Much ado about beauty pageants

CEBU, Philippines - Shut up! Zip your mouth. Let go. Move on. These are all  what I hope for pageant fanatics in the Philippines to do very soon. That is, as far as the result of the 2011 Miss Universe Pageant is concerned. People are complaining and accusing. Enough of bitterness, let’s just be grateful. Why can’t we be contented and just be thankful of our very own pride Shamcey Supsup? There were 89 beautiful and intelligent women who competed for the title and our bet is top 4. Don’t you think this is very much enough for us to celebrate and be grateful for? Hello!?

Yes, Shamcey should have been placed higher than third runner-up. She should have been the winner because she gave the best answer during the final question. She was everybody’s favorite. These are all what we screamed for, we claimed. We seemed so sure that we're right, the judges were dumb and the other candidates were ugly. Ngano kita ray anak ni Lord, (Are we the only children of God?) that Miss Angola and the other girls should not have won?

Of course majority of us prayed that our bets will at least make it to the semifinal round in the most prestigious pageant in the world. That is because we know it’s not that easy to make it to that round because there are many candidates from around the globe who manifest the same amount of determination and hunger for the title. For 11 years our bets were always "thank you girls" until Venus Raj make it to top 5 last year. Then Shamcey surpassed Venus’ achievement last Tuesday by clutching the 3rd runner up spot. We screamed. We complained. We protested. We wanted more. Kita ra gyud diay anak ni Lord!?

Our very first Miss Universe Gloria Diaz declared winning such pageant is 99% luck. There are those who are destined for it. Others are meant for a different title, another crown. Shamcey gave all her best. She never let us down. She never failed us. She won not only our hearts but the rest of the universe. She made a mark, she will be remembered. That in itself is a very sweet victory. And Shamcey is a real winner because she gracefully accepted defeat. She knew very well that in every contest there is always a winner and a loser. That is something to be proud of.

I will never forget her statements when interviewed by ABS-CBN’s Umagang Kay Ganda last Wednesday: "I think that what makes a winner, is not just winning the crown but being able to accept that hindi ikaw yung nanalo."

Very well said by a true winner who epitomizes great character. And she is Filipina. Shamcey then should be our peg. We should move on and look forward to next year.

***

Tonight will be the annual Miss Cebu Press Freedom Pageant at Formo resto bar in BTC, where our organization, E-group (Entertainment Group) is at the helm. There will only be four candidates who will vie for the title: Representatives from Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), Cebu Daily News, Sunstar, and The FREEMAN. It’s going to be an intimate pageant at the hippest party place in Cebu, Formo.

But darling, winning the title will not be a walk in the park for the ladies. Handling the Q&A portion, the part of the pageant that is most anticipated every year, will be the biggest challenge the candidates has to face before the real winner will be determined. They are girls who have beautiful minds, but who among them has the laser sharp mind that will capture the judges’ heart and mind?

Confirmed judges are media savvy PR manager Jaja Chiongbian-Rama, 2008 Miss Earth Karla Henry, 2008 Miss Cebu Sian Maynard and ironman and physical therapist, Dr. Reel Bontol. The FREEMAN Divas who was launched last year will be performing. But this is by invitation affair only.

So who should win tonight? That will be answered later. But since two weeks ago I’ve been asked a different question: Where is your loyalty? That is because I’m hosting a radio program on dyRC 648khz, which makes me a KBP member and I’m writing for The FREEMAN too. Oh well, I don’t have to choose because there is no conflict of interest, right? Whoever will win will represent Cebu media and that's what matters most.

***

Tomorrow will be the first ever Miss Philippines World that will be aired by GMA-7 at 10p.m. Interestingly, ABS-CBN will replay the Miss Universe Pageant simultaneously. Which pageant will rate higher? What is more interesting is the fact that Bb. Pilipinas pageant, the contest where the representatives to Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss International used to be with GMA-7 until it decided to go back to ABS-CBN after many years of being a Kapuso show. It was also last year that Miss World Organization’s Julia Morley decided to pull out from the BPCI and gave it to beauty guru Cory Quirino so that she is now the new pageant director for MW. Unconfirmed report that circulated in the grapevine said Morley has long wanted a separate pageant to choose the country’s bet to the Miss World, but this was never materialized, until the franchise contract expired last year.

Anyway, one of the five Cebu bets to the crown reigning Miss Aliwan Festival Rogelie Catacutan was adjudged Best in Talent last Tuesday night. Catacutan, a registered nurse and graduate of the University of San Jose Recoletos is under one of Cebu ’s top designers Dexter Alazas’ A.D. Models. She was also declared Miss Congeniality of this year’s pageant.

Let’s support Rogelie through text votes by typing :Mwp (space) 5/ Rogelie, Cebu City —send to 367 for Smart and Talk& Text subscribers, 2344 for Globe, TM and Sun.