Who will win Miss Grand International 2016?

My MGI2016 Top 20

Here are my Top 20 Predictions for Miss Grand International 2016:
1) Australia – Dani Fitch
2) Brazil – Renata Sena
3) Colombia – Juliana Florez Herrera
4) Cuba – Merys Navarro
5) Iceland – Arna Yr Jonsdottir
6) India – Pankhuri Gidwani
7) Indonesia – Ariska Putri Pertiwi
8) Macau – Hio Man Chan
9) Netherlands – Floor Masselink
10) Peru – Priscilla Howard
11) Philippines – Nicole Cordoves
12) Poland – Marta Redo
13) Russia – Zatsepina Daria
14) Rwanda – Sonia Gisa
15) Spain – Adriana Sanchez Rivas
16) Sudan (South) – Teresa Yuol
17) Tahiti – Vaiata Buisson
18) Thailand – Supaporn Malisorn
19) USA – Michelle Leon
20) Venezuela – Debora Paola Medina

With seventy-six (76) ladies vying to become the 4th winner of Miss Grand International (fifth actually if you will include Anea Garcia of DR who was replaced by Claire Parker of Australia in the middle of her reign), the odds of choosing the most deserving titleholder has just gotten tougher considering the individual stories and causes of each one of them. Just when everyone thought that this is a mere beauty pageant, the emphasis being given to the true essence of beauty beyond physical attributes has stepped up several notches this year. Pageant owner Nawatt Itsaragrisil of Thailand has instilled stricter rules for this batch to weed out the potential “undesirables”, owing to what happened with the original 2015 choice.

And so, the Top 20 names on my list is a healthy mix of delegates with the complete package, or those who can popularize the brand to more countries in a positive way.

I must admit that the Asians comprise a large group because they have really shown stronger passion and determination to excel in each segment of the competition. But that’s just half the story because the Latinas and the Africans have also leveled up. Be that as it may, cutting the twenty names above in half is difficult, let alone prediction-unfriendly. Because once there are only ten girls remaining, the chances of hitting the right combinations are open to a lot of misses. But I am aggressive in this regard.

So without further ado, my Top 10 Finalists are:

My MGI2016 Top 10

1) Dani Fitch of Australia
2) Arna Yr Jonsdottir of Iceland
3) Ariska Putri Pertiwi of Indonesia
4) Priscilla Howard of Peru
5) Nicole Cordoves of the Philippines
6) Zatsepina Daria of Russia
7) Teresa Yuol of South Sudan
8) Vaiata Buisson of Tahiti
9) Supaporn Malisorn of Thailand
10) Debora Paola Medina of Venezuela

At this point, I will stop arranging them in alphabetical order based on countries represented. With only ten candidates to play around with on my list, the true beautiful colors of each one should make them shine bright. This is where they will voice out their causes and show to the world what lies deep beneath what can be appreciated on the outside. Will long preliminary interviews indicate that one contestant is favored over the other? Or does that only mean that she talks a lot, sometimes to the discomfort of the listeners? Will the factor of being loved and adulated by many count significantly in the final tally? Or will the impressive social network presence of one be the crucial edge over the hot picks?

My Top 5 was arrived at, while considering the answers to the questions above. And while this may not run parallel to the forecasts of many sites, I assembled a quintet based on what will be good overall for Miss Grand International.

My Miss Grand International 2016 Top 5

Instead of ranking the five, I thought it best to say that any one of them could win the title so it all boils down to who will deliver the best answer to the final Q&A. For personal reasons, I would go for Nicole Cordoves in a heartbeat. But I also know that the four other ladies in my magic circle are capable of pulling off the smartest hat trick during crunch time.

So just to sum up everything, I would love to see Miss Philippines win our country’s first Miss Grand International crown. But to be upended by the likes of South Sudan, Tahiti, Peru and Indonesia will not make me cry buckets of tears. 🙂

One of these five ladies could take it all the way in MGI2016