Sophida Kanchanarin, a 23 year-old Investment Banker from Bangkok who finished a degree in Finance from the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, was crowned Miss Universe Thailand 2018 after the Top 2 Q&A showdown which saw her outlasting eventual 1st Runner-Up Thitaree Kasorn.
Jubjib Palita was named 2nd Runner-Up, while Top favorite Praveenar Singh finished 3rd Runner-Up. Thai-Italian Valentine Giardullo Ploy completed the magic circle as 4th Runner-Up.
The 5’7” Ning (the nickname of Sophida) will now represent Thailand in Miss Universe 2018.
The successful conclusion of Miss Q&A on It’s Showtime gathered tens of thousands of Filipinos whose eyes were glued on the small screen to witness the crowning of Juliana Parizcova Segovia as the Grand Winner.
The popularity of the said contest was so huge that it crossed all classes in society, viewership-wise. I myself was amazed when – upon passing by the public commute station in our village – practically all the tricycle and jeepney drivers were eagerly watching and awaiting the announcement of the winners till the very end. Just like a Pacquiao bout.
It only goes to show that – indeed – beauty pageants are already an ingrained lifestyle among Filipinos. It may be of pure entertainment value for many, but the nationwide acceptance of Miss Q&A is an indication that a third wheel has reached mainstream levels in Philippine pageantry. I will go out on a limb and say that gay/transgender beauty contests have already overtaken male competitions for second place.
Your thoughts, dear readers?
Juliana navigation the huge Manny Halasan crown on her head
Presscon of the two runners-up – Matmat Centino and Lars Pacheco – after the finals
When Angela Ponce made her first attempt for a national beauty crown during Miss World Spain, she lost to the representative of Barcelona. This time, she achieved major success as the representative of Spain in Miss Universe 2018 after finally winning her national pageant. She is now the first-ever transgender national titleholder to take part in our favorite beauty contest. And people are mixed in their reactions to her victory.
As far as I’m concerned, I don’t mind seeing Angela taking the next step of being a Miss Universe Official Candidate. But will she be the first transgender to win the crown? At this point, there are stronger ladies who have already been hyped earlier on. So regardless of whether she is a transgender or a natural born female, the playing field for 2018 remains to be an extremely tough one to prevail upon.
Tomorrow night is the Finals of Miss Universe Thailand 2018 at the Royal Paragon Hall of Siam Paragon in Bangkok, Thailand. And by the way the Preliminaries unfolded 24 hours ago, it would be safe to predict that #MUT14 Praveena Singh has got the crown in the bag, unless she falters big-time in the higher climb to the #1 spot. While she does not look distictly Thai at all and exudes more of her Indian lineage, she has the qualities that will sit well with the pageant-loving Thais. The 22 year-old Chiangmai native is tall at 5’10” and has the most regal bearing among the 40 candidates. I am pretty sure that she will bring it on even more strongly in the crucial parts of the decisive competition climax.
The four others I am seeing as part of the Top 5 are #MUT12 Palita Puttharassu from Khon Kaen, #MUT17 Supatra Kiatjarungphan of Yasothon, #MUT11 Valentina Giardullo Ploy of Bangkok and #MUT9 Aniphan Chalermburanawong of Lampang.
The rest of my Top 10 are as follows: #MUT26 Peerachada Kunrak of Songkhla (my darkest horse to spoil the Top 5 mix), #MUT10 Thitaree Kasorn of Bangkok, #MUT5 Natharuetai Akkarakijwattanakul of Samut Prakan, #MUT39 Namphon Sirikul of Bangkok and #MUT13 Penpimon Sasithammawong of Bangkok.
Below is a photo grid of my Top 5 in evening gowns.
Let’s see how the Coronation Night results will bear me out.
In anticipation of Saturday night’s finals of Miss Universe Thailand 2018, the all-important Preliminary Competition was held last night at the Royal Paragon Hall of Siam Paragon in Bangkok.
The forty (40) Official Candidates paraded in Swimsuits and Evening Gowns. Four Special Awards were handed out and the five contenders for the People’s Choice Award were announced.
Miss Earth Hannah’s 2017 Paweensuda Drouin was one of the three hosts.
Do watch the different segments of the show now and tell me your own favorites.
Beauty pageants come and go, especially in this day and age when such ventures have mushroomed left and right in almost every corner of the Globe. And the Philippines is acknowledged as one of the leaders in putting up contests that give the spotlight to all genders, race, shapes and sizes – female, male and the LGBTQi Community.
Aris Aguirre (left) and LGBT Quezon 3rd District Quezon President Dave Lee Aguirre Reyes
Last May 19, a gay beauty pageant had its finals in Catanauan that followed the launch of the LGBT Quezon 3rd District. It is called “Queen Gay Peninsula 2018”. Sponsored by the generous Aris Aguirre (right photo in dark blue shirt) who is set to run as Representative of the 3rd District of Quezon, the big event serves to unite all members of the community in an organization that will seek to reach out and institute future projects that will go beyond pageant glitter. While the contest was envisioned as an annual celebration of Pride, it will also endeavor to continuously protect the rights of each member en route to strengthening an important advocacy regarding HIV awareness and prevention, while instilling the values of respect, equality and diversity to encourage a creative and innovative environment from the grassroots level and up.
LGBT Quezon 3rd District is headed by its President Dave Lee Aguirre Reyes, along with the ever-reliable Project Manager Kristofferson Domantay Tan (who has been handling District-wide pageants/events since 2001) and Public Relation Head Jullos Alimpulo.
Looking forward to more significant activities from the organization from hereon now. I know that the team can elevate the LGBTQi Community in the 3rd District of Quezon and the entire Province eventually.
Here are more photos from the Queen Gay Peninsula 2018 finals.
As part of her duties and responsibilities as the reigning titleholder, Miss Asia Pacific International 2017 Francielly Ouriques of Brazil has returned to the Philippines to do promotional shoots, pictorials, provincial tours and other activities for the upcoming 2018 edition of the pageant that will be hosted in the country come mid-September | Photo credits: JR Noses, Joy Arguil and Noli Berioso
Congratulations to the newly-crowned Miss Manila 2018 Kathleen Joy Paton (who also won Miss Teen International 2017 last Year in Thailand where she represented the Philippines).
Her court is composed of 1st Runner-Up Malka Shaver, 2nd Runner-Up Paulina Labayo, 3rd Runner-Up Kristi Banks and 4th Runner-Up Agatha Lei Romero.
Below is a video of the Top 5 Q&A that sealed their respective Final rankings.
Today, Miss Eco International 2018 Cynthia Thomalla was named United Nations Goodwill Ambassador (for IIMSAM) by the General Secretary Mr. Romegio Maradona and Dr. Ismail Abdelghafar who is the Chairman of the Arab League in Alexandria, Egypt.
Given this new responsibility, Cynthia can now start her mission of promoting tourism, taking care of the environment and helping the poor.
Since Missosology already made an official post about the 47th Miss Intercontinental to be hosted in the country come January, 2019, the question in the mind of some pageant followers is this: will the chance of Bb. Pilipinas Intercontinental 2018 Karen Gallman winning the crown be lessened because of this development? We are tired of being perennial runners-up in the competition. And as Host Delegate, Karen might end up getting the same placement like that of Katarina Rodriguez or Christi McGarry or Kris Tiffany Janson.
Hi! Norman here. When I'm not working, I spend most of my free time planning on daily blogs. If you will notice, I always make sure that a fresh topic comes out everyday - not an easy thing to do but it's all good. Thanks for dropping by and enjoy the visit!
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