The beauty queens up there

With the 2010 Miss World contest just done with and the 2010 Miss International contest coming up on Sunday, Nov. 7, with grand finals to be held in Chengdu, China, in which the Philippine bet, 2010 Bb. Pilipinas-International Krista Kleiner, is competing with 67 other beauties, hoping to bring home the country’s fifth Miss International crown, Funfare is requesting the readers to say a little prayer for the repose of the souls of dear departed beauty queens who must be adding some glitz and glamour “up there.”

The following list was done by Funfare’s “other beauty expert” Celso de Guzman Caparas: 

• 1929 Miss Philippines Carnival Pacita de los Reyes-Phillips (Nov. 14, 1911-March 10, 2005), was also declared Pearl of the Orient Seas during her coronation, of natural causes.

•1935 Miss Philippines Carnival Conchita Sunico (Dec. 8, 1913-Aug. 1, 1990), was a reluctant beauty queen, she refused to join the Manila Carnival contest but due to insistent persuasion of her sponsors and being the personal choice of then President Manuel L. Quezon, she went ahead and won. Before her coronation, she was the president of Smiles Club and muse of Bachelor’s Club. 

•1953 (first) Miss Aviation Joji Felix-Velarde (Oct. 4, 1935-May 22, 2009), also the first Miss Caltex (Miss RPM Supreme), of cardiac arrest.

•1964 Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Myrna Panlilio (Nov. 19, 1942-July 16, 2009), of cardiac arrest while confined at the Makati Medical Center, remains were cremated.

•1977 Mutya ng Pilipinas-Asia Rio Diaz (Aug 14, 1959-Oct. 3, 2004), adjudged fourth runner-up to 1977 Miss Asia Linda Emran of Indonesia, after a six-year battle with colon cancer, in California. 

•1977 Bb. Pilipinas-International Pinky Alberto (Feb. 14, 1956-Oct. 27. 2005), of lymphatic cancer, made headlines when she voluntarily withdrew and flew back to Manila 10 days before the Miss International 1977 finals in Tokyo due to some irregularities in pre-pageant events, the first ever and only Filipina to do so. The highly-esteemed Teodoro F. Valencia commented in his Over a Cup of Coffee column, “Pinky may not know it but she won universal applause.” Born on Valentine’s Day, she was named Maria Cristina Valentina and fondly called Pinky because when she was still a toddler she would turn pink when around with other people. Pinky’s husband was the late Frank Scaife, an Australian, who used to work as marketing and promotions consultant with Philippine Airlines.

•1979 Miss Young-Pilipinas Maria Teresa Carlson (1963-Nov. 23, 2001), of multiple injuries sustained when she fell from her penthouse on the 23rd floor of Platinum 2000 condominium in Greenhills, San Juan City.

•1980 Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Chat Silayan (July 8, 1959-April 23, 2006), third runner-up to 1980 Miss Universe Shawn Weatherly of USA, of colon cancer.  

•1981 Miss Maja-Pilipinas Josephine Bautista (Nov. 27, 1960-Sept. 30, 1998), won Maja Popularidad and Best National Costume awards in the 1981 Maja International held in Madrid, of cancer several years ago.

•1993 Bb. Pilipinas-International Sheela Mae Santarin died at 28 in Nov. 2003 of complications purportedly resulting from postnatal liposuction surgery. She was comatose for 16 months. 

•2009 Bb. Pilipinas-International Melody Gersbach (Nov. 18, 1985 – Aug 21, 2010), one of the 15 semi-finalists in 2009 Miss International, in a vehicular accident in Camarines Sur.

And the foreign beauty queens:

•1955 Miss Universe Hillevi Rombin of Sweden (Sept. 14, 1933-June 19, 1996), in a plane crash resulting from engine failure shortly after takeoff in Burbank, California. Hillevi died with husband Gerard David Schine (Hollywood actor and film producer) and son Berndt who piloted the private plane. 

•1956 Miss World Petra Susanna Schurmann of Germany (Sept. 15, 1933-Jan. 13, 2010), in Munich due to lingering illness. 

•1961 Miss World Rosemarie Frankland of United Kingdom (Feb. 1, 1943-Dec. 2, 2000), also joined the 1961 Miss Universe pageant where she represented Wales and placed first runner-up to Marlene Schmidt of Germany. According to reports, Rosemarie died of drug overdose in Marina del Rey, California after battling depression. 

• 1984 Miss Poland Magdalena Jaworska, represented her country in the Miss World 1984 and Miss Europe 1985 pageants. Magdalena died at 33 on July 8, 1994 in her apartment due to electrocution when she dropped a hairdryer into the water while taking a bath.

• 1991 Miss International Agnieszka Korlatska of Poland (Aug. 15, 1972-Aug. 27, 1996), stabbed four times in the chest by Jerzy L. (her stalker for five years) in Wroclaw. A month earlier, she barely escaped death by deciding at the last minute not to fly on TWA Flight 800 from New York to Rome, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, near East Moriches, New York killing all 230 passengers on board including Agnieszka’s personal photographer. 

•1993 Miss Mauritius Viveka Babajee (May 23, 1973-June 25, 2010), joined the Miss World 1993 (where Ruffa Gutierrez won as second Princess to Miss World 1993 Lisa Hanna of Jamaica) and Miss Universe 1994 held in Manila (won by Sushmita Sen of India). Viveka was found dead hanging in a ceiling fan inside her apartment in Khar, Mumbai. Reports have it that she committed suicide due to depression.

•1994 Miss Argentina Solange Magnano (Dec. 2, 1971-Nov. 29, 2009), joined the 1994 Miss Universe pageant held in Manila, in Buenos Aires after suffering from pulmonary embolism three days after she had a buttocks augmentation procedure (or gluteoplasty). 

• 1997 Miss India Nafisa Joseph (March 28, 1978-July 29, 2004), one of Top 10 semi-finalists in the 1997 Miss Universe pageant (where the Philippines’ Abbygale Arenas won as Miss Photogenic), committed suicide by hanging inside her flat in Versova, Mumbai, India, due to depression.

Swift here Feb. 19, 2011

Ovation Productions, together with etc and Jack TV, present Taylor Swift Live in Manila on Feb. 19, 2011. The Country Music Princess is set to take Araneta Coliseum by storm when she performs her hit songs Mine, Love Story and You Belong With Me during the one-night spectacular.

Singer, songwriter and actress, at the young age of 20 Taylor Swift (photo) has taken the entertainment world by storm. Having sold 13 million albums and 25 million song downloads, Swift had earned numerous titles and over 50 awards in recognition of her music including four Grammys and three Academy of Country Music Awards. Swift is best known for her highly-autobiographical lyrics, so fans find themselves relating with the personal nature of her songs and the topics they explore. Swift’s first self-titled album went four times platinum in the US, with her follow-up album Fearless going six times platinum and reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Locally, her Fearless and Fearless (Platinum Edition) albums have reached eight times platinum in both retail and digital sales.

Taylor Swift Live in Manila coincides with Swift’s Southeast Asian tour and the promotion of her latest, highly-anticipated album Speak Now, released under MCA Music Inc. The album’s lead single, Mine, is flying high on local pop hit radio stations and has reached No. 1 on the iTunes All-Genre Singles Chart and No. 1 on the iTunes Country Single Chart within six hours of its release, and sold in excess of 297,000 downloads in just four days.

Members of the Taylor Swift Fans Club Philippines can buy their tickets exclusively starting Nov. 5!  Tickets go on sale to the public starting Nov. 8. For reservations and inquiries, visit any Ticketnet outlet (call 911-5555) or online at www.ticketnet.com.ph

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