Our Queen, Miss Universe Philippines Celeste Cortesi, is back in the Philippines. And she shared the message below about her Miss Universe journey. Regardless of what people said about your performance, I remain proud about the efforts you poured into the entire process. It wasn’t an easy task – daunting even – but you gave it your best shot. Just like the hashtag of PLDT Home – #beastrongeryou.
Posted @withregram • @celeste_cortesi I’m finally back home. 🇵🇭
The entire year has been the most challenging, and yet most exciting time of my life.
To represent my country, The Philippines, is my greatest honor.
I’ve always had the burning passion for my country, I was always very curious about The Philippines with its Islands, People and Culture and I will continue the pursuit of my Filipina Identity. I challenged myself and stepped out of my comfort zone by flying here alone as a very young woman. I’ve always known by heart that there are NO limits in what you can achieve as long as you are committed to the vision and your intentions are pure, as I have done by pushing myself beyond my limits in the services of my advocacies, training, and learning.
I am discovering purposes that goes beyond my self ambitions and I am immensely grateful to have had the chance to represent all Filipinos and all the sweet fans of pageantry around the world. 🇵🇭
To my team, thank you for being my safe place. You all believed in me more than anyone else and I am honored to be a part of this family. ❤️
To my fans, I feel your love, I hear your support, and I see your messages everyday. I now believe that my purpose is to inspire, and I will NEVER stop inspiring and motivating all of you, with or without the Universe Crown. I am committed. 👑
To my family and loved ones, thank you for never leaving my side. I wouldn’t know what to do without you. I am the luckiest person in the world and even tho I don’t express it as much as I would want to, just know I truly love you.
To my country, I stand PROUD to be a Filipina.
To my father, you guided me up to this day, you still are and will always do. I feel your protection. If you are redirecting me to a different path, to what is truly meant for me, I trust you and I know I still am in the right place at the right time. Thank you , my guardian angel. 🦋
Love, Celeste Rabimbi Cortesi
Forever your Miss Philippines. 🇵🇭🦋
#poweredbypldthome
#BeAStrongerYou #UniquelyBeautiful
#missuniversephilippines2023
I just spent a #UniquelyBeautiful morning with Miss Universe Philippines 2022 Celeste Cortesi and her court – all courtesy of PLDT Home. Michelle Dee, Pauline Amelinckx, Annabelle McDonnell and Katrina Llegado joined the two-hour virtual presscon where each one of them shared special memories, learnings and friendships built all throughout the competition.
All in all, this is a group of winners with sisterhood firmly built in. I wish all of them the best in their reigns, especially our dear Celeste who will soon start her higher trainings and preparations for the 71st edition of Miss Universe, while giving some time to her advocacy for indigenous people as well.
When Celeste Cortesi was crowned Miss Universe Philippines 2022 Saturday night, it was a result that lingered inside my head ever since the Top 50 Official Delegates were announced. I know that her beautiful face will never get lost in the competition regardless of who will fight against her till the end. In this case, Michelle Dee and Pauline Amelinckx completed the triumvirate where Katrina Llegado used to be a part of. Curiously last night, I was seated beside one of the Mamas from The Camp and observed the rollercoaster of his emotions through more than three hours of agonizingly waiting for the desired result to come his way. When Pasay was declared winner, he unleashed his joy like no other.
Michelle Dee had and continues to have the celebrity status that definitely helped in getting the hype from both pageant and entertainment media. She needed no meet-and-greets to elevate her social media status. She did not even use the Melanie Marquez card in the process. So the entire journey was one she successfully navigated as an Independent candidate. Never mind if the risks were high, being a former Miss World Philippines winner. She knew what she was getting herself into.
Pauline Amelinckx, on the other hand, was the one who had to go through soul-searching before finally giving the second joining a go. Hers was a different kind of risk, having been part of the inaugural edition last 2020 where she placed 3rd Runner-Up, or Ambassador of Tourism if you will. She needed to present a much improved version of herself – something that pageant fans and followers can give their thumbs up to or not. Fully aware of her strengths, she used the Top 5 Q&A to make a last-ditch effort to win over the judges and get the top crown. For a while, people inside the MOA Arena were convinced that she was able to eke out a victory with her answer. But then again, this is not a back-to-zero kind of judging. One excellent – albeit emotional – answer just didn’t cut it in the final deliberation.
Annabelle McDonnell exceeded my expectations. It’s no secret that I am close to Misamis Oriental – the province, not the candidate. For this reason alone, I had to pull back a little in promoting their candidate.
Ma Katrina Llegado could have made Taguig City proud. But it just wasn’t meant to be. She has the face, the body and the aura that can stand up against the Latinas of Miss Universe. One colleague actually gave a very apt description of her – she is left-brained, very bright but not that articulate. I was surprised by the observation. But it all made sense to me after further reviewing all of Kat’s interviews and Q&A. Her opening one-liners right from the Preliminary Interviews to the Top 10 all the way to the Top 5 are now trademarks. She starts so well but stumbles somewhere and fails to put it all together. It’s in the whole nine yards of thought processing, I guess.
After the dust has settled, Celeste Cortesi of Pasay is our Miss Universe Philippines 2022 and representative to the 71st edition of Miss Universe which – according to rumors – is likely to be hosted in the Dominican Republic.
Last night’s Preliminaries of Miss Universe Philippines 2022 may have either sealed the winning fate of some or led to a bit of a shuffle at the top. Regardless, the 32 Finalists performed at their best. The announcement of recipients for nineteen (19) sponsors’ special awards gave us clues as to who have gained favors among the corporate supporters of the national pageant, as follows:
normannorman.com 