Miss International 2016 is Philippines

Philippines' bet Kylie Verzosa was crowned Miss International 2016 on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan.

In her speech before the awarding ceremony, Verzosa said if she wins the crown she will devote herself to promoting cultural and international understanding. The 24-year-old beauty queen added she believes she is prepared to take on the responsibility of being Miss International 2016.

Verzosa thanked her family and her fellow Filipinos for the support.

"I deeply appreciate this. This only happened in my dreams," she said.

This is Philippines' 6th Miss International crown. The country last took home the title when Bea Rose Santiago won in in 2013.

The 56th Miss International Beauty Pageant was held in Tokyo Dome City Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

Miss Earth 2016

Carousel Productions, Inc. is searching for the most exceptional women around the globe to participate in the 16th edition of the MISS EARTH Pageant on October 2016. While the tradition of selecting the national delegate is strictly followed, Carousel is braving a new meaning to beauty pageants by bringing to light the conscious effort of promoting clean and healthy environment.

Miss Earth national titleholders are not elected to compete in a traditional Beauty Contest to win a Beauty Queen's crown, but to represent her country in a very Relevant Event for a chance to win the crown of a worthy Environmental and Social Ambassador.

All national titleholders are called "Delegates" and not "Candidates" because Miss Earth is not just a Beauty Pageant, it is an International Environmental Event with activities such as environment & social conferences, seminars, training and immersion programs. 

A national delegate for MISS EARTH should be a citizen of the country she will be representing, and a national pageant winner by a recognized MISS EARTH franchise holder.

A series of pre-pageant activities has been conducted all over the Philippines during the past weeks and I must say, this years edition is so far the grandest and biggest when it comes to production and sizes of activities.  It's a total upgrade from last year's event that culminated in Austria.  Among the favorites to win are the delegates from Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Denmark, USA, Myanmar, Nigeria, Thailand, Ecuador, Panama, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia.

Mall Of Asia Arena - Miss Universe 2016 Venue - Manila, Philippines

The Mall of Asia Arena, the latest and biggest venture to rise at the foremost entertainment and retail destination—the Mall of Asia Complex—is figuratively and quite literally an architectural “eyecon.” Priding itself on exceptional and world-standard amenities unique in all of Southeast Asia, the Mall of Asia Arena shall perfect the integrated shopping and entertainment experience at the Mall of Asia complex—a commitment linked to its vision of “Changing the Game, Elevating Entertainment”.

Owned by SM Investments Corporation and managed by SM Lifestyle Entertainment, Inc., also the managing arm of SM Cinema, the Mall of Asia Arena began construction in 2010. The distinctive eye-shaped facade symbolizes the Mall of Asia's Arena’s promise of delivering top-notch entertainment to its audience.

According to Mr. Edgar C. Tejerero, President of SM Lifestyle Entertainment Inc., the Sy family, headed by SM Group of Companies magnate Henry Sy, Sr., is very much involved in the project. The aesthetics of the Mall of Asia Arena were thoroughly conceptualized and the details of the construction, well studied. Apart from its vision to promote local talents, Mr. Tejerero added that, with the Mall of Asia Arena in the Mall of Asia complex grounds, it is a hope that Manila will soon become a choice promoters and tourist destination for entertainment and sporting events.

The Mall of Asia Arena Houses Cutting-edge Facilities

With a land area of an impressive 64,085 square meters, the Mall of Asia Arena is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and world-class facilities. The Mall of Asia Arena’s eye-shaped exterior seeks to channel the message that every single event to be held in its premises will surely be a “feast for the eye”.

The Mall of Asia Arena, with its massive all-glass facade, can accommodate a seating capacity of 15,000, with a full-house capacity of 20,000. This five-level ultramodern events venue also boasts of Robbins floorings, eight-sided, center-hung scoreboards by Daktroniks, retractable Spalding basketball goals and LED ribbon boards—all of NBA standards. CCTV cameras will be provided by Mobotix, the same company that equips the Vatican Apostolic Library at the Vatican with professional-grade, high-resolution security devices.

The Mall of Asia Arena also employs the leading plug-and-play set-up that can enable live beaming through SM Cinema theatres nationwide.

For its patrons’ maximum convenience, the Mall of Asia Arena is designed with 16 comfortable smoking lounges. For ease-of-access, there are 10 elevators available in the premises. 34 units of escalators are also employed, with 8 units in each of the floors. To add, special access lanes for PWDs are also provided for.

To comply with international standards, the Mall of Asia Arena also has four dug-outs, a mess hall for an event's technical team, a room exclusive for press conferences, and even a special area for meet-and-greet-affairs.

Parking-wise, the Mall of Asia Arena has more than 2,000 parking spaces located on the south side of the mall, with an additional 1,400 more accessible at the neighboring Mall of Asia Arena Annex (MAAX) building.

Just In !!

21 years old - Alena Belova from Vinnytsia is  Miss Earth Ukraine 2016 at Miss Ukraine 2016 contest and will representing Ukraine at Miss Earth 2016 in Manila, Philippines in October.

Steve Harvey No More ?

The Philippine President don’t want Steve Harvey hosting the Miss Universe Pageant in Manila!

MANILA, Philippines – If President Rodrigo Duterte gets his way, Steve Harvey won't be hosting Miss Universe 2016.

According to Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo, Duterte expressed disapproval when he was told Harvey would be hosting given his contract with the Miss Universe Organization.

"When I told the President about that, negative agad. Ang sabi niya, 'Hindi puwede!'" said Teo on Thursday, September 1, during a press conference at Malacañang Palace.

(When I told the President about that, he gave a negative response. He said, "That can't be!")

Duterte might even raise the issue with the Miss Universe Organization himself.

"That's what he told me: 'I'm going to talk to Miss Universe because I don't want him to be the host of the Miss Universe,'" related Teo.

The Tourism Secretary, who championed the Philippines' hosting of the pageant, said she would tell the Miss Universe Organization about the President's concerns.

"Yes of course, I will tell them," she told reporters.

But because of Harvey's 5-year contract to host the pageant, it's possible he will still host the event despite Duterte's misgivings. If so, Teo would find a way to appease the President.

"Siguro that is what I'm going to do para hindi talaga magagalit ang president, siguro maglalagay ako ng girl from the Philippines [who] will co-host," she said, adding the co-host might be from the media.

(Maybe that's what I'm going to do so that the President won't get mad, maybe I will choose a girl from the Philippines who will co-host.)

Harvey, when he hosted Miss Universe 2015, infamously misread the name of the first placer, making the audience think it was Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez who won the crown. His mistake, many pageant-watchers said, ruined the moment of the real winner, Miss Philippines and now Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach.

Teo said Miss Universe 2016 will take place on January 30, 2017, but candidates will start arriving in the country on January 13.

The Department of Tourism has identified Metro Manila as the venue for the main events while "ancillary" events will be held in Davao City, Cebu City, Iloilo City, and Vigan City.

Source: Rappler.com

2016 Pageant Dates and Venues - Miss Earth

Miss Earth 2016 is coming back home to the Philippines.  Mall of Asia Arena will play host to this prestigious pageant.  Star World TV will broadcast it all over the world and live streaming will be seen via Rappler.

Save your dates! October 29 2016.  I will update you with the timings as soon as it becomes available.

2016 Pageant Dates and Venues - Miss Universe

Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach will have to pass down the crown soon enough as Miss Universe 2016 is fast approaching! As much as the world loves Wurtzbach, who hails from the Philippines, the yearly battle for the crown is highly anticipated!

The Venue

Wurtzbach recently met with the newly elect Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte. Her mission is to convince the President to agree in holding Miss Universe 2016 in the country.

Duterte has already mentioned that “Dili ko [mugasto]”– [translation: I won’t spend for it.] — to host the pageant. However, Wurtzbach made it clear that it will be the private sector that will shoulder the expenses. That being said, the Philippines will not spend even a single centavo for it.

President Duterte suggested holding the event outside the Metro Manila to prevent possible massive traffic congestion.

The pageant might take place in one of the Philippines’ provinces: Palawan, Davao, Cebu, Vigan, Boracay, and Cagayan de Oro. Nevertheless, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella assured everyone that the government will extend its services during the event.

Host.

Despite Steve Harvey’s tragic fate in last year’s event, he has been invited to redeem himself and host Miss Universe 2016! Harvey surely regrets mistakenly announcing Miss Columbia as the winner when the crown truly belongs to Miss Philippines.

The event angered both fans of Columbia and the Philippines; seeing the crown being taken from Adriana Gutierrez and taking away Wurtzbach’s victory walk.Undersecretary of the Philippines Department of Tourism said that Harvey wants to apologize to the Filipino people who were hurt because of what happened. Harvey is best known for being the Family Feud‘s host and having his own program The Steve Harvey Morning Show.

Miss Universe Pageant Date

The official Miss Universe account has not released any confirmation yet as to when the pageant would be

Stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted!

Miss Earth

Miss Earth 2015, the 15th Miss Earth pageant, was held on 5 December 2015 at Marx Halle in Vienna, Austria. It was the first time the pageant was held in Europe and outside of Asia. It was also the first back to back victories in Miss Earth history: Angelia Ong of the Philippines crowned by Jamie Herrell of the Philippines.

At the end of the night, Australia got its highest placement to date through Dayanna Grageda's finish as Miss Earth-Air 2015 where she was crowned by Andrea Neu, Miss Earth-Air 2014 from USA; Brittany Payne of USA was crowned Miss Earth-Water 2015, and Thiessa Sickert of Brazil was crowned as Miss Earth-Fire 2015 and she was crowned by Anastasia Trusova, Miss Earth-Fire 2014 from Russia.

The theme of this year's pageant is the promotion of environmental awareness by focusing on the Climate Change campaign thru the 5R’s : Re-think, Reduce, Re-use, Recycle and Respect.

Miss Universe

Miss Universe 2015, the 64th Miss Universe pageant, was held on 20 December 2015 at the The AXIS in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Paulina Vega of Colombia crowned her successor Pia Wurtzbach of the Philippines at the end of the event. 80 contestants competed for the 2015 title.

This was the first edition of the Miss Universe pageant to be held under the ownership of WME/IMG, which purchased the Miss Universe Organization from Donald Trump on September 14, 2015, three days after NBCUniversal sold him its 50% interest in the organization in exchange for Trump's dropping a breach of contract lawsuit he filed against the media company in August for terminating NBC's contract to televise the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants. Consequently, it is also the first Miss Universe event to be aired by Fox and Azteca, which replaced NBC and UniMás (the respective parents of both networks, NBCUniversal and Univision Communications, terminated their rights to the pageant as a result of Trump's incendiary statements against Mexican immigrants during his speech announcing his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States on June 16) as the pageant's respective English and Spanish broadcasters.

The telecast was most notable for an error in which host Steve Harvey mistakenly announced Ariadna Gutiérrez, who represented Colombia in that year's pageant, as Miss Universe 2015, even though the judges had decided that Pia Wurtzbach from the Philippines had won.Gutiérrez was initially crowned. About three minutes later, following Harvey's admission of his error, the crown was removed by outgoing titleholder Paulina Vega from Gutiérrez and given to Wurtzbach. The telecast abruptly ended without Wurtzbach's performing the traditional walk with the crown. The closing credits were not shown and the broadcast cut to the closing logos automatically after the apology.