Before anything else, allow me to share the video of GMA News/24 Oras Weekend aired last night where Cata Tibayan included parts of her interview with your blogger about the performance of Miss Universe Philippines Beatrice Luigi Gomez during the 70th Miss Universe Preliminary Competition.

It always warms my heart whenever TV Networks would invite me for a Zoom interview to talk about beauty pageants. And the appearance above is just one of them. Come Monday, I will also take part in the morning show of Amy Perez via the Kapamilya Online Live platform followed by the news broadcast of Pinky Webb on CNN Philippines. Last Thursday, I was already interviewed on Star FM and today, there will be another one for Bombo Radyo.

Now to the business at hand. I will keep it simple and (almost) straightforward.

I made photo grids of my Final Predictions for Miss Universe where I ranked my choices from 1st to 18th. I know that only the Top 16 will be called, but indulge me with two (2) extra picks for this one.

If you will notice the third grid below, I indicated Miss Vietnam as the winner of the Fan Votes. But truth be told, she can easily make it to the Top 15 without the help of her countrymen’s votes. As for Miss Israel, I included her – not only because of having the distinct advantage of being the host delegate but – because she just might have done enough to score decently on the judges to make it through. Hence, she is part of my two (2) extra picks along with Miss Canada.

Miss Paraguay, Nadia Ferreira, is my choice to win the 70th Miss Universe. And she is joined in my Top 5 by Luiseth Materan of Venezuela, Harnaaz Sandhu of India, Sarah Loinaz of Spain and Beatrice Luigi Gomez of the Philippines.

The combo above can get easily altered depending on how their performances during the Finals will register on the judges. Michelle Colon of Puerto Rico, Valeria Ayos of Colombia and even Elle Smith of the US are the most probable spoilers to my quintet. And I wouldn’t be surprised.

But going down the line further, I can see Clemence Botino of France and Kedist Deltour of Belgium as likely members of the Top 10. That is, if Juri Watanabe of Japan or Kim Duyen Nguyen Huynh of Vietnam will not jump the gun on them.

Let’s see how this forecast will compare to the actual results.

As to why I picked Nadia Ferreira of Paraguay, I have three reasons:

1) I love seeing a country winning Miss Universe for the very first time. It is high time for this South American country to get the honor. And their best placements were (only) runner-up finishes that happened last 2004 and 2006.

2) Nadia can be a breath of fresh air compared to the usual Latinas dominating the pageant. And Telemundo would still be happy seeing a Paraguayan taking it all the way to #1 for a change. Her back story is also inspiring.

3) She could possibly bring a more cosmopolitan tweak to the brand. A veteran of many big fashion shows around the world, she can fulfill the social media requirements of the job to the fullest, while serving the limelight-hugging charities and causes of MUO with renewed excitement. Zozibini Tunzi and Andrea Meza did okay, in my opinion. But Nadia can bring some semblance of the pre-pandemic glitz and glory always associated with the crown.

And so that ends my assessment for the 70th Miss Universe. Let us hope that the best lady wins in Eilat!