namely, Italian, English, German and he says a little Spanish. While he may not speak Tagalog, he admittedly revealed to us that he finds Filipino culture fascinating and is keen to learn more about it.

Cas on the otherhand stands tall at a whopping 6’4” and is one of the tallest in this year’s batch. This lovable hunk speaks Dutch, English, German and Bahasa Indonesia… not surprising as he is half-Indonesian thru his maternal side. A veteran of competitions, he endeared himself to Filipino pageants fans when he first competed in the Mister International competition held in Manila last year. His apple of the eye is a Bb Pilipinas alum and the couple looks saccharinely cute together.
The Mister Universal Ambassador will be held in Bali with the finals night in another city, Surabaya (which is an hour and a half away from Bali via plane). The welcome ceremony will happen on September 22 at the Bali Rani Hotel with the competition Finals will on September 30.

My Impressions on the Miss World Philippines Ladies

The overall quality of this year’s batch is incomparable to that of 2013 or 2014 as a lot of the girls this year are still quite raw. This year is a year of young, fresh-faced youngsters who could use a couple of (or three) years to mature and grown fully into young women. A number of teenaged candidates pale in comparison to the more mature 20-something in the batch. But it is nevertheless a friendly and lovely group of aspirants.

Sandra Lemonon – if the Miss World Philippines was a battle of the face, in my opinion, Sandra would win this competition hands down. She stands 5’7” with a face meant for pageants. Hers is a face that spells “Binibining Pilipinas caliber” and could easily win one of the top crowns. However, according to her handler Carlos Buendia, she truly wants to compete for the Miss World Philippines title hence her participation in the contest. Sandra is one of the most articulate ladies in the competition and is being tagged by pageant insiders as the one who might give Catriona Gray a fight for the title. I would not be surprised if she manages to steal a top 2 finish.

Arienne Louise Calingo – when Arienne talked with me, she asked what she could improve for the competition. During our short chat she told me that one of her life-ambitions is to work for the United Nations (UN) or the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)! Now that is what you call an ambition, no pageant girl has that set in their eyes and this makes her more interesting than several other candidates, combined at that! Did I mention she is a graduate of one of the Ivy League universities in the US? Yes, this Georgetown graduate could battle it out on the gab with anybody in the competition. Arienne was among the only three girls that the big networks interviewed alongside Catriona and Vinie. This goes to show that this lady is a contender… a serious one at that. My only regret was that I didn’t have the presence of mind to have a photo with this Mafae Yunon deadringer.

Vinie Camille Dy Quiangco – she is a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints, she has volunteered as a missionary teaching children in Mindanao to read and write, she is going to take up her Masteral degree in community planning & management from the University of the Philippines, she has worked as a researcher at the Asian Institute of Management, she can sing like any other diva, she communicates well like a diplomat and she is absolutely gorgeous. What else can we ask for this pageant girl? Those alone are more than enough qualifications to win the coveted title. I was flabbergasted that she was the first to approach me during the press presentation and she was truly sweet and endearing. Seeing her go toe to toe with Catriona tells us that she doesn’t buckle under pressure. With her thirst & drive to win the title, it would not be difficult to see her as the potential winner for the crown.

Catriona Elisa Gray – this lady is deemed as the presumptive winner, and why not? She is the tallest in this batch with her 5’10” frame, she has a very strong BWAP project with the Smoky Mountain kids, she is a veteran on the ramp with a singing talent to boot. What I admire about her was her boundless energy during the press presentation. I saw how accommodating she is for press interviews, photos with the media, chatting up her fellow candidates and is generally amiable and charming to everyone. That is the attitude I would expect from a winner and she has tons of it.
Personally, these four girls are the girls that I see with the potential to win the Miss World Philippines title come finals night. While Catriona may have the advantage of popularity and fan support, the three other girls have “meatier” resumes that they can use to their full advantage. If I could play favorites, I would easily place these four ladies on the top 5 to battle it out for the crown.

Australia Wants to Host Miss Universe 2017 & 2018!

The new Miss Universe Australia national director Troy Barbagallo has made a bid to host the Miss Universe pageant in Australia for the next two years!

 

Excerpts of the news article below:

The newly appointed director of Miss Universe Australia Troy Barbagallo has confirmed to the Herald Sun that an official bid to host the international final in 2017 and 2018 has been placed with the international owner of the beauty pageant, IMG.

“I have already put in a bid on behalf of Australia to host the international final back-to-back in both 2017 and 2018 and they have shown a lot of interest in us,” the Perth businessman said.

“Australia is on their target, so now it will just come down to which state government we can get support from, and Victoria is high on our list,” he said.

“The cost of putting on an event like the Grand Prix or the Olympics, in terms of infrastructure, is massive compared to Miss Universe and yet you get similar exposure to the world.”

“In terms of visibility through television and social media, Miss Universe would showcase Melbourne just as much as events like the Grand Prix.”

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SOURCE:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/confidential/miss-universe-melbourne-makes-2017-final-bid/news-story/aeb6490ddebf746f61c4bbc73c7ed8ac

Angelia Ong: The Most Visible Miss Earth Winner

“Since winning, it has really been amazing. We’ve been doing a lot of projects for Miss Earth, partnering with a lot of people and organizations. What really excites me the past few weeks  [are] the travels.”
– Angelia Gabrena Ong, Miss Earth 2015

That was what Miss Earth Angelia Gabrena Ong had to say in an interview with Rappler earlier this year in terms of her projects as the reigning queen. Since winning last December, the 5’8” raven-haired beauty has celebrated numerous milestones:
1. Joined environmental group Ecowaste Coalition and launched the “Iwas-Paputoxic” campaign
2. Hosted the opening ceremony of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Week 2016
3. Led other beauty queens and graced the launching of the “Race to One Million Seedlings” project of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
4. Planted trees to contribute to the 1 million trees target of Derana TV’s “Nature Force” in Sri Lanka
5. Attended & completed the Climate Reality Project Training by environmental leader (and former US Vice-President) Al Gore.

These are aside the countless school drives, tree planting activities and other public appearances she has done in the Philippines and around the world. In each country she visits part of her itinerary are speaking engagements, courtesy calls to political leaders as well as school tours to help educate children on the importance of caring for Mother Nature. As the reigning Miss Earth, Angelia has already traveled to several different countries, namely:
1. Reunion Island
2. Vietnam
3. USA – California, New York, Washington DC & Florida
4. Colombia
5. Sri Lanka
6. Mauritius
7. China
She is also scheduled to visit India and Singapore before turning over her crown to the new Miss Earth on October 29 at the MOA Arena.

If there ever was a true embodiment of an EcoWarrior/ beauty queen that would be Angelia. She has fulfilled her duties with such commitment and passion, despite the difficulties and pressure, she always manage to do her job as Miss Earth with a friendly smile… that is something truly admirable.