The 68 Miss Earth 2012 hopefuls during yesterday’s Press Conference.

It sure is getting more difficult coming up with favorites for Miss Earth year after year. The quality of candidates has been going way up in the last few and 2012 tops them all. In yesterday’s Press Conference at the Best Western F1 Premier Hotel, 68 lovelies were introduced. And while a good half has already been seen participating in most of the pageant’s initial activities during the past weekend, the ones who have been spotted for the first time serve as testaments to the continuously growing quality of the competition. So without further ado, here are photo grids of my initial picks to figure out well in the weeks ahead. Nothing final here yet.

Top row: Osmariel Villalobos of Venezuela, Fabiana Granados of Costa Rica and Warrathaya Wongchayaporn of Thailand; Middle row: Natalia Pereverzeva of Russia, Tamerin Jardine of South Africa and Nina Fjalestad of Norway; Bottom row: Camila Brant of Brazil, Teresa Fajksova of the Czech Republic and Ilknur Melis Durasi of Turkey.

Top row: Battsetseg Turbat of Mongolia, Cindy Kohn-Cybulkiewicz of Colombia and Aliona Chitoroaga of Moldova; Middle row: Shauny Bult of Netherlands, Fiona Kinchella of Kenya and Carolyn Whitney Carter of US Virgin Islands; Bottom tow: Prachi Mishra of India, Siria Bojorquez of the USA and Justyna Rajczyk of Poland.

And just to sweeten this post a little more, I added a list of four contestants who are currently occupying my elemental slots. If the finals were to be held at this moment, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them grabbing the Top 4 positions.

Both Tamerin Jardine of South Africa and Ilknur Melis Durasi define what it is to be Miss Earth in the real sense of the crown. But then again, you cannot discount the fact that Osmariel Villalobos of Venezuela and Natalia Pereverzeva of Russia are just as determined to add their extra gorgeousness and winnability to the table and make the contest more exciting.

My Early Elemental Favorites (L-R): Osmariel Villalobos of Venezuela, Natalia Pereverzeva of Russia, Tamerin Jardine of South Africa and Ilknur Melis Durasi of Turkey

With 68 (or a little more) earnest efforts for superiority, there will still be some shuffling of ranks in the days to come. But if my favorites keep on turning up the heat, then we might just see Olga Alava’s successor in one of the images above. 🙂

Except for the topmost group shot, all photos are courtesy of Noli Berioso/OPMB Worldwide.