Miss International 2017 Final Hot Picks

Miss International 2017 Final Hot Picks

FIRST of all, allow us to stress out that we are talking about Miss International.  Through the years, it has been dubbed as the most unpredictable among the Big5 international pageants.

MI is not like most pageants where there are preliminary competitions and sub-events that can somehow give us an idea of those who are leading the pack. It does not help either that we have a year where there is no absolute standout among the 69 Miss International delegates, which will make it even harder to come up with a more accurate prediction.  But, this is the beauty of pageantry!  This is also the reason why Miss International is well-loved and respected throughout the years.  It always ends up with a result that everyone “gets”.  It is rarely marred by protest and bashing.

After all the votes by resident pageant experts and missosologists were gathered, this is the final hot picks of Missosology for the 2017 edition of Miss International Beauty Pageant.

This year, there is an overwhelming consensus that the tall and elegant delegate from Indonesia, Kevin Lilliana, will be declared as the next Miss International. With the new system to choose the winner, we are confident that Kevin will easily go through the first round and then the second round of competition. At Miss International, it is normally the speech that will determine the fate of the winner.  Kevin may not be a native English speaker, but when she talks, you can always feel her passion and dedication to win the title. Now, it will all depend on the judges if they will find her crown worthy or not.  Her national costume will not be as huge as her predecessors, which is something that Missosology correspondent Stephen Diaz has been suggesting since 2014. Will this magic work?

In second place is the host delegate, Natsuki Tsutsui of Japan.  According to our resident correspondents in Japan, they have never met a Japanese delegate who is as competitive as Natsuki. She always makes sure that she is eye-catching in all events. Sometimes we find it awkward to see her with a flamboyant look because she is Miss Japan, which is not normal for a Japanese delegate who is always perceived to be demure. However, we cannot deny the fact that Natsuki really wants to win this crown and she won’t settle for anything less. She was trained by Filipino beauty queen makers so we expect her to rock the stage like a true diva!

Lithuania’s Patricija Belousova is in close third!  Pageant historians believe that back when Miss International was still crowning doll-liked faces, Patricija would have easily won this crown. But alas, in an era where social media and country size seems to matter, she may be at a disadvantageous position. We believe, however, that she is definitely a major crown contender. Not even her short frame can stop us from noticing her presence. This dancer looks fluid on stage and will be breathtaking to look at come Tuesday.

Speaking of someone with an amazing presence, who could ignore Chanelle De Lau of Curacao, who is pegged at fourth place? She did impress quite a lot of people in Japan with her unique beauty. This stunner has always been a head turner since she arrived in Tokyo and we hope that the judges will cast their votes on her despite coming from a minor territory off the coast of Venezuela. Chanelle’s last pageant was Miss Universe, which only happened 10 months ago, so we can still see that competitive spirit within her.

Completing our Top 5 is none other than Africa’s biggest hope for their first ever Miss International title – Tayla Skye Robinson of South Africa.  Intelligent, composed, and always looking elegant and expensive, Tayla is an epitome of a Miss Paris prototype. Miss Paris is the business group owned by Akemi Shimomura who is the current owner of Miss International. If they are looking for a perfect ambassador for this pageant and the Miss Paris Group, Tayla is the one they should crown!

When the news was announced that there would be a Top 8 speech, coming from the Top 15 semifinalists, pageant fans from all over the world started to revise their predictions.  With only eight finalists battling out for the Top 5 spots, there will form a vacuum where English speakers would have an unfair advantage. Beauty contests, as we always say here in Missosology, should first and foremost be about beauty.

Close into the Top 5 and at No. 6 – who may be a possible surprise winner – is the delegate from the Philippines!  Maria Angelica De Leon stood out during the last days when it really mattered the most. Her opera performance at the Hibiki restaurant last Saturday revived the faith of fans who have been hoping for a first ever back-to-back win in Miss International.

At No. 7 is Venezuela’s Diana Croce.  Every year, Miss International has the habit of kicking out from the Top 5 an extremely beautiful delegate, and we are afraid that Diana might experience that same fate. If you remember the Mexican goddess, Vianey Vazquez, who was thought by everyone to be a Top 5 contender in 2014, only ended up in the Top 10. During the final speech, Diana must show her conviction and deliver a strong message so she won’t be sidelined, and may even give her country their eighth Miss International crown.

At No. 8 is Colombia’s Vanessa Pulgarin.  With such a small face, Vanessa is like the dusky version of Maria Fernanda Cornejo, who won Miss International in 2011 for Ecuador.  Vanessa is great on the runway, which is a great thing because Miss International will have that in this year’s stage!  It will be an advantage for the Latinas, especially for Vanessa to show her amazing catwalk, which was not possible at last year’s contest.

At No. 9 is Niti Shah, who is poised to make history for Nepal.  If she enters the Top 8, it will be difficult to stop her because she is one of the best speakers of this batch. It should be noted that Nepal has never placed in the semifinals of Miss International, but their delegate this year has the most number of Instagram followers. Not that bad for a tiny South Asian country, which MIO should seriously put an eye on. In 10th place is Mexico‘s Citlaly Higuera. Although she is one of the most facially beautiful delegate this year, we are afraid that her lack of English speaking skills will be a hindrance for her to go further in the competition. However, we hope that she has memorized her speech well, and deliver it with passion and sincerity. In that way, she might just win the hearts of the judges.

Finland‘s Pihla Koivuniemi is in 11th place. We are always a big fan of the delegates from Finland at Miss International. They are polite, punctual, genuine and respectable. Pihla is so smart, pretty and nice, you just cannot find any fault on her. If she wins, it will be Finland’s second Miss International title. At 12th place is the statuesque model from Panama, Darelys Santos. Although she is just a last minute replacement to the delegate who was supposed to come, Darelys did not fail us. She will be great on stage because of her slim frame and perfect bone structure. We want to see her in a low bun just like Bea Rose Santiago in 2013. That will be her perfect styling, and who knows, she might just win it all!  At lucky 13 is Miss Poland, Paulina Maziarz who is considered by many as the one with the most beautiful face in the competition. The only draw back about her is the fact that she is so quiet during the activities.  However, that won’t matter if she gets the nod of the judges and enters the Top 15 and Top 8. With such beauty and poise, she can pull a surprise!  Ashley Powell of United Kingdom is in 14th Place. Although not so many consider her as a front runner, they better watch out for her evening gown because she will be wearing one from Leo Almodal, who also dressed up the 2015 Best Dresser awardee from the Philippines.  Completing our Top 15 is Miss Ghana,  Daniella Akorfa Awuma, who is the tallest delegate and also one of the best speakers in the batch.  She also has a great sense of style and a smile that can lighten up the room. If she places even higher, we will be more than happy because she is such a great contender from Africa, and could be the first black African to win the title in the 57-year history of Miss International.

The bubbling up delegates are the ones whom we think are also shoo-in for a placement in the Top 15 or may the Top 8, but we will be watching out for their speech because some of these women are keeping their best weapon until the finals.  We especially would love to hear the delegates from the Netherlands, Peru, Ukraine and Vietnam to be able to speak because they are very smart and accomplished young women.  Better watch out for Ukraine because she is a certified entrepreneur!  Brazil is a stage performer, as we had seen her at Miss Earth 2016.  Canada is very photogenic and has a model look that is perfect for Vogue.  Laos has a sweet beauty that is a hit in Japan.  Myanmar has been doing great in the last few days.  Moldova is a beautiful blonde with an amazing smile!

Honorable mentions are the delegates who have loyal fans and followers who have been rooting for them, and may pull a surprise!