My Final Top 15 for Mister International 2015 (Art layout by Jerome Aquino Caducoy)

As for the Ten (10) others, I have made a salad mix of candidates very likely to do well with advantages being given to Anderson Tomazini of Brazil, Freds Rivera of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Angelucci of Venezuela, Chris Nayna of Australia, Jakub Kraus of Czech Republic, Cas Winters of the Netherlands, Nan Li of China, Halley Laithangbam of India, Kenny Austin of Indonesia and Alejandro Ruiz of Mexico.

Now if I were a judge, I would very quickly pencil in my winner and four runners-up the way I presented them above. But in any pageant, there are other factors – some unbloggable – that could alter the final outcome. It cannot be denied that lobbying is a natural occurence. Why else would National Directors from other countries fly to the host country a few days before the finals.

Of course, one cannot totally rely on the strength of such influences. If the hollers come from different directions, then predicting the final tally is open to a variety of combinations. So let me add one major spoiler of a delegate who could prove to be a game changer in the end.

In My Top 5, the first three places are non-negotiable. So I would safely place Spain, Switzerland and Puerto Rico in the magic circle. That leaves the 4th and 5th qualifiers open to changes. And Italy or the Philippines could be sacrificed in favor of one come-from-behind performer. While the host delegate would definitely gain the advantage normally, my gut feel is that he will get the axe. Sadly, that is. Also, Italy is likely to slip away. And who are the likely beneficiaries of their spots? Nan Li of China and Rafael Angelucci of Venezuela.

Here now is my Final Top 5, in alphabetical order of countries represented.

My Top 5 are China, Puerto Rico, Spain, Switzerland and Venezuela (Photo credit: Raymond Saldaña)

Bottomline: If either China or Venezuela becomes the successor of Neil Perez, I wouldn’t fall off my high swivel chair anymore. I still would go for Spain. But it could be a losing battle due to freshly-seen developments. This Top 5 could soon be a reality, though. If all things fall in the ‘right’ places, that is. 😉