MANILA, Philippines — The Miss Universe 2024 preliminary competition concluded with 125 candidates competing in the National Costume, Swimsuit and Evening Gown categories. For the first time, the National Costume is part of the scoring that will determine who will make the next cut to the Top 30.
The more-than-three-hour preliminaries held at Arena CDMX in Mexico City had a less glossy staging compared to last year's edition in El Salvador.
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Pageant fans aired their frustration over the smaller stage and the evening gown segment, which felt squeezed in as the candidates were called in groups of five or six. For beauty pageant expert, Tita Lavinia, it was like "an after thought," as the contestants were given very limited time to showcase their gowns.
Mixed reviews
Manny Halasan's "Hiraya" costume was well-applauded and considered one of the best in this year's edition. The costume's intricacy, paying homage to the deep connection of Mexico and Philippines, was truly a stand out.
Chelsea's swimsuit and evening gown performances, however, had mixed reviews from pageant fans.
In her YouTube live, Tita Lavinia said: " I absolutely love her opening pose. I thought that it was a different type of opening pose, it was vibrant. She was really happy. I know that her performance was polarizing... But real talk lang, it is for me one of the weakest coming from Chelsea."
Pageant fans cannot help compare the dusky Bulakeña's sultry and fierce performance during her nationals compared to her toned down performance at the Miss Universe preliminaries.
"Nawala 'yung fierceness ni Chelsea. Tapos hindi talaga nila maiwasan to compare 'yung performance niya from Miss Universe Philippines 2024 to her performance this time. The strides were clean, they were really nice. It's just that it was lacking in power for me, it was lacking in purpose," Tita Lavinia added.
The pageant observer said that Chelsea's look was her strength.
"Ang nangibabaw kay Chelsea was the look, parang na-imbibe niya talaga 'yung pagiging prinsesa like Disney princess. I felt there that there was bit of change in her pasarela routine. Nawala nu'ng angas saken. 'Yun 'yung hinahanap ko na flavor. We were all waiting for a movement that was a representation of a 'dark horse' type of movement," she explained.
In the evening gown segment, Chelsea wore a Manny Halasan turquoise ball gown.
Chelsea's gown choice was seen as a bold choice in a sea of beaded gowns. For Lavinia, "this type of gown will work for photo editorials...this is not a gown for the preliminaries.”
Fans noted how Chelsea imbibed her Disney princess persona by culminating with double turns as she exited the stage.
Despite a polarizing performance from the Philippines' first-ever Filipina Black-American candidate, Lavinia still believes that Chelsea can enter the Top 30.
Below is her list of Miss Universe 2024 preliminary competition standouts:
1) Venezuela
2) Dominican Republic
3) Russia
4) Denmark
5) Egypt
6) Honduras
7) Philippines
8) Cuba
9) Thailand
10) New Zealand
11) Chile
12) USA
13) Peru
14) Zimbabwe
Other notable beauty pageant experts like Norman Tinio, placed Chelsea in her Top 5 together with frontrunners Chile, Venezuela, Peru and Denmark.
Filipino pageant fans are hoping that Chelsea can place high and win the fifth Miss Universe crown for the Philippines.
Viewers can catch the Miss Universe Finals on A2Z, Kapamilya Channel, Metro Channel and IWant TFC starting at 9 a.m. on November 17.
Tita Lavinia is a popular pageant analyst and a certified cat lover. Visit her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TitaLavinia
Norman Tinio is a permanent fixture in Philippine pageantry. He has a widely followed pageant blog: https://normannorman.com/
RELATED: Chelsea Manalo slays Miss Universe 2024 with 'Hiraya' national costume honoring Black Madonna