The four phases of Janine Tugonon: in National Costume, in Swimsuit, in Evening Gown and in a Sherry Hill Dress.

Courtesy of Jhunemedia

After all the talks over the Miss Universe 2012 Preliminaries and everything that happened 11 days before the same, has Miss Philippines Janine Tugonon done enough to do her country proud come finals night on December 19 in Las Vegas? Or was her best still short of what her two predecessors (Venus Raj and Shamcey Supsup) achieved in their respective years?

I won’t go into some sort of head-to-head-to-head mode anymore. Suffice it to say that we are talking about three different individuals who have their share of strengths, weaknesses and luck levels that could also spread in three different directions. Instead, I will just state that Janine was at her best in Swimsuit and clearly one of the excellent ones in Evening Gown presentation (not the gown). As far as the personal interviews are concerned, all of us are not privy as to what actually transpired inside the closed door function room inside Planet Hollywood.

Watch the video below where MercatorTV’s Brent Javier interviewed Janine Tugonon for the online show “Touchdown“.

Courtesy of MercatorTV

Assuming that she garnered glowing ratings in the casual Q&A across the board, I could definitely see her advancing to the first cut as one of the candidates with the fifteen-highest cumulative scores. And with the Swimsuit portion following right after that announcement, I’m confident that she will nail this part to solidify her hold to the Top 10. What happens next is the make-or-break opportunity – Evening Gown. Should she decide to stick to the same Barraza number that invited mixed reactions from all over, it will be an uphill battle on the road to the next level. If she is fortunate enough to impress the judges notwithstanding, then she will already have completed her mission of a third consecutive Top 5 placement for the Philippines. But to aim for the top spot is the objective of everyone, and her final Q&A is the biggest deal-breaker (or deal-maker if you will) of all.

I will stop here. I’m more than happy with what our candidate has delivered so far. If a victorious fate is written in the stars for her, then what a brand new and shiny Christmas gift it would be for the Filipino people. Otherwise, I will always take any result as the destiny of each. After all, there is only one Diamond Nexus crown, and only one Miss Universe 2012. 😉

All photos above are courtesy of Jory Rivera/OPMB Worldwide.