It's Another Best Gown Award for Leo Almodal!

Our very own Janicel Lubina, the Philippines’ very own Cinderella may not have gotten a fairy tale ending in her Miss International 2015 journey which concluded yesterday with the selection of Venezuela’s Edymar Martinez as the big winner but she was voted as the Best Dresser awardee (the equivalent to Best Evening Gown).

 

 JLu in her Leo Almodal gown

Thanks to top Filipino fashion designer Leo Almodal who described Janicel’s winning gown as

An Italian organza gown that is richly embellished with thousands of cherry blossoms appliques merge with Japanese glass pearls and sparkled with swarovzki crystals replicating the stars in the heavens.

This is a testament for the impeccable craftsmanship and world- class talent of Mr. Almodal and a tribute to Filipino designers by extension. 

 Japan is Miss Grand Intl Best in Gown

Mr. Almodal’s  triumph in Miss International 2015 is a follow- up to his Best Gown award for the sartorial perfection worn by Miss Japan during the Miss Grand International 2015 finals last October 25. Imagine winning two international pageant awards just eleven days apart?

Congratulations Leo Almodal! May you continue dressong up our hopeful Pinay beauties in the global arena of beauty and glamour!

photo credits: Stephen I. Diáz and the rest of www.missosology.org

Will Janicel Lubina be Our Sixth Miss International Winner?

Seventy- one ladies are vying in the 55th edition of Miss International scheduled on November 5,2015. 

Our bet is Janicel Lubina who will leave for Tokyo, Japan tomorrow with one goal: bringing home the 6th Miss International crown for the Philippines and tie with Venezuela for the most number of Miss International crowns won. 

Will janicel follow the footsteps of Gemma Cruz 1964, Aurora Pijuan 1970, Melanie Marquez 1979, Precious Lara Quigaman 2005 and Bea Rose Santiago 2013? 

Good luck Janicel!

 with the first Miss International Stella Marquez

What I Think of Pia's Miss Universe - Philippines Victory

Third time’s the charm for Pia Alonzo Wurztbach. Will her victory set a new trend in future editions of Bb. Pilipinas? Personally, I don’t think so. Call it luck, timing or destiny. She did everything right during the crucial pageant finals. 

From a sexy swimsuit presentation to an iconic evening gown presentation that she capped with a sultry then sweet facial expression. Her spontaneous and sincere answer regarding how we behave with our social media accounts and reminding everyone to think before we click gave her a thunderous applause from the audience.

Janicel winning both the Best in Swimsuit & Best in Gown awards already gave her a commanding lead going to the final round. Your Blogger thinks that it was Janicel who topped the whole shebang considering that the Q & A is a mere 10% of the criteria only and Pia was next in rank by the narrowest of margins. However, since Pia is overaged already for Miss International, the judges had to make the big switch. All’s well that end’s well. We now have a good chance of placing high in both the Miss Universe & Miss International Pageants with these two outstanding beauties.

Janicel is runaway winner of Best in Swimsuit

What I do not understand however is why Christi McGarry was still given the Bb Intercontinental crown considering that she had competed in the same international pageant back in 2010 and even made the Top 15 and was awarded the Miss Asia & Pacific Continental Beauty award. Was it simply an oversight from the Binibini organizers? Were the judges informed about this while they were deliberating about the final rankings? BPCI had already released a statement early today that Christi will keep her crown and will still compete in the same pageant.

With regards Anne Lorraine Colis’ Bb Tourism crown, I feel that they’re just wasting this stunning morena beauty. Will she suffer the same fate that befell Parul Shah and Kat Dimaranan who ended up not competing in any international pageants?  The best solution would have been to award the Bb Tourism crown to Hannah Sison and give Anne Lorraine the 1^st Runner Up sash so she can improve and join again in next year’s Bb pageant.

ALL MY FINAL PICKS MADE IT

My Final Picks as posted in the Bohol Chronicle

The five aforementioned ladies also happened to be my final picks for the 2015 Bb Pilipinas Pageant. I even posted my final choices in my Roving Eye column in the lifestyle section of the Bohol Chronicle the morning before the pageant. Miss Rogelie Catacutan who eventually clinched the Bb Supranational crown was a most pleasant surprise especially during the Q & A

Meet the Bb Pilipinas Queens for 2015

It's another bumper harvest of beautiful Pinays after the conclusion of the 2015 Bb Pilipinas Pageant held at SMART Araneta Coliseum

Here are the Official Results:

Miss Universe Philippines 2015 # 10 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach

Bb Pilipinas-International 2015 # 11 Janicel Lubina

Bb Pilipinas-Intercontinental 2015  # 19 Christi Lynn McGarry

Bb Pilipinas-Supranational 2015 # 25 Rogelie Catacutan

Bb Pilipinas-Tourism 2015 # 24 Ann Lorraine Colis

Bb Pilipinas 2015 First Runner Up # 28 Hannah Ruth Lulu Sison

Bb Pilipinas 2015 Second Runner Up # 8 Kimverlyn Suiza

Rounding out the Top 15:

           

-Bb 14 Princess Joy Camu

-Bb 17 Brenna Cassandra Gamboa

-Bb 34 Teresita Ssen Marquez

-Bb 09 Maolin Yalung

-Bb 21 Alaiza Flor Malinao

-Bb 23 Justine Beatrice Felizarta

-Bb 22 Anja-Vanessa Peter

-Bb 12 Kylie Versoza

SPECIAL AWARDS

Bb. Congeniality - #6 Toni Alyessa Hipolito

Bb. Talent - #34 Teresita Ssen Marquez

Bb. Best in National Costume - #34 Teresita Ssen Marquez

Bb. Photogenic - #5 Caneille Faith Santos

Bb. Philippine's Airlines - #12 Kylie Verzosa

Manila Bulletin Readers Choice Award - #5 Caneille Faith Santos

She's so JAG Award - #34 Teresita Ssen Marquez

Bb. Best in Swimsuit - #11 Janicel Lubina

Bb. Best in Long Gown - #11 Janicel Lubina

MISS CREAMSILK - #10 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach

Here Come the 2015 Bb Pilipinas Queens

After a grueling three hour show, the dust has settled and a new set of Bb Pilipinas queens has been crowned.

Congratulations to # 10 Pia Alonzo Wurztbach for finally clinching a crown and the top plum at that. She will now represent the country in the next Miss Universe Pageant. 

 L-R: 2nd RU Kimverlyn Suiza, Bb. Tourism Ann Lorraine Colis, Bb. Intercontinental Christi Lynn McGarry, Miss Universe Philippines Pia Wurtzbach, Bb. International Janicel Lubina, Bb. Supranational Rogelie Catacutan & 1st RU Hannah Ruth Sison

Candidate # 11 Janicel Lubina who earlier won the Best in Swimsuit and the Best in Gown awards settled for the Bb Pilipinas- International. # 19 Christi McGarry is Bb Pilipinas- Intercontinental. Bb Pilipinas- Supranational is # 25 Rogelie Catacutan & Bb Pilipinas- Tourism is # 24 Anne Lorraine Colis

Earlier yesterday morning, I posted in my lifestyle column in the Bohol Chronicle my prediction for this year’s Bb Pilipinas results. I listed # 11 Lubina, # 10 Wurztbach, # 19 McGarry # 28 Sison & # 24 Colis as the girls who would most likely get crowned tonight. 

Guess what? I got four out of the five as Bb Pilipinas titleholders! The fifth one snagged the 1^st Runner Up position. This is the third straight year that I was able to guess correctly the girls who were most likely going to win the Miss Philippines- Universe crown

Congratulations to the winners!

Who Will be Bb Pilipinas Universe 2015? A Repeater or a Crossover?

Before I answer my own question, let me define the key buzzwords here. Repeater  is defined as a pageant returnee who joins again with the hope of an improvement from her previous attempt. A Crossover is someone who has a previous pageant experience from a rival or similar pageant. For this lesson in Pageantry 101, we give you five of these girls who, because of their experiences in pageantry  are considered as frontrunners  of Bb Pilipinas 2015.

These photos were taken during the Hair & Make Up Seminar sponsored by David’s Salon

Will the next Miss Philippines- Universe come from this group of beauties? Who of these girls got your attention? 

Is she the sweet & sultry senorita from Zamboanga City named Nancy Leonard who originally  finished as Miss Philippines Water 2013 (equivalent of 2nd RU) but later advanced one notch higher after the original 1st RU resigned? 

 # 29 Nancy Leonard

Is she the elegant and delicate looking Kimverlyn Suiza, a crossover from Miss Philippines Earth 2013 and original 1st RU from that batch. She was one of my faves in last year's Bb Pilipinas Pageant but didn't advance to the semifinals.

 

 # 8 Kimverlyn Suiza

Patricia Ejercitado is making her third and final attempt for a Bb Pilipinas crown. It was an uneventful first try in 2010 but made it to the semifinals in 2012. Will the third attempt bear fruit this time?

 

 # 30 Patricia Ejercitado

Pia Wurztbach, the biggest risk- taker of them all , is touted to take home one of the major crowns this year but who knows? She was 1st RU in 2013 and her sophomoric attempt last year was a shocking exclusion from the Top Seven

 # 10 Pia Wurtzbach

But majority of the pageant experts and fans are placing their bets on Janicel Lubina to take it all this pageant night set on March 15. She was Miss Bikini Philippines in 2012 and 1st RU to the great Megan Young in Miss World Philippines 2013. She is a rarity in pageants with her exotic Pinay beauty, stratospheric height and commanding stage presence. 

Her only drawback? Her seeming lack of communication skills but for this blogger, that can be remedied.

# 11 Janicel Lubina

Photo Credits: BbPilipinasCharities

The Girl to Beat in Bb Pilipinas 2015

The 34 official candidates of the  2015  Bb Pilipinas Pageant were formally introduced to media, sponsors, past and previous titleholders and pageant bloggers at Sofitel Philippine Plaza a few days ago. 

This year’s batch is an interesting mix of first- timers and repeaters, of mestizas and dusky Pinay beauties.

HEAVY FAVORITE
The runaway favorite and a frontrunner for the Miss Philippines- Universe crown is the tall morena beauty from Palawan. The 19 year old Janicel Lubina was clearly the media favorite and got the loudest buzz from those who were there during the press presentation.

Adding more drama in Lubina’s quest for the top plum of Bb Pilipinas is her sob story of hardship & difficulties being the daughter of a poor family.

But for sheer beauty, commanding stage presence and the wow factor, Janicel is definitely this year’s “It Girl”

 

OTHER FAVORITES:
The others who stood out are the following:

#19 Christi Lynn McGarry

#28 Hannah Ruth Sison

#29 Nancy Lee Leonard

# 4 Renee Soraya Hassani

# 34 Teresita Ssen Marquez

# 24  Anna Lorraine Colis

Photo credit: Bruce Casanova