Margarita Loren Melo bested seven other finalists during the finals night of the STAR Dream Girl 2004 search held the other day at the Manila Pavilion Hotel. Melo won the title by garnering an impressive 92.43 percent score from the board of judges led by philstar.com CEO Kevin Belmonte. She also won the special Miss Gold’s Gym Award for having the most toned and well-proportioned body.
The other judges were actress, fitness guru, and Allure columnist Jacquilou Blanco, Gold’s Gym president Jim Campbell, Manila Pavilion Hotel resident manager Bernardo Corpus, Plains & Prints general manager Roxanne Farillas, former STAR "Face of The Year" and medical student Anna Palabyab, and beauty maven and fashion stylist Chechel Joson.
In the show hosted by fashion photographer and engineer Victor Consunji, Melo impressed the audience with her fresh-faced beauty and confidence. A behavioral science student at De La Salle University-Taft, she elicited hearty applause with her response during the question-and-answer segment. She said that the most outstanding quality of the women of today is their being outspoken.
"They are not afraid to speak out and say what’s on their minds, yet they’re also not afraid to admit their mistakes," she said.
Melo, a print ad model, is the daughter of Ayala Corp. associate director Titos Melo and homemaker Liza Melo. "Marga is good at making light conversation," said her father. "She loves to tell stories and jokes. She is vivacious and she’s someone who is fun to have around." He added that though his daughter "didn’t expect it (winning) and would have been happy just to make it to the top three, deep inside she wanted it."
First runner-up was Ateneo de Manila AB Communication student Pamela Sue Estrella. Another Atenean, Economics student Hazel Tañedo, was adjudged second runner-up. Tañedo also won the special Miss Plains & Prints Award.
The five other finalists were Mass Communications student Ezra Micah Lancero, who won the Texters’ Choice Award for having garnered the most votes from STAR readers in the poll text that determined the eight finalists; Miriam College Communication Arts graduate Ma. Isabel Platon; DLSU-St. Benilde BSBA Computer Applications student Katherine Marie Tan; St. Paul BS Commerce-Management graduate Olivia Caling; and UST Fine Arts student Xialeemer Valdeavilla.
The first-ever STAR Dream Girl 2004 was presented by The STAR and the STAR’s Allure section in cooperation with Gold’s Gym, the Manila Pavilion Hotel, Konica Film and Lancome. It was also brought by Gift Gate, Plains & Prints, Oxydo, philstar.com, Youngstar and MTV Ink magazines, and supported by Maramaru Flower Shop, Vivere, the official partner salon, Figlia shoes and photographer Willy Saw. The finals night show was directed by Arnold Galang.