In the beginning, as each country's representatives are introduced, I chose my favourites.
As usual, as luck would have it, none of my favourites made it into the finals.
I haven't got one guess that hit the mark since I chose Oxana Federova in 2002. Remember her? Miss Russia, who was crowned Miss Universe 2002, was then asked to give up her crown after a rather short stint.... It was her empire-waisted evening gown that convinced me.
Here are five of my favourites, in no particular order:
Miss Ethiopia, Dina Hibret Ferkadu- graceful, elegant. She represented Ethiopia in Miss Universe 2006, so she's got the experience!
She looked like a modern version of what a north african beauty should look like. Arab and African. She reminds me of the legendary supermodel Waris Dirie, back in the day. She also had Iman's grace.
I thought Miss South Africa, Tanzee Coetze was very beautiful- too conventionally beautiful, maybe because she is of mixed blood.
And er, well *cough* halfies always have an unfair advantage in the beauty stakes *cough*...... but anyway- a beauty nevertheless.
Miss Cyprus, Josefina Sekki- natural and athletic.
She's the 2nd from left. Not a conventional beauty. But to me, very natural, very beachy. I love her tan! She reminds me of Jennifer Aniston, who is also another greek export.
Miss Philippines, Danielle Kirsten Muriel CASTANO - I'm picking her because she holds herself with a lot of confidence. It showed.
Very exotic. Very Miss Hawaiian Tropic.
When the britpop boy band McFly performed their first song of their set, where the girls are shown dancing to the band while they're playing, she was totally getting her groupie-ass groove on. More so than other contestants. I was thinking to myself "aaaawww, mannnn- geeez- FIGHT the stereotype, Miss Philippines!" If they showed Miss Singapore onscreen, I'll bet you she'd be doing the same-same come hither thing to those pretty white boys, honey.
Miss Uruguay, Fatimih Davila- the eyes, the experience....
Not the most beautiful- she was Miss Uruguay Universe in 2006, so it's the experience factor coming into play again- you see? This is like betting on horses. :)
Sorry, but Miss China gets my goat this year.
LOOK at how plastic the boobs are, honey. We all know models and actresses in China get silicone implants just like they get a new pair of shoes. And it seems to be a prerequisite for any woman in front of the camera. But this woman, Yan Ling Mei..... Damn, I've seen transexuals and transvestites in Thailand looking more like real women than her. The girl from Taiwan behind her in the white bikini has nicer implants and a healthier looking tan.
Last year's Miss China, Zhang Zilin, who won Miss World, was stunning though.
This year's militant-out-to-win-it Miss India was no Aishwarya Rai, either. Disappointing.
Miss Malaysia this year was yet another porcelain-ish chinese girl.
Her name is Wincci. What does that tell you already? (Oh God. Is the budget shoe brand now a "prestige brand" that you can now name yourself after? If I see another Malaysian hairstylist/photographer/designer called Gucci/Prada/Chanel Wong/Lim/Ong/Lee etc. I will vomit.)
Why can't there be a better representation of what Malaysian women look like? The Wincci's of Malaysia represents just one facet of Malaysian beauty. There are too many malay beauties out there with smoking hot bods who can give Wincci a run for her money- why not join the pageant and represent Malaysian women? Ah the religion thing always complicates, doesn't it? Not that a problem that other muslim countries like Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Lebanon etc. can't rise above..... but some countries (Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan) like choose not to have them at all.
Let's dumb it down. Think of it like this: Why sell Char Kway Teow every day when no one is buying? Why not give Nasi Lemak a go on alternate days? It could be the sales boost that you need, know what I mean?
At the end of the day- another Russian won this title.
