FOR TODAY’S viewing party, courtesy of our friends at GMA Network, we’re not allowed to bet on Miss Philippines’ sash since we’re all rooting for Rachel Peters anyway. So I’m left picking Miss USA instead, for the obvious reason: home court advantage.
After watching the preliminary competition, though, it’s crystal clear Miss Venezuela Keysi Sayago is the girl to beat. Depending on her private interview, she could easily walk away with the crown.
Only the Philippines’ bet and Miss Panama’s Laura De Sanctis matched her graceful, elegant stage presence. In our mock scoring, Keysi scored 28 out of 30, with Rachel and Laura tied for second at 27.
The performance of the beautiful Keysi Sayago of Venezuela during the preliminaries made us believe that she is in for revenge after Mariam Habach failed to enter the semis last year.
Rachel Peters of the Philippines continues to stand out as she tries to bring home the fourth Miss Universe crown for the pageant crazy Filipinos, including this writer.
Panama is mostly underrated but for this blogger, Laura De Sanctis is simply beautiful and stunning to ignore. Given a chance at the semis, she will definitely land a spot in the Top 6.
Right behind them: Nicaragua’s Berenice Quezada and USA’s Kára McCullough, tied at 26.5 — both worth watching.
The trending names — Miss South Africa Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters and Miss Thailand Maria Poonlertlarp — are among the prettiest in the room but lacked stage presence, Nel-Peters especially. Maria, at least, looked gorgeous in that gown. A bit overrated, maybe, but they held their own.
Below is our list of who we think makes the semifinals, based purely on prelim performance. The Miss Universe organization interviewed all these ladies themselves and picked who advances — but this list has become our annual tradition, and we’re not giving it up yet.
TOP 16 LADIES BASED ON PRELIM PERFORMANCE: We are confident that one of these ladies will be the next Miss Universe.
Venezuela – 9.5 + 9.5 + 9 = 28 points
Philippines – 9 + 9 + 9 = 27 points
Panama – 8 + 9.5 + 9.5 = 27 points
Nicaragua – 8.5 + 9 + 9 = 26.5 points
USA – 9 + 8.5 + 9 = 26.5 points
Thailand – 8.5 + 8.5 + 9 = 26 points
Mexico – 8.5 + 8.5 + 9 = 26 points
Puerto Rico – 9 + 8 + 8.5 = 25.5 points
Spain – 8.5 + 8.5 + 8 = 25 points
Angola – 8 + 9 + 8 = 25 points
Canada – 9 + 8 + 8 = 25 points
Indonesia – 8 + 8 + 8.5 = 24.5 points
Brazil – 7 + 9 + 8.5 = 24.5 points
South Africa – 8 + 8 + 8 = 24 points
Russia – 7 + 8.5 + 8.5 = 24 points
France 8 + 8 + 8 = 24 points
Our wildcard picks: Croatia, Colombia, India, Haiti, Korea, and Lebanon.
How about you — aside from Rachel, who do you think is the strongest contestant this year? Feel free to ask your boyfriend for a second opinion. *wink*