Written by Ovi Kohen/Missosology-Panama
First and foremost, what I am writing here is not just the product of what I saw in the finals night of Miss Panama 2015 held at the Megapolis Convention Center on Monday, August 24. This is the product of monitoring and following the contest, entering the backstage area and being present in most of the activities, workshops, rehearsals and in the interview that the candidates with the pageant judges. What I saw that night was only a small part of a whole story. Second, the year 2015 is full of revelations within the pageant and I feel the need to tell the truth of what happened inside the Miss Panama Organization and I assure you that it was transparent.
Now, as everyone knows by now, Gladys Brandao, Miss Los Santos, was crowned Miss Panama for Miss Universe; Diana Jaen, Miss Cocle, is the new Miss World Panama and Catherine Agrazal, Miss Veraguas, is Miss Reinado International del Cafe Panama. By tradition, although all three titles are very important, it has always been that the Miss Panama Universe is the most important crown.
This year however, circumstances made us rethink of what was the tradition in Panama. Marisela Moreno and OMP allowed the media to enter and cover the competition without restrictions and be the scorekeepers and overseeing all the procedures of the event. I can claim I was a witness that the results were legitimate and that no cheating or point shaving were involved. The organization didn’t give favoritism to any of the contestants.
If someone disagrees with the results, one should blame the judges who were the real responsible people for the outcome of the pageant. Here’s the interesting thing that happened in the Miss Panama 2015 pageant: when the interview with the judges took place a day before the finals night, the scores (60% of the final total), had Diana Jaen as Miss Panama for Miss Universe, and Daniela Ochoa as Miss World Panama. That’s right, Gladys Brandao was barely in the top 6!
However in the finals night there were two contests left – the swimsuit and gown – the results of which would add up to the previous scores. In the finals night, everything changed. Gladys Brandao rose to the top of the scores and Daniela Ochoa sank down. What a drastic change! But what’s really noteworthy is that Diana Jaen remained as the top scorer for both the titles of Miss Panama and Miss Panama World. One would ask who could be better to represent Panama at Miss Universe than her? Why Diana Jaen won the Miss Panama World title and not the main title which is Miss Panama? Well, that’s because Miss Panama World was the first crown at stake, and she won it because she was the highest scorer at that stage of competition. Having won the Miss Panama World crown, which was dispensed earlier, she was automatically ineligible to advance further for the Miss Panama title. Luck was indeed on the side of Gladys Brandao that day.
I talked to Diana Jaen on the day of her victory and I knew she said many times before that she wanted the crown and was interested to compete at Miss Universe. She said, “I have to accept it. I saw myself winning the title and that’s my wish and my dream. I wanted to be there between the top 6 and I tried my best to answer my question so I could win the crown. I want to compete at Miss Universe but God has a plan and knows why things happen. I have meditated about it and I am happy of the opportunity to go to the Miss World pageant. It is a more serious competition and I will represent the best of Panama. I will hone my talents, and you’ll never know, I could bring the Miss World crown for Panama!”
