MANILA, Philippines — Luma Russo of Brazil bested 37 other delegates to win the first-ever Miss Charm International title held recently in Ho Chi Minh City. Annabelle McDonnell of the Philippines won as 1st runner-up, while Olivia Tan of Indonesia was the 2nd runner-up.
From the Top 6 finalists, the Top 3 were deftly revealed through a portrait painting done on stage by a draftsman.
Annabelle was appointed by the Miss Universe Philippines (MUPH) organization to compete in the Vietnam-based pageant, months after winning as 1st runner-up in the national pageant. This was the same pageant that Ashley Subijano Montenegro was supposed to compete in, prior to joining the Miss World Philippines competition (and winning the Eco International national crown), had this search pushed through in 2019.
The three other ladies who made it to the Top 6 were Juliana Mabib of Colombia, Luyanda Zuma of South Africa, and Lady Di Mosquera of Venezuela; while Julieta Garcia (Argentina), Andrea Montero (Costa Rica), Valentina Campion (Dominican Republic), and Alejandra Pagan (Puerto Rico) completed the Top 10 roster.
The other candidates who made it to the Top 20 were Chile, China, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Ukraine, Thailand, Russia, Poland, and host country Vietnam.
The competent all-female selection panel included Miss Universe 2005 Natalie Glebova, Miss World 2015 Mireia Lalaguna, and Miss International 2012 Ikumi Yoshimatsu.
An interesting perk of joining the Miss Charm International competition is the subsidized free transportation to and from Vietnam that's enjoyed by all the delegates. Whether this gets to be enjoyed by future national delegates remains to be seen.
Apart from the beautifully crafted crown from jewelry maker Ricardo Patraca (who also makes the Miss Supranational crown), Luma Russo also won a cash prize of US $100,000!
With Annabelle winning as 1st-runner up, pageant observers are definite in their guesses that one of the three crowns at the forthcoming Miss Universe Philippines 2023 pageant will be Miss Charm.
RELATED: Miss Universe owner sets record straight over bidding wars