Michelle Dee to beauty pageant aspirants: Know and embrace yourself
Michelle Marquez Dee belongs to that circle of Pinay beauty queens who strongly represented the country and left a lasting impression on the global pageant stage.
The Sparkle GMA Artist Center actress made it to the Top 20 and Top 10 rounds of the recently concluded Miss Universe in El Salvador and brought home such awards as Voice for Change, Spirit of Carnival, Fan Vote, and Best National Costume.
With these feats, Michelle will be feted today at 4 p.m. with a grand homecoming parade at the SM Mall of Asia.
Pageant fans and enthusiasts are expected to witness this event, which reminds one of the homecoming-victory parades given to Miss Universe 1999 first runner-up Miriam Quiambao, Miss Universe 2012 first runner-up Janine Tugonon, Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, and Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray.
Prior to that, the Philippine representative did rounds of TV interviews and graced the GMA homecoming media press conference.
“Honestly, it’s really knowing yourself. Live your life. Gain as much experience. Get hurt, fall down, get up and try again because we can never win everything,” said Michelle as pieces of advice to aspiring beauty contestants and eventual winners in the event mounted by her network, “but you can always learn something from all of our experiences. Of course, you really need to find what’s beautiful about yourself, what you can offer the world that’s very unique… You have to make your own unique mark in this world. You have to embrace yourself.”
Michelle represented the Philippines in the 72nd edition of Miss Universe with short hair, svelte and elegant looks, and a timely advocacy for autism awareness. Her eloquence is given.
From start to finish, she was a hands-on delegate with the purpose of showcasing her authentic self.
“Well, my whole campaign this year was to really shine authentically,” shared she. “Admittedly, the times I joined pageantry, of course, I was trying to shine as my own woman, but I was still trying to conform to what I believed was the stereotype for a beauty queen, especially a Filipina beauty queen.”
“This year, I really said, ‘I’m going to be, alam ko na lagi kong sinasabi, unapologetically authentic’ because this is the person that I’m also celebrating… So, I embrace my uniqueness, I embrace my story. I made sure to pick everybody along the journey with me para sama-sama natin i-experience ang Miss Universe. Of course, I am the most authentic version as compared to my previous pageant and I guess that authenticity has proven very successful,” added she.
This, indeed, made the Pinay beauty turn heads, and her presence was felt throughout the competition. Somehow, it helped her win awards.
Definitely one memorable recognition she received was the Voice for Change gold.
“That is the award that focuses on your advocacy. It really gave my advocacy a platform for global recognition,” said she.
According to her, she was involved in every aspect of the script and supervised “the execution of the video and the content because that was my mission at Miss Universe.”
“If they didn’t make that recent shift to focus on advocacies, feeling ko talaga hindi ako sasali (I felt I wouldn’t join the Miss Universe Philippines) last year. I wouldn’t have the energy, but because my brothers, the millions of individuals on the spectrum, they gave me so much inspiration,” added she, who believed that there were about 70 delegates who submitted videos.
“To get into that Top 3 or to get that gold medal really confirms that my advocacy is one that you can’t ignore. It’s an opportunity not just for myself but for the millions of individuals on the autism spectrum.”
Looking back on her Miss Universe journey, Michelle will have memories that last a lifetime. One of which is the bayanihan spirit, a sense of unity and cooperation among community members, shown by Filipinos to support Michelle’s bid for Miss Universe.
“The one thing that actually really surprised me throughout my campaign was how strong the bayanihan spirit was throughout the Philippines. I won three of those awards, part of it was that I showed on stage, but majority was because of the support of all the Filipinos also,” said she.
Winning Voice for Change, Fan Vote and Best National Costume, added Michelle, “really shows the whole universe that the Philippines is a force to be reckoned with. It’s not always just about the candidate, but it’s really about how a country can come together to support one cause.”
Michelle’s journey and impressive performance at Miss Universe in El Salvador is one for the books.
From Central America, the next edition of Miss Universe will be held in Mexico, a part of North America.
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