She may be pure Spanish, but Miss Universe Spain 2022 Alicia Faubel speaks conversational Filipino better than most of the halfies who travel to the Philippines in pursuit of either a pageant victory or showbiz career. And you can easily feel her love for the country after having lived here for three years during her late teens.
Now that Alicia is training under Pinoy experts and will wear creations of mostly local designers once she steps foot in New Orleans next month, it bears watching how she will navigate her journey towards a second Miss Universe crown for Spain.
normannorman.com 
Sure TOP 20…
Possible Top 10..
My current Miss Universe Top 20 favorites
in random order:
Philippines
USA
Thailand
Puerto Rico
Venezuela
Italy
South Africa
Peru
Vietnam
Colombia
Spain
Curacao
Brazil
Myanmar
India
Angola
Panama
Jamaica
Chile
Indonesia
The “buena mano” wearer of the “Force for Good” crown would be good for MU business if the wearer is Miss Spain. Her market reach would be formidable– Asia by way of her Philippine connections, the Americas by way of her Spanish mother tongue, and Europe by way of her birthplace. Any contestant with these credentials would be a top choice on political economy considerations alone.
Really great analysis, Scorg. She is actually very deserving. Heto yung totoong relatability at hindi yung sinasabi nung isa na uuwi rin sa Italy after the pageant. Ooops. Haha.
Well, her mother is still there (Italy). So, it’s not as if she’ll no longer have any reason to at least visit occasionally…
I hope the Judges GET REAL. Kung ayaw nila kay Celeste from the get-go because she’s not Filipina enough & would deny her a placement just on that, do it. Otherwise, let her through the competition like everyone else, on equal footing, in a playing field level.
Won’t mind if Spain USA or Philippines win the crown
No to Colombia Venezuela or Thailand
Honestly, I admired the way she embrace the Filipino culture inspite she is full blooded Spaniard. I hope she is ready to bring home the crown of Miss Universe 2022 . Buena Suwerte !
Mas Pinay pa ‘to kesa kay Celeste. Ibalik na yun sa Italy.
Since 2018, hindi pa rin marunong mag-Tagalog. Pustahan after ng MU, uuwi na iyan sa Italy.
That being said, we are all global citizens. More so in this age. The concept of a ‘nationality’ is becoming increasingly fluid. There are more people of mixed race now. And they don’t seem to be tied down to any one place forever.
One plausible future direction of pageantry is the questioning of the relevance of the SASH. Will we be totally OK with ‘numbers’ (as in, ‘candidate #…’)? Or as MUT did, ‘names’ (@ Andrea, with a QR code)…
Another way to look at it – would Catriona Gray surrender her Australian nationality/passport anytime soon? I highly doubt.
Jusko wala syang babalikan sa Italia. First, maraming Italian especially southern Italians na nagtratrabaho saAlemanya, UK , Ireland. Hindi masyado maganda ekonomiya ng Italia.
@ Yna
There’s something about South Italy… Historically, not as dynamic, perhaps, as further North… But I saw a documentary that somewhat like Japan, the Italy economy has more or less ‘flattened’, neither advancing nor declining, & their youth are in need of work…
I wonder if the country can be coaxed into a second Renaissance by sheer volume of demand for ‘Italy-made’. For example, only recently did I find out La Germania (the ofen) originated there. Ano nga, pala, ‘yun’g ‘people’s shoes’ nila? May store sa Estancia ‘yun, eh… ‘Andu’n pa ba?
She could be the 2nd MU from Spain.
Miss Spain 2022 Alicia Lisette Faubel de Correa has the potential to become the Miss Universe 2022 and I hope she will win.
I can see her breeze her way into the first cut and even deep into the top 5. And May win it all the way. Very engaging and natural.
Alicia can easily make it in the first cut, because if not, Spain will get a back-to-back El Tocuyo award.
Anyway, I did a brief review of the MU pageant venues, and found that the most prestigious beauty pageant on earth was held thrice in Europe: Greece in 1973, Cyprus in 2000, and Russia in 2013.
I just hope that Spain would host the pageant someday. France could also stage the MU pageant explicitly since Paris is the fashion capital of the world, and they had the most fabulous national pageant held recently. Did you see the stage and lighting? Gosh, it’s even better than the staging of the two other Alpha pageants on earth. I can imagine if the MU candidates wear a la Moulin Rouge costume. It would be a blast!
That’s all.
I agree. The European ladies are strong this year in any pageant. That’s good. Enough of the Latinas and Asians. I wouldn’t mind Spain winning the crown.
Having said that, I think the following delegates will place well :
USA, Italy, Spain, Philippines, Venezuela, Thailand (if only because…).
Foreign vloggers are also placing Celeste high in their lists. I hope she not be another Hanna Arnold (eg. Favorite to win ek ek). Speaking of Hannah, doesn’t she remind you of Loreta Marquez (google her. The crazy woman in Darna and the Giants, and the disabled mother of Sharon in Pasan ko ang Daigdig) , Edible Flower? Hehe.
World Peace.
Naalala, ko, ‘yun’g billboard ng ‘Pasan Ko ang Daigdig’… Thanks for reminding us!
Iris was the last major European win (2016). Puwede na, nga, ulit!
Si Thailand, to be fair, maganda naman ang backstory niya. Parang si Chaling, galing sa hirap, nagpunyagi. This is a theme that never gets irrelevant.
Ta’s, I’m unsure if we got wind of that mass shooting~stabbing (I apologize if I got that wrong, basta…) at a Thai day care center not too long ago. Somehow, it got some foreigners to see a side of the country not always the ‘rosy tourism’ aspect. Ang point ko lang, the call for humanity & compassion, siguro.
Tropa. 🙂
I said we can consider a MU from countries along the Atlantic Rim. Last I checked, Spain has just a bit of coastline; Portugal, kasi, is blocking (direct) access.
OK. Just for me right now, Spain crown, Thailand 1st RU, & Philippines 2nd RU.
If Alicia wins, the Three – U, W, & I – will be a Europe party; Bielawska of Poland & Selberg of Germany have been crowned earlier.
Huhuhuhuhh… Too bad my Schengen visa expired long ago. 😦
Italy , so far , has shown that she has the major major best walk … nobody is even close
( caveat , I have not yet seen everybody’s walk but I have seen the top favorites’ walks )
Italy, to place again anywhere, would be DELIGHTFUL.
It was an Italian that finished 1st RU back in 1987 that most of us know to be the country’s last/most recent placement… Please, anyone, correct me if I’m wrong & my greetings to whoever she may be. ❤
Italy placed in 1997 as one of the top 6
the ist ru in MU1987 is the lovely Roberta Kapua , who was hyperventilating while waiting for the final announcement …. she was only 18 then , very young, very excitable.
Italy also was among top 15 in MU 2014 …
In 1997 , Italy was represented by a half-Dominican Republic-half-Italian black top model … in this year’s 2022 MU , Italy is again represented by a gorgeous model half-black Italiana …
She is in my top 30 , bubbling up fast … I would be very happy if she lands on the official 20 semifinalists on the 14th and dislodges one of the favorite latinas ( venezuela, colombia, puerto rico ) who might be overhyped right now but come preliminaries, the judges will see that there is really ‘no there there’ …
I can visualize Miss Philippines, Miss Italy , Miss USA and Miss Spain as becoming an unbreakable sisterhood during the whole pageant expeditions …
Yes. If there more Spaniards willing to learn any Filipino vernacular maybe more Filipinos would be enticed to learn the language that define thier last names, how one tells time, days, and months and above all relearn 333 years of history that may or may not have positively contributed to the country’s social and cultural mosaic
Capuano is the most spoken first language in the Philippines, by the way and has the most borrowed Spanish words incorporated in its language.
#VivaSpainHoney!
Cebuano…auto-typo
Lol
#TriFactorFilUSSpain
Oh I forgot about Miss Spain. I think a tough three with Miss Spain, Miss USA and Philippines will surely create a firestorm of bitterness from everyone… I hope Miss Spain’s intro is “Mabuhay Espana, Viva Felepens!!!!” hihihihihihi cherett!
But in all honestly, I like her more carefree and bubbly personality…
Norman- could you please tell Cheleste’s team to stop posting about sponsorship stuff? I understand that they have responsibilities to the sponsors but her social media feed is soooooo boring!!!!! If she wants to be relatable, it starts with your content.
WHat Voltaire Tayag doing? Does he even do anything other than be next to the winner during photo opps??? The MUPH IG account is just for business only. At least make it fun for the followers.
#FireCholtaire
Mahihiya ang mga Filipino halfie beauty queens na hanggang ngayon hirap pa rin magsalita ng Tagalog! This young lady’s independent spirit, iron will and capacity to learn a language in a very short period deserves to wear the “Force for Good” crown.
🙂
‘Ay, maayo’ng aga!
Off-topic lang, po. Here is your latest apparition on the blog, & only you can answer this…
KEMANS is a TURKISH brand of beauty products?… So, their involvement in MrI as sponsor dovetailed with their launch in the country by putting together their own pageant? Was that Beaute International?
And while we’re on the subject of beauty cosmetics sponsorship, I think it will be safe to assume a Thailand-based company will be showing their stuff at NOLA. Updates, please!
Kemans is a local brand. The word was coined from the initials of the Yapjuangco family members.
This interview with Dyan Castillejo shows the intellectual depth of this tough yet gregarious and engaging young lady. The scene I love to see is an MU Top 3 consisting of Spain, USA and Philippines. Though the common thread that pieces them together is the PHILIPPINES, who is more Filipino among the three?