MANILA, Philippines — I can still hear the sighs of dismay and cries of unbelief when the Philippines was not called as one of the finalists in the Top 8 of the 60th Miss International pageant, recently in Tokyo.
You see, when Hannah Arnold won as Binibining Pilipinas 2021, she was literally a shoo-in for the title. But, the pageant was canceled that year, due to the pandemic, and the Fil-Aussie scientist had to wait another year (not to mention the two previous years when the national pageant was likewise postponed) for her to compete on the international stage. Perhaps, destiny has a grander plan for her.
When Hannah won, she would be representing the country at the pageant's 60th year edition. And with Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc. (BPCI) chairman, Madame Stella Marquez Araneta, then representing her motherland Colombia, winning the very first Miss International title in 1960, pundits observed these similar numbers pointed to Hannah's road to victory.
Related: Hannah Arnold to honor 1st winner Stella Marquez-Araneta at 60th Miss International
It is difficult to pinpoint with certainty what made Hannah's journey to the crown not see its fruition. She was more than prepared compared to her co-candidates, yet the title eluded her in the end.
But kudos to Hannah for being the only Asian delegate to make it to the semifinal round. Which meant that Filipino fans really rallied behind her back, especially on the online voting part. Days before the final show, Hannah was the second most voted delegate. And the organizers announced that they would fast-track the three (Asia/Oceania, Africa/Europe, and the Americas) top voted delegates into the Top 15. That meant Hannah got to the top spot among Asians in the online poll, otherwise, another Asian country would have qualified for the spot, assuming Hannah did not qualify on her own merit. Pinoys have, lately, been inactive on the online polls, most notably with the Miss Grand International pageant - yet for Hannah, they went back on track.
Imagine yourself preparing for a beautiful and expensive outfit for a grand event. So you prepared for it and had it at hand before the date of the affair. You could even say you went over the moon to acquire a really expensive and known label. But the affair was postponed for reasons beyond your control. So that when the event finally happened, and you wore the outfit you prepared for the occasion, you just felt it was "out of style" - no matter how beautiful or expensive it was.
There is a time for everything. And like in cooking, time is of the essence. When you prepare food less than the required number of minutes, it becomes undercooked. And if you prepared it beyond the time required, it becomes overcooked. I'm saying these things because, in pageantry, there is such a thing as perfect timing. An aspirant needs to peak at the right time and the right moment. Peaking before, or after that precise moment, is detrimental to one's chances. Plus, of course, the stars need to align in your favor.
They say beauty queens are likened to athletes in a marathon - in that, they need to bide their time when to sprint to victory. So imagine running on an incline to reach the finish line. If you stop midstream, you will never get your bearings back. Just like in a pageant, when your momentum is halted, it would be very hard to get your groove back. It would be easier to start anew, so your momentum is driven unhindered.
Hannah's momentum was hindered by forces outside of her control. Which reminded me of another Filipina beauty queen competing in another alpha pageant early this year. She, too, was in a similar predicament. Like Hannah, her chances at winning was stifled by a change of date of the final show to another three months. Though the reason for the change, in both cases, was due to forces beyond human control, it totally changed the outcome.
I once remembered a 22-year-old national winner teasing another national winner who was 25-year-old that time, during the latter's send off, that she was already "old." It might have been a joke but that remark rings true in pageantry, where age can ease out aspirants of competing because of age restrictions.
While Hannah is within the age limit, despite the postponement of the 2021 pageant, keen observers saw how she aged especially during the first photo shoot of the delegates in Tokyo. They said she was not as ebullient as she was when she won the national title. Which, they added, echoed in her performance on the national stage. "Hindi 'palong palo,' ika nga," some pageant observers quipped.
Fans and supporters could only surmise, and debate, over the reasons that would point to Hannah's non-winning performance at Miss International. But, win or lose, Pinoy fans will still support her should she try to give her pageant journey one last hurrah!
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