New Miss Universe to Be Crowned Today

CEBU, Philippines - Today, the fairest among all the beauties from 83 participating countries will be named Miss Universe 2010—and rightful successor to outgoing Miss Universe 2009 winner Stefania Fernandez—at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, in Las Vegas.

Will this year’s Philippine bet Venus Raj join in the prestigious procession of winners, following in the footsteps of our very own Miss Universe winners—Gloria Diaz in 1969 and Margie Moran in 1973?

Perhaps, you’ve grown jaded and wary of raising hopes over our country’s bet, given the dismal showing in the last years despite the “positive” news being peddled year after year—only to find out they were actually misleading.

But now it seems the good things being said about Raj are more credible, and that she actually has a fighting chance of making it as a semi-finalist (even finalist, if we dare say!) more than any of our Miss U reps in all those years following Miriam Quiambao’s runner-up finish in 1999.

And it’s not because Raj has consistently topped the online poll of the Miss Universe Organization, because public voting doesn’t have any bearing in the judges’ choices for the Top 15, which are to be revealed today.

So, why is Raj emerging as one of the top preferences of Miss U watchers and pageant fanatics, both local and foreign? We culled some expert reasons here.

An expert on www.missosology.org, a leading website devoted to beauty pageants around the world, declared Raj as the strongest contender that the Philippines has sent to Miss U after a very long time.

Anna Igpit, Bb. Pilipinas World 2006, believes that Raj’s compelling story will make judges sit up and notice, plus she’s also receiving feedback that Raj is a favorite of the Miss U Organization, which is owned by American billionaire Donald Trump.

To recall, Raj was stripped off her Bb. Pilipinas-Universe title just a few days after her coronation due to a technicality in her birth records. She put up a public fight to reclaim it, and the rest is now history.

Add to that is her very simple beginnings and background in her home province in Bicol—with her story of walking on rice paddies as her first training in ramp skills given much highlight in the preliminaries. Everybody loves a survival story, as they say!

From the international front, Ashton Grewal, associate editor of the US sports, contests and betting website Covers.com, paid Raj—who was cited as one of oddsmakers’ Top 10 favorites to secure the crown—several handsome compliments, describing her as “well-practiced” and as “my showstopper.”

“Showstopper,” by definition, is something so striking or impressive that the show must be delayed until the audience quiets down.

But Raj—how striking she may be in the eyes of many—still faces major competition in the pageant that Grewal said as “serious business, the big show, and the crème de la crème.”

There’s Miss Mexico Jimena Navarrete, a dark-haired beauty who is another solid candidate to walk away with the highest honors, according to Harley Ruedas, a Cebuano top designer and hardcore Miss U fan.

“She has a pretty face, and a great body,” Igpit also pointed out.

And there’s Miss Ireland Rozanna Purcell, who oozes with sex appeal. She also has this bad-girl vibe going about her, which got more pronounced after she generated heat for the topless pictures (she was body-painted though) she took in the lead-up to the competition. Nevertheless, her beauty stands out wherever you place her, Igpit noted.

“She reminds me of the supermodels of the ‘80s,” added Chicoy Tomol, founder and manager of the Models Association of Cebu (MAC), which has previously fielded winning candidates to Bb. Pilipinas.

Miss Russia Irina Antonenko is another force to reckon with. Grewal wrote on Covers.com: “Here we’re talking about a lady who’s just classically beautiful. It’s like she should be starring opposite Humphrey Bogart on the silver screen.”

Other favorites are Miss USA Rima Fakih, who is the first Lebanese-born Muslim to win Miss USA, and Miss Venezuela Marelisa Gibson, who is, however, already ruled out by some pundits. They reasoned that a back-to-back-to-back victory for a single country in Miss Universe has and will never happen. Or will it now?

Witness a showdown of swimsuits, evening gowns and quick-thinking interview skills in the hopes of impressing a panel of celebrity judges and winning the Miss U title via a live coverage on ABS-CBN this 9:30am. (NMT)