Arnold Mercado

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Update on Miss World Philippines 2021

Posted by Norman on September 19, 2021
Posted in: 1 Pageant Pages, 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , .

My Miss World Philippines 2021 Predictions in the preceding blog entry was uploaded because Rappler has already published the revised article I submitted to them.

Sadly, the supposed Finals scheduled for today has been moved again due to strict government and IATF regulations which placed the entire NCR on Alert Level 4 due to the continuously-alarming cases of COVID 19.

Two potential dates being considered are September 26 and October 3, with the venue possibly out of town according to General Manager Arnold Mercado.

For your information and guidance.

Miss World Philippines 2021: Official Swimsuit Photos

Posted by Norman on July 17, 2021
Posted in: 1 Pageant Pages, 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Below are the Miss World Philippines 2021 Official Swimsuit Photos

Official Swimsuit provided by: @benchtm @benchbodyph

Photography: Charvin Valdez Torne
@charvingreig

Assisted by Robert Maca
@robertmaca_

Location: @citystudioph

Set Designer: Gary Abar Dacanay
@gary_mindworks

Styled byTeam @styleit.ph
@francischee_ & @vheecostyle

Associate Stylist: @juanchoxbuendia
@msauranicole

Make up: Team @Teviant
Headed by @abtkurniawan

Hair: Forro Hairstyling Team @dan_forro

Miss World Philippines 2021: Official group photos

Posted by Norman on July 16, 2021
Posted in: 1 Pageant Pages, 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Snow White x 45, you say?

I’d say pure perfection in white from Mark Neto Diaz with the ladies of Miss World Philippines in official (small) group photos.

Photography by Mark Neto Diaz
Assisted by Rashied Clores

Styling by #StyleIthPh Vhee Co and Francis Chee
Assisted by Juancho Buendia
Makeup by Teviant headed by Mr. Albert Kurniawan
Hair by Daniel Forro Hmua

Ensembles by Jhon Aliliran and Jeremiah Oribe

#TheMarkNetoDiaz
#MissWorldPhilippines2021

Miss World Philippines 2021: The Candidates in their Bench Swimsuits

Posted by Norman on July 16, 2021
Posted in: 1 Pageant Pages, 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Here are individual photos of the Miss World Philippines 2021 Candidates during the Press Presentation held at the Cove Manila of Okada Manila.

I placed them in five grids of nine each for a quicker upload of the page.

Photo credit: Daryl Visuals for normannorman.com

#MissWorldPhilippines2021

Miss World Philippines 2021: The Press Presentation

Posted by Norman on July 15, 2021
Posted in: 1 Pageant Pages, 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , .

The Press Presentation of Miss World Philippines 2021 was successfully staged at Cove Manila of Okada Manila with all 45 Candidates introduced to the pageant media and guests.

The ladies walked in their choice of cocktail dresses first then in the official Bench/ Body Swimwears.

National Director Arnold Vegafria declared the competition open, while announcing that the Finals Night will be held at the Grand Ballroom of Okada Manila on July 25. He also added that Mister Supranational Philippines 2021 (who has already been chosen/appointed) will be introduced on the same night.

The candidates will be busy in the coming days with the Beach Beauty Challenge (happening out-of-town) and the Head-To-Head Challenge taking place early next week.

More pictures will follow soon!

#MissWorldPhilippines2021

PS. Today was like a big coming out party for the 45 Official Candidates of Miss World Philippines 2021. And I feel honored to have kept them company in significant parts of their journey so far. Thank you to Arnold Mercado – GM of MWPO – for giving me access to the goings-on behind the scenes and bonding with the ladies in the process.

More bondings next week till the finals❣️

Miss World Philippines 2021: The Glamshots

Posted by Norman on July 4, 2021
Posted in: 1 Pageant Pages, 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Presenting the Miss World Philippines 2021 Glam Shots by Charvin Valdez Torne

Photography by @charvingreig
Assisted by Robert Maca @robertmaca_
Styled by Team @styleit.ph
Francis Chee & Vhee Co
@francischee_ & @vheecostyle
Assistant Stylists: Juancho Buendia & Aura Nicole de Jesus
@juanchoxbuendia & @msauranicole
Make-up by @teviant Team @abtkurniawan
Hair by Forro HairStyling Team @dan_forro
Outfits by Markthelabelmanila @markthelabelmanila
Accessories by @ladykaratjewelry

#MissWorldPhilippines2021

Miss World Philippines 2021 Official Headshots

Posted by Norman on June 30, 2021
Posted in: 1 Pageant Pages, 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Presenting the Official Headshots of the Miss World Philippines 2021 candidates as taken by Mark Neto Diaz with his take on the entire shoot below:

BUSILAK GAYA NG SAMPAGUITA

“This is my 3rd year of doing the official headshot of Miss World Philippines. The more I do it, it brought me so much understanding towards women. 👸

Different stories with different beauty. So I thought of this upon setting up a shooting peg for this year’s official portrait.

With so many beauty filters and things going on in social media blinding us on how a beauty queen or a woman should look like, I told myself I want it fresh and to show them. Until I ended up saying…

“Why not let the shooting be in white?”

White symbolizes many significant words. Purity, Peace, and Compassion.

These words inspire me a lot. So I decided to let the women be in white. Clean and not commanding color so the highlight will be their uniqueness and individual beauties. Relax hair and less make-up. 🌼

What’s difficult about it is to set lighting that will work with everyone’s profile. Each lady has different skin tones and structures, meaning different key lights. But a clean and crisp light point will never go wrong. It requires a lot of understanding. 📸💡

The shooting direction was a bit challenging for me. I had to be versatile and full of poses that day – so I did. Working 16 hours is a record-breaker in my entire career. My back hurts a lot that day but it didn’t stop me from giving my best until the very last candidate. 💪⚡

Now I must say it’s all worth it. I’m in love with what I’ve created. I believe when your vision is clear, your body and self intuition follows.

One word is not enough to describe the beauty of a Filipina woman. Each one of us is beautiful and we must appreciate it. ❤

I wanna say thank you to all people who partake and be part of this project. Let me send you so much gratitude.

To myself to never stop learning and doing things that challenge you. You grew so much and I’m always proud of you. God this is all for you. You’re the best!”

Photography and Direction by Mark Neto Diaz
Assisted by Rashied Clores

Styling Vhee Co and Francis Chee
Assisted by Juancho Buendia and Carlo Moraca

Makeup by Team Teviant by Albert Kurniawan
Hair by Team Forro by Dann Forro

Shot using Official Nikon D750 with 85mm 1.4D in 3 lightings set up.

My heart is full,
Mark Neto Diaz

Miss World Philippines 2021 Official Candidate Numbers

Posted by Norman on May 27, 2021
Posted in: 1 Pageant Pages, 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

During the orientation of the Miss World Philippines 2021 Official Candidates, the numbering was also held with the forty-five ladies getting their competition spots in the lineup.

FYI, all the candidates and MWP staff were swabbed and tested negative prior to the activity

Official Numbers:

1. Lea Macapagal
2. Ria Angelique Peña Siozon
3. Joy Barcoma
4. Janelle Lewis
5. Pauline Robles
6. Shaila Rebortera
7. Donna Marie Jan Balaoro
8. Emmanuelle Vera
9. Ambriel Pascual
10. Michelle Arceo
11. Megan Deen Campbell
12. Natasha Jung
13. Sade Nicha
14. Gwen Fourniol
15. Mika Leonardo
16. Anne De Mesa
17. Dannah Joy R. Tempra
18. Tatyana Alexi Austria
19. Asha Gutierrez
20. Kyle Celine Dorado
21. Kim Panaligan Babao
22. Dindi Pajares
23. Shannen Manzano
24. Andrea Sulangi
25. Danica Theresa Dilla
26. Jo-Ann Dela Torre Flores
27. Trisha Martinez
28. Ruffa Nava
29. Ann Palmares
30. Julie Tarrayo
31. Riana Agatha Pangindian
32. Divina Marie Ortiz Villanueva
33. Reziah Angelica Datu Famorcan
34. Maricollin Halili Ramirez
35. Mary Rose Andal Guiral
36. Tracy Maureen Perez
37. Rachel-Anne Valera
38. Kathleen Paton
39. Kimberly Cimafranca
40. Dane Mayo
41. Samela Aubrey Godin
42. Mara Ruiz
43. Ganiel Krishnan
44. Sherenade Anne Gonzales
45. Esel Ponce

Below is a photo grid of random photos of some of the ladies with their official numbers.

Miss World Philippines 2021: Day 1 of Screening

Posted by Norman on February 3, 2021
Posted in: 1 Pageant Pages, 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .


During Day 1 of Screening for Miss World Philippines 2021 at Red Hotel Philippines, the #Independents were in control as all the ladies who submitted themselves for scrutiny by the panel came from those who are not affiliated with the two big beauty camps of the country. And there is quite a number of hidden gems with high potentials among them.

Almost all the reigning titleholders joined the screening panel save for Glyssa Perez who is still in Australia.

Just to give you hints on the identities of some of the aspirants:


– a Boholana Lawyer from Tagbilaran who teaches and specializes in Environmental Law;
– a Filipina-French ingenue who used to be UK-based;
– a Filipina-British charmer who used to be a talent of Starstruck and the GMA Artist Center;
– a former titleholder of a smaller national pageant who has already represented us internationally;
– a former Earth Warrior from Bataan who has now fully spread her wings as an Angel;
– a tall Batangueña who studied in Milan, Italy where she partially grew up;
– a former #hometowngirl of Mutya
– a doll-faced beauty who took part in a pageant organized by the biggest Sunday noontime show on Philippine TV;
– she was a #phenomenal woman last 2020;
– a Miss Iloilo titleholder;
and more!

Tomorrow, Day 2, the camp beauties will take centerstage along with the first batch of applicants for #MrWorldPhilippines 2021.

#missworldphilippines2021

An update on Miss World Philippines 2020/2021

Posted by Norman on January 11, 2021
Posted in: 1 Pageant Pages, 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .


During yesterday afternoon’s episode of Pageantry Norms, Miss World Philippines Organization General Manager Arnold Mercado revealed a few juicy details about the pageant’s upcoming edition for 2021. And it only goes to show that the group is showing a more aggressive stance this year:

1) The live screening of Official Candidates will happen soon – either the last week of January or first week of February, give or take a few days or so after;

2) The organization has already penciled two (2) potential finals date – May 30 or June 6 – with the venue being a toss-up between Araneta Coliseum or Mall of Asia Arena;

3) From the originally-announced seven (7) titles at stake, an eighth will be added. This new international franchise will be announced within this month or next. Hence, the new set of winners to be photographed during the coronation will have eight titleholders and two runners-up all in one row. Ten in total.

4) Miss Philippines Tourism 2019 Glyssa Perez is likely to represent the country in the still-unannounced 8th franchise, owing to the fact that the dates of international competition might be scheduled before the 2021 national edition;

5) As much as possible, the finals will be a live production with 50% of the venue’s seating capacity to be filled up in compliance with health and safety protocols, and if updated government regulations will allow that to happen by late May or early June;

6) Two of the still-reigning titleholders – Kelley Day and Isabelle de Leon – are confirmed to have their international competitions happening months from now. Miss Eco International will take place in Egypt from March 18 to April 6, while Miss Multinational will be hosted in New Delhi from June 17-27. Fingers crossed that these two will stay put with the new dates;

7) Mr World Philippines will be conducted a la reality TV event on a weekly episode basis with potential candidates gunning for the titles and avoiding elimination during the process, up until the best of the best are selected to represent the country in Mr World, Mr Supranational and more.

I am also pleased to share that the organization (through Arnold Mercado) has invited your blogger – during the live broadcast yesterday – to be part of the screening committee for both Miss and Mr World Philippines.