Oh So Close

(L-R) Maria Venus Raj, Janine Tugonon and Shamcey Supsup (Photo courtesy of Ahleks Fusilero Photography)

Philippine women have time and again proved their worth and shone at International pageants around the world.  This country of beautiful women recently rebounded from a long drought at Miss Universe but has not clinched the crown even though Bb. Pilipinas seemed to have found the magic formula.

What was lacking from the last 3 Miss Universe-Philippines winners that prevented them from winning the ultimate title?

2010 – Maria Venus Raj – This stunning and remarkable woman set the stage for both Shamcey and Janine at the Miss Universe stage.  Venus brought the excitement back to Philippine pageantry that haven’t been seen in decades.  Her reign as Miss Universe-Philippines started on a bad note when a  few weeks after her coronation, she was dethroned, citing alleged inconsistencies between her birth certificate and the personal account of her birth. She was briefly replaced by second runner-up, Helen Nicolette Henson since first runner-up, Diane Elaine S. Necio, was only 17 years old and did not meet the age requirement for Miss Universe.  But this fighter was not about to waiver.  She did everything she could to keep her title.  On April 10, 2010, she was allowed to reclaim her title due to humanitarian reasons.  On May 19, 2010, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs issued Venus a Philippine passport thereby attesting to her Filipino citizenship.

The last time the Philippines made the semi-finals at Miss Universe was in 1999, with Miriam Quiambao, who ended up as first runner-up.  The expectation was very high for all succeeding contestants.  But even with rigorous training, coaching and preparations, nothing seemed good enough.  But when Venus arrived in Las Vegas in August of 2010, pageant pundits knew she was different.  She has an amazing stage presence.  Her styling was spot on and she knew how to work the crowd.  She became an immediate favorite.  She put in a flawless preliminary performance that landed her a spot in the top 15.  For the first time in 10 years, the Philippines made top 5.  Then the dreaded final question came and Venus lost it.  Combined with her elation, the excitement of the moment and her nervousness, she was denied of an eloquent response that would have impressed the judges.  She had to settle for fourth runner-up.

Her downfall?  It’s pretty obvious that there was lack of interview training.  Her evening gown could have been  better.  But the number one reason why Venus didn’t win the crown is Miss Mexico.  Ximena could have tripped and fell on her face the entire competition and she still would have won.

2011 – Shampcey Supsup – This perfect combination of brains and beauty took center stage at the 2011 Bb. Pilipinas Pageant and took the top spot with no hesitation.  Her eyes were focused on that Miss Universe crown from day one and she went through rigorous training to ensure she’s got an excellent chance of taking it home.  The pageant in Sao Paolo was significant in many ways because it marked the return of Miss Universe to South America after almost 30 years.  It is also the year with the most number of contestants ever in the pageant’s history.  The pressure was definitely on for Shamcey as she would have to work much harder with more number of contestant competing.  She knew she had to make an impact and get noticed.  But this hard-working beauty is not new to challenges like this.  When she was three years old, she moved with her family to General Santos City, located in southern Philippines, where she was raised primarily by her father while her mother worked overseas. Before studying in Manila, she helped her father on a farm.  She obtained her Architecture degree from the University of the Philippines, graduating magna cum laude.   So when Shamcey won the Miss Universe-Philippines title, she knew that all she needs is to work really hard and the rest will just happen naturally.

When this absolute stunner came out in a shimmering full-beaded champagne and gold dress during the preliminary competition, she effortlessly took a spot in the top 16.  Her confidence was very evident throughout the finals night and she captured everyone’s attention by doing her signature walk on stage.  As the evening progressed, Shamcey continued to gain more and more momentum.  She made the top 5 pretty easily.  Then, the final question came and she managed to give an impressive answer.  Somehow, that wasn’t good enough and she had to settle for third runner-up.

Her downfall?  Nothing.  She did everything perfectly the way she was supposed to do it.  Why didn’t she win the crown?  There were just too mny other good candidates.  The eventual winner, Miss Angola, Leila Lopes, had everything going for her.  She had the crowd behind her and she just outshined the rest.

2012 – Janine Tugonon – When this remarkable young lady won the Miss Universe-Philippines title, a lot of pageant experts were underwhelmed with her performance.  Her beauty seemed to have been swallowed by her extremely unflattering and dowdy evening gown that night, which gave this beauty no justice.   Needless to say, the judges managed to overlook the hideous gown and saw the potential in Janine.  She definitely exemplifies a woman who never gives up on her dreams as this is her second attempt on the crown.  The previous year, Janine competed and ended up as first runner-up.  This beauty and brains finished her Pharmacy degree and graduated Cum Laude at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila and became a licensed Pharmacist in June 2010.

When the Miss Universe Organization decided to postponed the pageant due to the Summer Olympics in London, no one expected that the pageant will end up in December and Christmas-themed.   Needless to say, this change made a big impact with the competing countries and their representatives.  Some countries like Mexico and Venezuela had to crown their new winners even before their predecessor have competed at Miss Universe.  Some countries ended up not sending candidates at all.  Some countries like the Philippines took advantage and trained their delegate to death.  When Janine was presented to the press before her departure for Las Vegas, everyone was shocked with her remarkable transformation.  She became this 24-karat diamond that no one expected.  From that moment, everyone knew she had a good chance of capturing the crown.

When the evening gown competition started during the presentation show held on December 13, everyone’s heart sank when Janine came out wearing this hideous sky blue, electric-pleated, sheer gown.  In everyone’s mind, they are asking “what the heck?”  The only saving grace for Janine was how she presented herself in it and managed to make this god-awful looking gown look like a Valentino original.  Needless to say, the confidence of her supporters hit a low as they kept questioning the choices made for Janine.  But come finals night, everyone felt an overwhelming sense of relief when Janine ended up making the top 16.  And when her name was called in the top 5, everyone knew this is it.  Janine ended up with a Twitter question in the final round, which she answered with conviction, substance and confidence.  She brought the Filipino fans at Planet Hollywood on their feet.

But, as everyone already knows, she had to settle for first runner-up, behind USA’s Oliva Culpo.  Incidentally, if Janine would have won that evening, it would have been a deja vu of Margarita Moran’s win in Greece in 1973, as the final two that evening were also the USA and the Philippines.

Her downfall? The gown didn’t help…everything else was prefect.

If the Philippines wants a winner, it will have to come up with a complete package.  You just can’t wing it with something ok or something good enough.  You have to look at past winners and study what made these women different.  What made them get the judges’ attention?  These questions must have come up at the Bb. Pilipinas office in Manila once or twice prior to 2010.  They’ve figured it out.  All they need now is be consistent and focus on styling.  They have to stay away from cheap looking evening gowns and take more risks.   The Philippines is teeming with talented designers that would give their blood to be able to design a Miss Universe competition gown.  Why not take advantage of these resources?  Why go to Colombia and settle for left-over gowns worn by non-winning Miss Colombia contestants?  There are so many spectacular Philippine ternos that are being showcased at the Bb. Pilipinas Pageant but none of them are being used as National Costumes in any international competition.

As Ariella Arida starts her journey to the Miss Universe crown, the Bb. Pilipinas Charities need to reconsider a lot of their past decisions and learn from their mistakes.  The Philippines is almost there…oh so close!

April 20, 2013 | Categories: BINIBINING PILIPINAS, MISS INTERNATIONAL, MISS SUPRANATIONAL, MISS UNIVERSE | Tags: Binibining PIlipinas, Janine Tugonon, Maria Venus Raj, Miss Universe, Shamsey Supsup | Leave a comment