Every year, there is never a shortage of Hispanic beauties dominating the Miss International pageant.  In fact, for the past ten years, all but one of the winners in this annual pageant are of Hispanic origin.  Even the black beauties from Colombia and Venezuela who won the crown in 2004 and 2010 respectively have visible Hispanic touch in them.  

This year, although the so-called "Latina Domination" may have been temporarily halted, the presence of two Latinas in the Top 5 still reminded pageant enthusiasts that they are still a force to reckon with in this annual pageant.   The two who emerged most triumphant among the Latina group were Melody Mir of the Dominican Republic and Nicole Huber of Paraguay.

Miss International 2012 3rd Runner-up Melody Mir of the Dominican Republic

Back in 2009, then 18 year-old Spanish/Dominican Melody Mir got the honor of representing Islas Baleares in Miss España after the winning the provincial title. 

That year, Melody went as far as reaching the That Top 12 in the premier beauty pageant in Spain. Few months after Miss España, she was then selected as the official delegate of Spain for Reina HispanoAmericana 2009. Melody gave her best shot and was declared Segunda Finalista (2nd Runner Up).

Three years after proudly wearing sash that says "Spain" in an international pageant, it was time for Melody to represent her other nationality. She was handpicked as Miss Republica Dominicana Internacional 2012 and earned her ticket to Okinawa.

 From Day 1 of Miss International 2012, Melody never failed to impress pageant fans with her lovely face and sophisticated stance.  She was consistently present in the Official Missosology Hot Picks, even topping the Yukata Experience category.   She brought all those attributes up to the end of the contest and landed her in the 3rd Runner-Up spot. What is more interesting is the fact that her placement  is better than Miss International Spain 2009.

Miss Interntional 2012 4th Runner-up Nicole Huber of Paraguay

Nicole Huber's journey in Big Four Pageants began when she acquired the title Miss Paraguay Mundo. The win gave Nicole the sole rights of representing her South American country in London for the Miss World 2011 Beauty Contest.

As soon as the 61st annual Miss World kicked-off Nicole meant business. She was included in most of the Fast-track challenge and accumulated needed points to advance further in the competition. However the overall points she garnered was one spot away to be included in the Top 15 Semifinals.

In less than a month, Nicole was given another opportunity to compete in another Big 4 Pageant. In an unfortunate turns of event, Nicole replaces Alexandra Fretes after the latter was unable to took part in Miss Earth 2011 after sustaining an injury. The replacements turned out to be a blessing disguise because Nicole was one of the Top 16 Earth warriors.

Earlier this year Promociones Gloria announced that selection process of Miss Paraguay 2012 will be done differently. The mentioned organizer invited some of the ladies that contended in Miss Paraguay in previous years which included Nicole. Given that Nicole had already competed in both Miss World and Miss Earth, the crowns that she was eligible to get were either the Universe or International. In the end she had to settle for the International title, which was disappointing at first, but her worldwide fans had set their expectations higher for her eventual participation in the said pageant.

 Having participated in two major beauty contest a year before, Nicole confidently took the challenge and did not disappoint her fans.  Although some would argue that her overall performance was fit for Miss Universe, Nicole managed to get the Miss International judges' approval.  After 51 long years, Nicole put Paraguay back in the semifinals of the annual pageant. Most importantly she attained the best placement of her country in Miss International.

The Author Terese23 is Missosology Forum Pageant Expert. Reach him at Missosology's official forum