Most Unforgettable Moment in Miss Earth Talent Night

 Miss Brazil Isabella Chavez stands out in the Opening Number

MISS EARTH MEMORIES

Going over my huge files, I came across these photos from the 2005 Miss Earth Pageant that had its Preliminary Talent Competition at the Grand Ballroom of MetroCentre Hotel here in Tagbilaran City

Hosting the Talent Show with Miss Philippines- Fire 2005 Shiela Alonso

MetroCentre Hotel, Tagbilaran City, Bohol, October 13, 2005

I wasn’t that intimidated when I was asked by Carousel Productions, the pageant organizers, to emcee the said event for I had previously emceed the 2002 edition of Miss Earth when all 60 plus international beauties had their Save Mother Earth fashion show at Bohol Tropics Resort

Eric Ngo of TownCrier & LJ Lumayag of K & N with Miss Earth girls during BQ Atrium Press Conference 

Eric Ngo of TownCrier Advertising organized the three- day visit of the Miss Earth beauties that was highlighted with the preliminary talent competition.

Your Blogger is Miss Ecuador’s assistant

The high point for my emceeing was going to the rescue when Miss Ecuador, Cristina Reyes, encountered a problem with her lapel microphone during her talent presentation. I ended up sharing the stage with her for a full five minutes as her assistant.

Miss Talent Top Five: Peru, Ecuador, Macau, Tokelau & Zambia

Miss Ecuador made the Top Five in the Talent Competition and was among the Top 16 during the Miss Earth 2005 international finals

Madame Pureza Chatto presents floral bouquet to Miss Talent Top Five Winner 

Cynthia Kanema of Zambia, MetroCentre Hotel, Tagbilaran City

Photo Credits: Raymund Buslon for TownCrier Advertising

How To Ace The Pageant Interview

The interview portion is always the most dreaded segment in a beauty pageant. 

Ask any pageant candidate and chances are, she would agree. 

Can you imagine being asked personal questions & sometimes for intimate details about your life and you have to answer those questions in front of so many people? 

Compounding the fear is the thought of answering the question in English which is not exactly our native language not to mention the sheer fright of speaking in public. 

Combine all those factors and you have a potential disaster bound to happen

 with MJ Tadem during 2011 Miss Panglao Pageant

2005 Miss Earth Alexandra Braun Waldeck of Venezuela

Sometimes, it's really a head scratcher when it comes to how the judges score the interviews. 

There are certain candidates with seemingly perfect English and yet score very low during the interviews. 

Conversely, there are candidates who bomb at the interviews and there are some who couldn't quite make heads nor tails about subject & verb agreement and yet run away with the Best in Interview awards

From past experiences, I have come up with the following DO's and DONT's in pageant interviews:

1. Never ever sound rehearsed in other words, do not sound like a robot and mouth off a litany of obviously memorized answers or spew out motherhood statements just to earn extra points

2. Speak from the heart and express what you truly feel about a subject or issue

3. Be spontaneous and be sincere with your answers

4. Hey, it's perfectly okay to make mistakes during the interviews. It's how you rise from the situation that matters. Any hint of vulnerability would endear you to the judges and audiences alike

5. Express yourself in the dialect or language that you're most comfortable with

6. If you don't understand nor hear the question being asked, then ask for the question to be repeated again

7. Judges look for a hint of vulnerability in a candidate, so show them you're human by being honest. If you're nervous, confess it to the audience and trust me, they will come to your defense. 

8. Don't be too serious like you're lecturing the judges and the audience. Be charming and be sweet

9. Please do NOT wrap up your interviews with "That would be all, I thank you". Hello, we are now in the 2nd millennium

10. Lastly, it's not what you say but how you say it that truly matters

1999 Miss Universe 1st RU Miriam Quiambao in Bohol
July 1999, Gov. CGallares Memorial Hospital

2006 Bb Pilipinas- World Anna Maris Igpit & 2008 Miss Earth Karla Henry

FARAH FAYE MIAN: ONE OF THE BEST IN INTERVIEWS

I really like it when a girl lets her personality shine through with the way she handles and expresses herself during the interviews. 

Candor, spontaneity, sincerity AND personality projection are judged in this segment. 

If I were to be asked who I consider as one of the most memorable girls that I have interviewed in pageantry, I would have to say Farah Faye Mian, the girl who gave Tubigon its second Miss Bohol Sandugo crown in 2011

Farah & I just hit off during the interviews

And to the members of the audience who are watching, please try to be a little understanding and give the girls a break. 

IT IS NOT easy to be onstage and to be talking at the same time

To our beauty pageant aspirants, remember this:

"Speak to express not to impress"

Good luck!

 with 2005 Miss Earth Top Eight Finalist Amanda Kimell from U.S.A. 

Here is a video compilation on some of the more infamous interviews in Bb Pilipinas history

Photo Credits:

Hwan Mendoza
Larry Go
Raymond Buslon

2005 Miss Earth Visits Bohol

with eventual Miss Earth 2005 winner

Organizing the Bohol Visit & Prelim Talent Competition of a group of candidates for Miss Earth 2005 set on October 12- 14, 2005 was actually a breeze for me. 

Why would I say this? Well, I was the Bohol- based Event Organizer for the Bohol Visit of the 2002 Miss Earth candidates that was also facilitated by your blogger  and Leizl Lim- Gregorio of BCCTV and produced by Boholano business tycoon Lucio Lim, Jr ergo, the second time around was relatively easy for me

So when Eric G. Ngo of TownCrier Advertising broached the idea of having some of the 2005 Miss Earth girls visit Bohol, I said, "why not?"

After the preliminary talks and pre- production meetings, we agreed to secure an endorsement from Tagbilaran City Hall to give the activity the city's imprimatur. I was tasked in securing a resolution from the Sangguniang Panglungsod. 

Less than a week before the 2005 Miss Earth girls would step foot on Bohol soil, I was able to set an appointment  with the city's law- making body that would give me a chance to explain the rationale of the said visit. 

After some deliberations, the august body approved the granting of a tax exemption to the event being cultural and environmental in nature. 

Mission accomplished!

The city ordinance that approved the holding of the 2005 Miss Earth Visit

HECTIC DAY 1:

The girls arrived via a fast craft vessel from Cebu at around 11 am. City officials led by Vice Mayor Jose Antonio S. Veloso welcomed the Group 1 ladies: Miss BOSNIA Sanja Susnja, Miss BRAZIL Isabella Chaves, Miss CHILE Nataly Chilet, Miss DENMARK, Heidi Zadeh, Miss ECUADOR Cristina Reyes, Miss EL SALVADOR Irma Dimas, Miss FINLAND, Miss GERMANY Rebecca Kunikowski, Miss HAITI Channa Cius

Miss HONGKONG Gu Reu, Miss INDIA Niharika Singh, Miss JAMAICA Daisi Pollard, Miss JAPAN Emi Suzuki, Miss LEBANON Chantal Karam, Miss MACAU, Miss NICARAGUA Sandra Rios Hernandez, Miss PANAMA Rosemary Suarez Machazek, Miss PERU ,Miss SINGAPORE Pei Yee Sim, Miss SWEDEN Therese Denitton, Miss SLOVAK REPUBLIC Diana Ondrejickova

Miss TOKELAU Landy Tyrell, Miss TURKS & CAICOS Trina Adams ,Miss UK Emma Corten, Miss USA Amanda Kimmel, Miss VENEZUELA Alexandra Braun Waldeck, Miss VIETNAM Hong Nga Diep Nguyen and Miss ZAMBIA Cynthia Kanema

My friend Melissa "Peachy" Veneracion, Carousel Productions VP for Production also came together with a crew from ABS CBN 2

They were immediately whisked off for lunch. Afterwards, they proceeded to board a humongous float for the motorcade along the city's major thoroughfares. The girls were overwhelmed with the throngs who came to watch them pass by. It was one of the largest crowd turnout ever for a motorcade in Tagbilaran City. 

your blogger with Miss El Salvador Irma Dimas

After a brief courtesy call and welcome snacks at City Hall, the ladies proceeded to BQ Mall Atrium for the Press Conference. 

Instead of the usual mediamen from print, TV and radio, we also invited the city- based secondary schools to send their campus journalists to attend the presscon.

The reporters then grilled the girls on their environmental advocacies.  

They also asked about Miss Earth's concept behind "Beauties with a Purpose".

 with Amanda Kimmell, Miss USA

Inquiries about their Gala Show at the MetroCentre Hotel were then addressed.

CROWD FAVES:

Miss El Salvador Irma Dimas, Miss Brazil Isabella Chavez Miss Ecuador Cristina Reyes and Miss Chile Natalie Chilet were the crowd faves

 with TownCrier Advertising's top honcho Eric Ngo , show producer 

After the photo opportunities with the sponsors & the mediamen & journalists, the girls & the staff checked in at  the  Soledad Suites, the 2005 Miss Earth official residence in Bohol. 

Soledad Suites, Bohol's fave boutique hotel

Finally, after freshening up, the girls were tendered a welcome dinner by Bohol Prov'l Governor Erico Aumentado at the scenic Casa Felomena in Totolan, Dauis. 

WELCOME DINNER IN CASA FELOMENA, DAUIS

as host of the 2005 Miss Earth Preliminary Talent Show

MetroCentre Hotel, October 13, 2005

with co-host  2005 Miss Philippines- Fire Shiela Alonso

  TOP FIVE FOR BEST TALENT: Misses Peru, Ecuador, Macau, Tokelau & Zambia

 Madame Pureza Chatto presents floral bouquet to Miss Talent Top Five Winner Cynthia Kanema of Zambia

MetroCentre Hotel, Tagbilaran City

More updates and more pictures coming up!

Photos: Raymund Buslon for TownCrier Advertising