Eighty-four delegates worldwide, including top favorite Miss Universe Philippines Sylvia Celeste Rabimbi Cortesi, are done with the crucial preliminary competitions for the 71st Miss Universe that will hold its live finals at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana Saturday night (Sunday morning, January 15 PH time).
The 71st Miss Universe Competition is proceeding to crown its new winner on Sunday amid major changes in the organization that includes its new owner, JKN Global Group, spearheaded by its billionaire and Thailand-based founder and CEO Anne Jakrajutatip; the group bought Miss Universe from WME/IMG.
The contestants opened the preliminary competitions by introducing themselves to the live audience in Portia and Scarlett glittering dresses; Cortesi chose to wear a silver and purple outfit.
The contestants also wore pageant heels by Filipino shoe designer Jojo Bragais, who’s back as shoes sponsor after his stint in 2020.
Donning swimsuits in pastel shades during the first round of competitions, the ladies also wore a white cape with artworks done by the contestants themselves. For her part, Celeste wore pink and chose to have the Save the Children Philippines in her outreach program in Marawi City participate in the artwork by having their little palms painted stamped on the material in various colors. The blank white capes were shipped to the contestants ahead of the 10-day pageant.
For the evening gown round, Celeste wore a baby blue elaborately beaded creation by Oliver Tolentino; the US-based Filipino designer of Hollywood fame also made Celeste’s gown foe the finals.
Celeste wore a national costume ensemble by Albert Andrada, a modern take on Filipino pop culture icon Darna, that also included a back piece of metalworks depicting the sun’s rays and stars created by Dr. Jerome Navarro.
Celeste, a heavy favorite even before she arrived in New Orleans, is aiming to win the fifth Miss Universe crown for the Philippines after Gloria Diaz (1969), Margie Moran (1973), Pia Wurtzbach (2015) and Catriona Gray (2018).
Sixteen semi-finalists, the top performers during the preliminaries, including the closed door interviews with the all-women selection committee, will be revealed at Sunday’s finals to be hosted by an all-woman set of presentors: Miss Universe 2012 Olivia Culpo and Jeannie Mai on stage, and Zuri Hall and Gray backstage.
The selection committee includes, among others, Miss Universe 2010 Ximena Navarrete, Miss Universe 1998 Wendy Fitzwilliam and Filipino skin care specialist Olivia Quido for the finals; and Miss USA 2015 and Miss Universe 2015 2nd runner-up Olivia Jordan who sat at yesterday’s preliminaries.
Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Sandhu from India will crown her successor at Sunday’s finals to be aired in the Philippines live by A2Z Channel 11, Kapamilya Channel, Metro Channel and iWantTFC at 9 AM, with same-day replays at 10:30 PM.
