Lea is 5th Filipino to sit as Miss Universe judge

MANILA, Philippines - When 2011 Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Shamcey Supsup competes with 80-plus equally gorgeous beauties from around the universe at the 60th Miss Universe Pageant in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Monday, Sept. 12 (Tuesday morning, Sept. 13 Manila time), she will see a familiar face among the board of judges – none other than Lea Salonga, the fifth Filipino to do the honor, after Gen. Carlos P. Romulo, Emilio Yap, Josie Cruz-Natori and Kuh Ledesma.

This was announced on Wednesday by NBC, Donald Trump and Paula Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization. The pageant will by broadcast live by NBC (aired live in the Philippines by ABS-CBN) from Credicard Hall in Sao Paolo.

The official NBC release named the following as the other judges: Helios Castroneves, three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500; Connie Chung, US broadcast legend; Isabeli Fontana, Brazilian supermodel; Vivica Fox, actress and TV producer; Adrienne Maloof, from Bravo’s hit series “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills;” and Amelia Vega, 2003 Miss Universe.

STAR courses said that there are usually two sets of judges in what is considered as the world’s most prestigious beauty contest, one for the preliminaries (this year’s were held the other night and reports said that Shamcey “did very well”) and the other for the grand finals where Lea and those mentioned earlier will judge.

Those invited as judges are people who are “credible and who are leaders in their respective fields.”

Gloria Diaz, the first Filipina to bring home the Miss U crown in 1969, added that “whoever is the flavor of the season” is also is factor in the choice of judges. One of the judges during Gloria’s time was Eileen Ford, head of the world’s top modeling agency behind the Supermodel of the World search.

According to the NBC report, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Bebel Gilberto, daughter of Brazilian legend Joao Gilberto, will perform her electronic bossa nova single “Close Your Eyes” during the evening gown portion of the pageant, while Brazilian native pop singer Claudia Leitte will perform her single “Locomotion” during the swimsuit competition.

Andy Cohen, host of the Bravo TV show “Watch What Happens: Live,” and Natalie Morales, anchor of NBC’s “Today” show, will host the pageant, while Style Network’s “How Do I Look” host Jeannie Mai and 2004 Miss USA Shandi Finnessy will provide fashion commentary throughout the show.

Fans in countries represented in the pageant are for the first time given a chance to vote for their favorite contestants for an automatic spot in the semi-finals. Names of the semi-finalists will be announced during the grand finals. Fans can vote online at www.missuniverse.com or www.nbc.com. Voting is going on until Sunday, Sept. 11 (9 p.m. ET).

Shamcey is predicted to bring home the country’s third Miss U title. The second Filipina to win was Margie Moran in 1973.

Asked what she thinks are Shamcey’s chances, Gloria said, “I haven’t seen her in person but I like her name.”