From 71 Official Candidates, one beautiful young woman will be crowned tonight as the very first Miss Grand International at the Impact Arena in Bangkok.

Here now are my Twelve (12) Hot Picks to zoom to the top. The dozen beauties are ranked accordingly with the upper tier expected to figure out in the Top 5.

My Final Five will definitely include Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Philippines and Venezuela. Now the fifth spot could be given either to host delegate Thailand or one European who I feel might be Sophie Hall of Wales.

I feel strongly about our bet, Ali Forbes. While she may not be the tallest in the batch, she has been constantly wowing the locals and press (based from a reliable source in Bangkok) alike with her charming presence, constantly warm smiles and killer catwalk skills. It cannot be denied that her year-long training as Bb. Pilipinas 2nd Runner-Up helped tremendously. It gave her the extra oomph and confidence to shine.

Now, the biggest obstacles in her way are the Carribbean Glamazons – Janelee Chaparro of Puerto Rico and Chantel Martinez of Dominican Republic plus Mariana Jimenez of Venezuela. If she does a David and upends this triple threat, then we might just see her getting the title, or at worst, a Top 3 placement.

Possible spoilers could be Ecuador’s Sulay Castillo (who placed fifth in Miss Supranational 2012), Cuba’s Jamilette Gaxiola (a one-time Miss Earth participant back in 2009) and Brazil’s Tamara da Costa Bicca.

One of the four above could win tonight!

Good luck to all the ladies! Best of luck to our very own Ali Forbes! 🙂