The Thai and Myanmar beauties that are currently being trained at Gouldian
The recent success of the Philippines in the world of pageantry has put the nation into the spotlight. Gone are the years when the country’s candidates were largely ignored. It has already joined the few elite nations, which includes Venezuela and Brazil, which has won the four major crowns – Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International and Miss Earth.
With its success, the Philippines gained respect from the international community. The press was intrigued as to what makes the country successful. Is it the passion of the fans? Is it all about the now-famed beauty training camps? Is it about the sudden surge of interest among top-notch women to participate in the pageants? Well, the answer to all of these is a resounding yes. Somehow, the current climate in the Philippine pageantry allowed the cultivation of world-class beauties that can be a cause of worry among other beauty superpowers.
It can now be said that the Philippines has entered once again to its golden era. In 2013, no other nation could have possibly outperformed the Philippines in the pageantry earning it the title of Performer of the Year. The victory of Megan Young at Miss World and Bea Rose Santiago at Miss International was further augmented by the Top 5 finish of Ariella Arida at Miss Universe and Top 8 finish of Angelee de los Reyes at Miss Earth.
So, the biggest question is – how could a nation that was basically daydreaming of its past golden years a few years ago is now a nation with a sash that is major threat? Perhaps the credit would largely go to the Philippine beauty boot camps. These are the established beauty schools where the girls would enroll prior joining the national contests. A few years back, camps named Kagandahang Flores and Aces and Queens were in the sidelines. Now, they are bywords in pageantry circles not only in the Philippines but also in other countries.
The Philippines has successfully shown that with proper training and guidance, the chances of the candidate in the international pageant will be boosted exponentially. By 2014, the Philippines is already exporting its expertise and beauty queens from around the world are flocking to the country to get trained.
Enter the Gouldian team – a group of pageant experts and missosologists closely affiliated with Missosology. One can say that Gouldian is the training arm of Missosology Organization. They are not in the same level of experience at expertise with that of Kagandahang Flores or Aces and Queens but they are experts in many aspects of pageantry.
In its debut, Gouldian trained May Myat Noe – the Burmese candidate for the Miss Asia Pacific World 2014. The training was proved as a huge success since May Myat Noe eventually took the crown. Well in fact she is the first Myanmar beauty to earn the top accolade in a well-recognized international beauty pageant.
Gouldian is a symbol of the new Philippine confidence and an affirmation that it is indeed the Venezuela of Orient Seas. Several delegates from Myanmar and Thailand are already in the Philippines for the rigorous trainings that involve dance lessons, endless pasarelas, make-up and grooming trainings. As of the press time the following candidates are in the Philippines for the extensive training with Gouldian: Miss Universe Myanmar 2014 Sharr Htut Eaindra, Miss Intercontinental Thailand 2014 Patraporn Wang, Miss Grand Thailand 2014 Parapadsorn Disdamrong, Miss Earth Thailand 2014 Sasi Sintawee and Miss Tourism International Thailand 2014 Warankanang Wutthayakorn. Meanwhile, the stunning Miss World Guyana Rafieya Husain is set to arrive in the Philippines next week. She too will be honed and trained under the able hands of Gouldian experts.
That the Philippines is being sought after by foreign beauty queens who wish to be trained is something that the Filipinos should be proud of. Venezuela for example was once the go-to nation of Filipina beauty queens for proper training. It was an ultimate recognition of Venezuela’s prestige and expertise. Now, with girls from the neighboring countries and from the far corners of the globe have the same view about the Philippines.
Nevertheless, there are some Filipinos who view these developments in a negative way. They fear that Gouldian is giving away the secret weapon of the Philippines and may result in the country to backslide into its drought years. This is unfortunately an insecure and closed-minded way to view things. Venezuela is a case study. Despite numerous countries flocking to Venezuela to have their beauty queens trained, Venezuelans continue to excel.
Gouldian also is not only concentrated in passing important skills to foreign beauty queens. It is in fact very active in training Filipina beauty queens. It aims to train a contestant to reach her full potential. The secret weapon of the Philippines is very much safe and sound in training camps like Kagandahang Flores and Aces and Queens – camps that produced Megan Young, Bea Rose Santiago, Mutya Datul, among others. As such, any suggestion that Gouldian is threatening the chances of the Philippines in the international pageantry is pure rubbish.
Many countries that sought the help of Gouldian are also years behind to the Philippines. Myanmar is just coming back after decades of absence. Thailand is struggling and its last Big4 victory was way back in 1988 and is yet to win the Miss International, Miss Earth and Miss World titles. For them to catch up with status of the Philippines by simply having Gouldian training their girls is simply beyond logic.
Many critics view of all of these as a form of betrayal never mind the fact that Missosology and Gouldian may be based in the Philippines but it is not in any way biased towards Philippine beauties. The aim is to spread the beauty of pageants worldwide and where possible, help out struggling nations to be on their top shape. Recently Stephen Diaz of Missosology flew to Hungary to conduct training sessions for Miss International Hungary contestants and sat as one of the judges. This is a testament that Missosology has a global outlook.
Indeed, the Philippines has come into a point where it is already comfortable with its skills and abilities when it comes to beauty pageants. As mentioned, the fact that other nations are seeking the help of Filipinos to train their beauties is a strong indication that Philippines has indeed became the Venezuela of the East. And this year seems to be pretty good for the Philippines as it has strong prospects in major pageants like Miss Universe and Miss International. Maybe pretty soon, Venezuela will instead be called as the Philippines of the Western Hemisphere.
Gouldian is the training arm of Missosology and is composed of Mario Bergantiños, Macoy Manlapaz, Pawee Ventura and Gian Quiballo
Comments are closed.