I must admit. I was quite underwhelmed by the photos released by the Miss Supranational 2016 organizers for the Miss Supranational Internet Popularity Voting. This is the only collection of similarly-themed images where all seventy-two candidates are present. I couldn’t find one album where they were properly photographed individually for, say, the swimsuit or evening gown portraits. It’s like some ladies were called by lensman Igor Drozdowski at random and were rewarded with a studio-like pictorial, while missing out on the rest. Was it really so difficult to gather all of them in one go?

Anyways, I am being suprarational about my Top 15 picks for the crown. My decision to present less than a Top 25 (which will be the first cut this year) also contributed to such. I am going beyond mere coverage reason or facial attributes because there are also un-classified factors that affect the actual results. I may not be in either Slovakia or Krynica-Zdroj, but the news bits reach me in a variety of ways.

Here is a list of my Top 15 arranged alphabetically according to country names:

Ecuador 🇪🇨 Maria Isabel Pineyro
Hungary 🇭🇺 Korinna Kocsis
Indonesia 🇮🇩 Intan Aletrino
Mexico 🇲🇽 Cynthia dela Vega
Myanmar 🇲🇲 Swe Zin Htet
Philippines 🇵🇭 Joanna Eden
Poland 🇵🇱 Ewa Mielnicka
Slovak Republic 🇸🇰 Lenka Tekeljakova
South Africa 🇿🇦 Talitha Bothma
Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 Ornella M.J. Gunesekere
Suriname 🇸🇷 Jaleesa Pigot
Thailand 🇹🇭 Chatchadaporn Kimakorn
Turkey 🇹🇷 Damla Figan
USA 🇺🇸 Alexis Sherrill
Venezuela 🇻🇪 Valeria Vespoli

Cutting down the fifteen (15) to just ten (10) gives rise to more than a few questions inside my head:

1. Will the organizers crown another Latina following last year’s Stephania Stegman of Paraguay? If yes, then it’s a toss between Valeria Vespoli of Venezuela and Cynthia dela Vega of Mexico.

2. Will the crown land on the head of a European, effectively returning the victory to the continental birthplace of the pageant? If yes, then either Korinna Kocsis of Hungary or Lenka Tekeljakova of Slovak Republic will do.

3. Will an Asian rule for the 3rd time? Truthfully, my Top 15 has five (5) in this group. And if the favor will go their way, Joanna Eden of the Philippines and Intan Aletrino of Indonesia could be in a tug-o-war to see who will be stronger and more deserving.

4. Or interestingly enough, will the people behind Miss Supranational go for their first titleholder who is a woman of color? If lady luck stays with Miss Suriname, then Jaleesa Pigot could be the one for that honor. Well, unless Alexis Sherrill of the USA upends her efforts.

Miss Supranational may have become predictable. But that doesn’t mean the absence of a potential surprise winner. If this is the case, I am sticking to the relative peg they are known for (a beautiful face). I am going out on a limb for one delegate who might pull it off in the end. And she is Damla Figan of Turkey.

I am putting my bets on Damla as my first choice for Miss Supranational 2016. And just to build a Top 5 and rank them according to who my next choices will be for the crown, Valeria Vespoli of Venezuela will be my 2nd pick, followed by Joanna Eden of the Philippines. 4th in line would be Jaleesa Pigot of Suriname, with Korinna Kocsis of Hungary closing the quintet.

The finals of Miss Supranational 2016 will be live streamed from Krynica-Zdroj, Poland. Watch our for my post regarding the link/s where you can enjoy the whole proceedings. 🙂