A "Major, Major" Blessing

And so I was right when I said that Maria Venus Raj was overwhelmed at her Top 5 placement that she no longer exerted that much effort during the final Q & A. Venus herself admitted this in a "24 Oras" phone interview last Tuesday. Imagine making it as finalist out of 83 candidates who competed in this year’s Miss Universe pageant after what she went through before getting the go-signal to represent our country in Vegas--who wouldn't be overwhelmed then?

Interestingly, her public fight to reclaim her crown after she was dethroned by Binibining Pilipinas Charities Incorporated months ago due to discrepancies in her birth certificate could have helped her nail the final question thrown at her. She could have said that while the problem in her birth records was not her mistake in the first place, but she very well suffered from it, that she almost did not make it to Vegas. Then she could solidify her answer by recalling how she fought to be reinstated and at the same time, how she corrected that mistake by eventually admitting it, which paved the way for the granting of her Philippine passport, thus certifying she really is a Filipino by citizenship.

In a post-Miss U lookback, I could not help but suspect that the question from William Baldwin was tailor-made for Venus. Maybe, the Miss Universe Organization headed by Donald Trump wanted our Venus to reveal to the entire universe how courageously she fought for what is right and just. Maybe they wanted to present how Venus, an ordinary farm girl who practiced her catwalk skills on rice paddies, beaten all the odds and made the universe her biggest stage. Venus, after all, would have made a good epitome of a Miss Universe--beautiful face, body, and heart. Plus, her very compelling life story that's impossible for the world to ignore.

While Venus has a history of always messing it up during the final Q & A of her past pageants, from Miss Philippines Earth to Bb. Pilipinas, I was hoping this was corrected already during her trainings prior to the Miss U pageant. But Venus blew it again. So now, I am thinking, maybe Venus could have also made this weakness of hers as answer to her final question. She could have said that she was correcting such mistake right at the Mandalay stage by trying not to blew the final Q&A again.

Nevertheless, as a pageant fanatic, I’m well aware how easy for us to say anything about a candidate’s performance because we are not the ones in the spotlight and under pressure. It's not already easy facing a few people, which I learned via a Public Speaking class years ago, wherein I had to speak before 40 classmates. How much more for Venus, who was facing thousands, if not millions of people, from both the live audience and TV viewers all over the world? 

As a son of God also, I can say that the Almighty Father has given as a “major, major” blessing that should be embraced and celebrated in a “major, major” way. Yes, because for a decade it has been our constant prayer that our bets will reach at least the semis in the most prestigious pageant in the universe. We have long forgotten the feeling of making it to the Top 15 after Miriam Quiambao’s first runner-up finish in 1999. After a decade, God did not only hear our prayers, He gave more than what we asked for: a Top 5 finish for the Philippines.

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Speaking of figures, at least 75 entries have been screened for the 31st Cebu Popular Music Festival happening at the Cebu Coliseum on January 14, 2011. This is a low turnout of entries, compared to the previous years, but Cebu Pop project director Philogene Florita cited the economic crises as reason for the decrease. It's not easy to prepare an entry and it’s also financially burdensome.

Cebu Pop, the annual music event passionately spearheaded by Rep. Eduardo Gullas as his way of paying tribute to the beauty Cebuano music, as well as preserving our culture through this contest that has jumpstarted the careers of Raki Vega, Sheryn Regis, and Vina Morales (to name a few), is very proud to present next year’s 12 Official Entries:

1. IKAW ANG HINUNGDAN -Composer/ Lyricist: Eugene Tan

2. CALL CENTER AGENT - Composer/ Lyricist; Eugene Tan

3. DI KA NA GYUD MAGHILAK - Composer/ Lyricist: Lauro Flores

4. GUGMA NABA? - Composer/ Lyricist; Jun Cabillar

5. KANUS-A PA KAHA - Composer/ Lyricist: Jun Cabillar

6. KILID SA DALAN - Composer/ Lyricist: Erwin Lirazan

7. PANAHON KO NA - Composer/ Lyricist: Norman Jabonero

8. SALOMA SA GUGMANG NAHANAW - Composer/ Lyricist: Glenn Salve

9. PASTILAN - Composer/ Lyricist: Glenn Salve

10. BANGON KATILINGBAN - Composer: Russel Alegado

Lyricist: Yoojin Raye Anthony Burgos

11. ISAAD TA KARON - Composer: Joseph Abella

Lyricist:   Eugene Tan

12. WALA NA’Y LAIN PA - Composer/ Lyricist: Dennis Martin

This year’s screening committee was composed of Atty. Pat Acabodillo, UV Alumni vice-president; Sam Costanilla, columnist/ radio & TV personality; Dr. Marita Omega – Nalam, 11th Pop 2nd prize interpreter, Faculty UV/CNU; Joel Oporto of the Cebu Guitar Foundation; Cora Rosales Jayma, TV/radio soap opera writer; Insp. Mark Nadanza of CCPO, IAS; Baby Condeno, local radio/ TV artist; Gweendolyn Suico – Crescencio, award-winning lyricist/ USJR Faculty; Frederick Villarojo, award-winning Composer; and yours truly.

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Good luck to our bets in this year's Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant, happening tonight at the auditorium of the Resorts Hotel Manila. We have four bets to win the crown. They are Aileen Ella Dango (Bohol) of Marlon Wafer Models; Karen Fatima Montanez (Cebu City), a discovery of ace make-up artist Jonas Borces; Ma. Tanchellie Lobete (Bogo City) of Danny Booc's Ozar Models; and Sharon Grace Angel (Lapu-Lapu City) of A.D. Models of top designer Dexter Alazas. Go, go, go girls, bring home the crown!

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