Okay so it turns out to be Rabiya! The photo is of Bella but, you'll understand later lol. Edit: okay, I've found no nice photo of the Top 5, and I really like this photo of Bella, so
Michelle Gumabao is 2nd Runner-up
I realized while watching the final 5 that I'd be saddest had it been Michelle. I've read through comments on social media and realized I wasn't alone getting heavy vibes from Ms. Gumabao. There's something about her that feels cold and dry. Her answers are all "smart" but superfluous and delivered in an uninspired manner. I'm not going to touch on the current scandal involving her alleged walk out, which might not even be true.
There are rumors saying she's joining Miss World. My opinion on that: Miss World Philippines is known to favor showbiz personalities and Michelle Gumabao might enjoy a bit of an advantage. On the other hand, if a bigger named celebrity joins MWP, Michelle might have to be relegated to a lower crown: Miss Supranational, Miss Eco International, Miss Multinational, Reina Hispanoamericana, and Miss Tourism.
Considering what happened to Michelle's stint in Miss Globe previously, I do not want to get my hopes up in case she loses the top crown. Miss Supranational is essentially a model search, and it looks like she is deadset on convincing the pageant world that non-lithe, athletic frames are beautiful too. She's trying to change pageant standards. Miss Eco International, Miss Multinational, and Miss Tourism are not good enough for someone whose eyes were set on the Universe crown and the Universe crown only. Reina Hispanoamericana is also going to be tough for Michelle. The Latin community is the most superficial crowd in terms of their definition of beautiful. I'd be the proudest if Michelle gets sent there and proves the Amazonas of the pageant world that athletes are a higher level of beautiful.
In case she does win Miss World Philippines, Michelle's chances of winning are all in the hands of The Madam. And pageant enthusiasts know how fickle The Madam can be. She's known to favor Indian, dusky, classic beauties. But in recent years, she has chosen non-traditional faces, so we'll never know. Miss World also has a sports category that Michelle can of course excel in.
Pauline Amelinckx is 3rd Runner-Up
Pauline is an early favorite of mine. There were plenty of doubters, and it was understandable considering she's a threat to the frontrunners. She proved to be a strong contender for the crown during preliminaries. I was actually seeing her along with Bella in the Final 2. I mean, she earned 4 awards, including Face of the Universe! Maybe it was simply the wrong gown, maybe her form wasn't Universe-ready yet, maybe it's the hair, maybe it just wasn't her night. Maybe she's destined for Miss International or Miss World.
I'd like to see her in Miss World. Maybe not this year due to MUP contract restrictions, and also it's best to wait til the pandemic is over. She's only 24 after all.
Billie Hakenson is 4th Runner-Up
Billie gained truckloads of fans over the course of the competition. She was overlooked in the beginning, but boy did she deliver when she needed to deliver. Except, I guess, on the final night. I don't know what went wrong. She was ticking all the right boxes: Body, Beauty, Backstory, Charisma, Personality. Billie seemed to have lost momentum at the final Q&A.
I'm guessing everyone in the top 5 simply succumbed to exhaustion. It's all pre-taped, and things must have taken hours and hours longer than they would have had it been a live event. The girls also had to do their hair and make up on their own. No family around to support them. Must have drained all their energy. I'd be tired too, I mean, imagine being in heels all day for days, rehearsing, doing your own hair and makeup, and having to repeat shots endlessly.
Nonetheless, this grueling process only showed who deserved the top 2 spots:
Bella Ysmael is 1st Runner-Up
I wasn't specifically seeking spoilers prior to the actual airing, but before the top 5 were announced, I already found out that Rabiya won. My initial reaction was a mix of anger and disappointment. Bella was the One! How could the judges have overlooked her elegance, her sass, her eloquence, her effortless appeal, her commanding presence, her otherworldly beauty?! How dare they?!
There's been a handful of girls whose grace, beauty and elegance have been showcased in the local pageant scene, but Bella is a different level. She's simply, breathtakingly the most beautiful soul I've ever seen in Philippine pageantry. (I was obsessed with Catriona so this is something!) Okay, so I have no idea what Bella's like in person, at home, behind closed doors, but on stage, on screen, she is a queen. She is the very definition of a beauty queen: aspirational, strong, intellectual, cultured, engaging, beautiful, talented, unbothered by superficial things, a woman who never loses her manners, I could go on and on. I bet she gets angry too, but she won't be ranting on social media, nor throw shade at other women, or treat reporters rudely, or fake friendships with other queens. And with the way some girls after the finals have treated Rabiya and the organization, Bella just proves she deserves to be Miss Universe, too. This is not to take away the crown from Rabiya. I just feel like they both deserve the crown and it's a shame there's only one.
Rabiya Mateo is Miss Universe Philippines 2020
Girl was on fire. And there's no stopping her. I tried to not be impressed, I tried not to root for her, out of loyalty to Bella and Pauline lol. But Rabiya won me over. She performed well. She was prepared. She must have been just as exhausted, just as nervous as the other girls, but she did not waver, I saw no sign of her breaking under all the pressure. She had laser focus. And a refreshing humility.
The best part about Rabiya winning is that she's a universal beauty. Even the most vicious of the Philippine haters were converted to PH worship. Rabiya instantly racked in followers on social media, I wouldn't be surprised if she reaches millions by December. Latina fans love her. I've never seen Latin fan pages ever praise a Filipina beauty queen, but Rabiya's face is plastered all over Instagram. I hope Filipinos finally understand real beauty and not get swayed by complexion and nose bridges. We need to stop sending women who look beautiful only to Filipino eyes. We need more Rabiya faces: proportioned just right, with exactly the right length and width, with healthy-looking bone structure, with harmonious features that sit exactly where they should be. I do not mind nor promote plastic surgery, but let's keep things natural and tasteful.
I'm not saying only faces that look like Rabiya's are beautiful, I'm saying WE SERIOUSLY NEED TO STOP WORSHIPPING WHITE-LOOKING FILIPINAS, THE REST OF THE WORLD, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, FIND THEM PLAIN. This isn't an issue of contestants with pure or foreign blood (Rabiya is half Indian), this is an issue of reassessing our standards. Are we automatically celebrating women with the slightest hint of Caucasian blood in them? Are we unconsciously cancelling women for their skin color and Filipino features? Let's look for harmonious features, signals of good health and good taste, and natural-ness. We need to stop celebrating unnatural-looking rhinoplasties, and unnaturally white teeth.
This needs to be mentioned:
Alaiza Malinao should be in Top 5
My heart still breaks a bit thinking about it. Alaiza did nothing wrong during the preliminaries. People say she has no business in the Top 5 because she's not a strong speaker. I mean, wow. Rabiya wasn't the strongest speaker of the batch, but look at how well she did at the final Q&A. Who knows how Alaiza could have performed had she been given the spot she deserved in top 5.
I'm still waiting for the dust to settle, and for the tea-spillers to finally spill the promised tea.
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