The 1994 Miss U Pageant

“I still cry when watching beauty pageants!”

Twenty years after he worked as a researcher (assigned by ABS-CBN which was the official network) for the 1994 Miss Universe Pageant held on May 21 (9 a.m. Manila Time) at the PICC for the second time in the Philippines (the first was in 1974, held at the Folk Arts Theater, won by the late Amparo Muñoz of Spain), Funfare’s “beauty-expert” Felix Manuel still hasn’t quite gotten over what he described as “a life-changing experience.”

You see, since he was a child, Felix had been monitoring the fate of candidates from three countries — Venezuela (with the most number of winners), Puerto Rico and the Philippines whose representative at the 1994 event was Charlene Gonzalez whom Felix first met at UST where he was taking up Nursing and Charlene, pre-Medicine.

“That was before Charlene was crowned Bb. Pilipinas-Universe,” recalled Felix. “I was going down the steps of the Main Building after getting my transcript of records when a woman nearly bumped me. I was about to give her a mouthful when I was stunned by how beautiful she was. She said, ‘Sorry, I wasn’t looking!’ And I answered, ‘It’s okay. Ang ganda mo!’ Little did I know that three months later, she would be our country’s Miss U bet (who finished one of the Top 6).”

The winner was Sushmita Sen of India, much to the disappointment of Felix whose bet was Miss Venezuela Minorka Marisela Mercado (third placer). “But when I met Sushmita and realized how friendly she was, I was completely won over.”

If memory serves, I think it was only Gloria Diaz (1969 Miss Universe) who correctly predicted that Sushmita would win. Call it “Miss U intuition.”

Pageant fans still recalled how Sushmita (the first from India to bag the crown) answered the crucial question during the finals, “What is the essence of being a woman?” Sushmita, smiling and graceful under pressure, replied, “Being a woman by itself is a gift of God which all of us must appreciate. The origin of a child is a mother and is a woman and the woman is the one who shares and shows a man what love, caring and sharing is all about. That’s the essence of a woman.” Winner!

“When I saw Sushmita during the 2010 and 2012 Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas,” added Felix, “she made me smile every time she would exclaim ‘Mabuhay!’ to Filipino fans.”

Another Funfare “beauty expert,” Celso de Guzman Caparas, took a leave from his work at an oil company in Saudi Arabia to cover all the pageant events. At the National Gifts Auction Dinner Ball at the Grand Ballroom of Western Philippine Plaza Hotel, Celso won the Waterford crystal bowl of Miss Sweden Domenique Forsberg and two Atlantis crystal vases of Miss Portugal Monica Borges Pereira.

“I spent a handsome amount (tickets, silent auction, official photos, newspapers and magazines), but I was extremely happy that I satisfied my passion as a pageant aficionado,” recalled Celso. “It’s a once-in-a lifetime opportunity. I rubbed elbows with the 77 delegates, seven former Miss Universe title holders (our very own Gloria Diaz [1969] and Margie Moran [1973], Irene Saez of Venezuela (1981), Angela Visser of Holland [1989], Mona Grudt of Norway [1990], Michelle McLean of Namibia [1992] and Dayanara Torres of Puerto Rico [1993] who crowned the new Miss Universe); guest performer Peabo Bryson; celebrity judges; and host Bob Goen and co-host Arthel Neville. Not to mention that I had photo ops and autograph signing with most of the beauties and celebrities which now form part of my treasured pageantry collection.”

Twenty years after she won, Sushmita was quoted as saying in an interview, â€œAm blessed and can’t believe I have defined, redefined, evaluated, re-evaluated the concept of being successful.”

According to Celso, Sushmita pursued an acting career in Bollywood in 1996 via Dastak and up to 2010 had 33 films to her credit, had received five Best Supporting Actress awards from four different award-giving bodies, and was the recipient of Rajiv Ghandi Achievement Award in 2006. She’s returning to the silver screen this year with two films, one co-starring with her batchmate, Miss World 1994 Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. As her way of giving back to the society, Sushmita put up the I Am Foundation in 2009 and, the following year, she spearheaded the I Am She pageant that sent India’s delegate to the Miss Universe pageant until 2012. Sushmita adopted two baby girls, Renee and Alisah, now aged 13 and 4, respectively.

More from Celso’s research: Miss Colombia Carolina Gomez Correa, first runner-up, became a sought-after model in fashion capitals including Milan and Miami. She also graced the covers of fashion magazines. In 2003, she made her acting debut via El auténtico Rodrigo Leal, a soap opera telecast in Colombia’s Caracol Channel and starred in 10 other TV series and soaps. She made seven movies, including one for Hollywood, The Chosen One (2010) with Fil-Am comedian Rob Schneider. 

Second runner-up Minorka Marisela Mercado Carrero of Venezuela has been active in hosting events and functions. She has a daughter by husband Peangelo Miranda.

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