THE PRETHOUGHTS
THE RESULTS (Dec. 17, 2017)
Only 3 years after taking the crown, Catriona Gray has won a 4th Miss Universe crown for the pageant obsessed nation of the Philippines. This win from the lava-walk queen succeeds those of Gloria Diaz in 1969, Margarita Moran in 1973 and Pia Wurtzbach in 2015. A favorite from the beginning, this "Cat" had two lives! After competing at the 2016 Miss World pageant, Catriona had to settle for a finish in the top 5 only to come back and win the 2018 Miss Universe Philippines crown and the 2018 Miss Universe crown as well. Catriona is passionate about the arts and loves to sing so will we be hearing some music from her very soon? Catriona is biracial and is an only child. She has a Caucasian father, Ian Gray who is Australian (of Scottish descent) and Catriona was born and raised in Australia to both Ian and Catriona’s Filipina mother, Normita Ragas Magnayon. Passionate about the arts, Catriona’s achievements include earning a Certificate in Music Theory from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Catriona was also the lead singer of her school's jazz band and also performed in local productions of Miss Saigon. She even earned a black belt in Choi Kwang-Do martial arts. The Philippines has enjoyed much success in pageantry in recent years and they also currently hold the longest streak in the semifinals at Miss Universe placing every year since Venus Raj started it all in 2010 and the Philippines is the only nation to capture the Miss Universe crown twice in the 2010s.
This year, there were 20 quarterfinalists and similarly to last year, they were selected by region (the Americas, Europe and Africa/Asia Pacific) with 5 wildcard spots. How did I do with my predictions? Well, I picked 10 of the top 20 plus 1 alternate (Ireland) and 1 honorable mention (Brazil). The 8 ladies that missed my list were: Costa Rica, Curaçao, Nepal, Belgium, Hungary, Indonesia, Jamaica and Poland. Costa Rica and Curaçao were mentioned in my next tier below honorable mentions. Surprises are always to be expected and there were quite a few but I was happy the actual top 5 ladies were all in my top 6.
My full commentary on Miss Universe 2018 will be posted on December 23.
Returning this year to host the Miss Universe pageant for the fourth year in a row as part of his current five year deal (which could get extended) is Steve Harvey. Also returning as backstage commentators are Ashley Graham, Carson Kressley and Lu Sierra and this year’s musical guest is Ne-Yo. I love Ne-Yo’s songs “Never Knew I Needed” (which I mentioned during my prethoughts for Miss USA 2014) and “Closer” among others so I’m hoping those will be among the songs he will perform. I predicted Thailand’s Maria Lynn Ehren to win the Miss Universe crown last year but she would have to settle for a top 5 spot as South Africa’s Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters would claim a second Miss Universe crown for her nation. A record-breaking 95 delegates are expected to compete this year surpassing last year’s record of 92 delegates with 3 countries sending their first delegates ever in Miss Universe history (Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia). This year’s host delegate, Sophida (Ning) Kanchanarin, hopes to follow in the footsteps of the two Miss Universe winners that represented Thailand (Apasra Hongsakula in 1965 and Porntip Bui Nakhirunkanok-Simon in 1988). Sophida’s accomplishments seem to be in step with Miss Universe owner IMG’s direction of the Miss Universe pageant as she graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas studying Business Administration and earning a degree in Finance. Fluent in English, Sophida would return to Thailand after graduation in the United States and she would become an Investment Banking Manager at the young age of 23, making her the youngest female manager in TMB Bank. Sophida has commented in media interviews that being the youngest female manager in a male-dominated industry like investment banking is challenging but she enjoys it and wants to advocate for more female leaders and equal pay amongst genders. I think IMG will smile on Sophida’s accomplishments so the host delegate is certainly one to watch this year even though Thailand did not place in the previous years that they hosted the pageant (1992 and 2005) so will that all change for the host country of Thailand this year and could Sophida get a third Miss Universe crown for her nation?
Hear the Lioness roar! The pageant obsessed nation of the Philippines is being represented by Catriona Gray and if that name sounds familiar, it could be because this “Cat” has two lives – the first life representing the Philippines at Miss World 2016 where she finished in the top 5 in a pageant won by Puerto Rico’s Stephanie Del Valle and now her second life is a new opportunity to represent the Philippines and possibly get that other renowned international crown and the title of Miss Universe 2018. A lot of people felt that Catriona was robbed at Miss World 2016 after she aced her final question and answer even if Catriona’s look was suspiciously similar to that of Megan Young who won the 2013 Miss World title for the Philippines. When asked what qualities it would take to wear the Miss World crown, Catriona responded, “I think, first of all, it takes bravery. To be a Miss World is to carry a burning torch. It is an action carried out by one to illuminate the lives of many and I would dedicate my whole self, my love for the arts and my voice to trying to uplift, empower and educate people and it would be my greatest honor and duty to hold this torch high enough so that all the world could feel and see its light.” Will we be hearing more illuminating answers like these during the upcoming Miss Universe pageant coming from Catriona? The universe is waiting to hear what Cat has to purr. This kitty gurl gon’ get her twirl! She ain’t kitten around meow. Catriona certainly has trained for this moment and is prepared to answer any question and has perfected her “Cat”walk skills and she calls her walk the lava walk and I’m sure she feels the pressure of her countrymen to bring a fourth Miss Universe crown to the Philippines only three years after Pia Wurtzbach won the 2015 Miss Universe crown. The Philippines also won Miss Universe in 1969 thanks to Gloria Diaz and in 1973 thanks to Margarita Moran so is it time again?
Catriona, like many recent Filipina titleholders, also has mixed blood. She has a Caucasian father, Ian Gray who is Australian (of Scottish descent) and Catriona was born and raised in Australia to both Ian and Catriona’s Filipina mother, Normita Ragas Magnayon. Passionate about the arts, Catriona’s achievements include earning a Certificate in Music Theory from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Catriona was also the lead singer of her school's jazz band and also performed in local productions of Miss Saigon. She even earned a black belt in Choi Kwang-Do martial arts which IMG should surely smile upon. She works as a commercial model in the Philippines.
Catriona is certainly a contender for the Miss Universe crown and the Philippines has placed in the top 10 every year since 2010 giving them the current longest streak in the semifinals at Miss Universe so will Catriona do it or could we possibly have another Olivia Jordan scenario? What I mean is that Olivia Jordan represented the USA at Miss World 2013 and Miss Universe 2015 and both of those pageants were won by the delegate from the Philippines so is it possible that since Miss World 2016 was won by Puerto Rico’s delegate that since Catriona is competing, does that mean Puerto Rico will win Miss Universe 2018??? Let’s meet that delegate now, shall we??
Prior to 2012, the rule was that Miss Universe contestants had to be born female but today, in this modern world, humans who were born mentally female and physically male are able to change their external appearance through medical operations. There is a lot of history that would lead up to this momentous occasion and it started in 2001 when there were widespread rumors that France’s delegate Elodie Gossuin was born male. This controversy garnered much media attention but the rumors were false and Elodie was allowed to compete for Miss Universe 2001 and even placed in the top 10 and would go on to win the 2002 Miss Europe title. Elodie married model Bertrand Lacherie in 2006 and she even gave birth to the couple’s four children - two set of twins with the first set of twins born in 2007 and the second set born in 2013! That Elodie sure is special! That whole controversy opened a new can of worms about whether or not transgendered delegates should be allowed to compete in pageants for females. There are other pageants that are exclusively for transsexuals like the Miss International Queen pageant but there are those that are recognized as female after having the operation and therefore want to be recognized as female and don’t think it should matter if they were born physically male and want to compete in pageants for traditional females. In 2001, when the controversy surrounding Elodie surfaced, then reigning Miss Universe, Lara Dutta, stated to the media that what the Miss Universe contract states is that the delegate must be a female citizen of her country which could be read in many ways. In 2012, the controversy resurfaced when another transwoman, Jenna Talackova (born male but later transitioned to female and her first name was originally Walter) was initially disqualified from competing to represent Canada at the Miss Universe pageant only to hire an attorney, Gloria Allred, pointing out that her passport indicates that she is female after transitioning even if she was born physically male. The decision was reversed and Jenna was allowed to compete and would place in the top 12 at Miss Universe Canada 2012 but would not make the top 5 in a pageant that was won by Sahar Biniaz who was replaced by runner-up Adwoa Yamoah who represented Canada at the 2012 Miss Universe pageant which was won by Miss USA, Olivia Culpo. Olivia was asked about the controversy during the judge’s question round of Miss USA 2012 when one of the judges, Rob Kardashian, asked her a question submitted on Twitter, “Would you feel it would be fair that a transgender woman wins the Miss USA title over a natural-born woman?” Olivia’s response was, "I do think that that would be fair but I can understand that people would be a little apprehensive to take that road because there is a tradition of natural-born women, but today where there are so many surgeries and so many people out there who have a need to change for a happier life, I do accept that because I believe it's a free country." It took another six years but the time has come to see how the first transgendered contestant will fare at Miss Universe. Naturally, there is a lot of pressure on Angela Ponce and she certainly has a story but how much of it is she willing to tell? Angela is one of those contestants that will either be very present in the competition or not place at all so we shall see how she fares in the preliminaries and we will see if the land of flamenco can do it this year. Other Spanish Miss Universe delegates representing the LGBTQ community included Patricia Yurena Rodriguez who was 1st runner up in 2008 and afterwards came out as a lesbian. Also, last year’s Spanish delegate and top 10 finalist at Miss Universe 2017, Sofia del Prado came out as a lesbian and she is currently dating Spanish basketball player, Laura Nicholls. Spain hasn’t won the crown since Amparo Munoz won Spain’s only Miss Universe crown back in 1974. Could Angela be the next?
Possibilities… The reigning Miss Universe, Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, hails from South Africa and she was invited by South Africa’s first Miss Universe, Margaret Gardiner (who won the coveted Miss Universe crown in 1978 and also is a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press) to attend the 75th annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony which was held on January 7, 2018. It was wonderful to see South Africa’s two Miss Universe winners united at such a special event. Mandela’s rainbow nation hopes to be the next country to capture the Miss Universe crown two years in a row with their latest bet, Tamaryn Green. Tamaryn is currently a medical student at the University of Cape Town aspiring to become a doctor and after five years of medical school, Tamaryn decided that it was time to go for her national crown and it paid off in a big way. Education is very important to the Green family as Tamaryn’s mother is a teacher and her father is a curriculum adviser. Tamaryn is certainly fit and exotic and her accomplishments should be rewarded so will she be able to achieve the elusive consecutive win for her country? The only nation to accomplish this feat is the pageant powerhouse of Venezuela and their consecutive crowns were won in 2008 and 2009 thanks to Dayana Mendoza and Stefania Fernandez. This year, Venezuela is being represented by Sthefany Gutierrez and being a pageant powerhouse always puts the pressure on Miss Venezuela but they have consistently set a high standard and is always the country to watch. In fact, one of Sthefany’s runner ups at Miss Venezuela, Mariem Velazco recently won the Miss International 2018 crown so is this a good sign for Sthefany? The long-haired Pocahontas look seems to be trending this year and Sthefany certainly has the Pocahontas look down to a tee. Venezuela has the most international beauty pageant titles of any other country and a large part of this success has been attributed to the strict training from beauty czar, Osmel Sousa, who has been behind Venezuela’s success since the 1970s and Venezuela has captured 7 Miss Universe crowns since then winning in years of 1979 (Maritza Sayalero), 1981 (Irene Saez), 1986 (Barbara Palacios), 1996 (Alicia Machado), 2008 (Dayana Mendoza), 2009 (Stefania Fernandez) and 2013 (Gabriela Isler). Osmel is now 72 years old so he has decided to retire from coaching the Venezuelan contestants earlier this year so will that have an impact on Venezuela’s future success or has he trained his team enough to carry on the beauty torch without him? Osmel has also trained other countries so he’s still around. In fact, he has had a hand in coaching Mexico’s 2018 representative Andrea Toscano.
The North American contingent is quite strong this year with these three fabulous titleholders. Canada, USA and Mexico have captured many Miss Universe crowns. The USA has eight wins while Canada and Mexico each have two wins. Canada’s Marta Stepien hopes to get another win in Thailand since their last win was in 2005 when Thailand last hosted Miss Universe so she certainly hopes that luck will strike twice. Marta was first runner up to last year’s Canadian representative, Lauren Howe, who placed in the top 10 last year so Marta hopes to surpass that and she could very well do that as she is very tall and statuesque and in terms of achievements, she studies Biomedical Engineering Technology at St. Clair College and is an applied researcher and also speaks four languages. Marta has also received extensive training in Colombia so she is well prepared for the competition so Marta could bring a third Miss Universe crown to the land of the maple leaf. Of course, Miss USA is regularly part of the competition and everyone expects Nebraska’s Sarah Rose Summers to continue that trend especially with her bright and sunny personality. The USA has only missed the semifinals five times in Miss Universe history (1957 due to a disqualification, 1976, 1999, 2002 and 2010). The USA already has the most wins at Miss Universe and Sarah could even bring a 9th win to the land of the free and the home of the brave. Sarah’s accomplishments include working as a certified child life specialist and she also earned two degrees with cum laude status from Texas Christian University majoring in child development and strategic communication, with a minor in business. Mexico is being represented by Andrea Toscano and she hopes to bring a third Miss Universe crown to the land of the Mariachi succeeding their wins in 1991 thanks to Lupita Jones and 2010 thanks to Ximena Navarrete. Andrea, as mentioned previously, has had some coaching from Osmel Sousa who is known internationally for being the man behind Venezuela’s international pageant success. Coming from Manzanilla, Andrea is studying at the University of Colima majoring in Nutrition and is also interested in neurolinguistic programming. Mexico also had a name change to the title which was Nuestra Belleza Mexico last year but has since changed to Mexicana Universal. So will we have a NAFTA (North American Fabulous Titleholders Agreement) and agree that all 3 of these lovely ladies will make the semifinals for Miss Universe 2018 and could one of them even win the crown?
Two delegates have interesting fitness related stories this year which could translate into placements and they are the delegates from Great Britain and India who are seen here photographed together. Great Britain’s Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers of Anguillan descent prides herself in being one of the few black representatives of the land of Union Jack (the other being Anita St. Rose who represented Great Britain at Miss Universe 1996) and she loves to sport the unique dreadlocks hairstyle. Dee-Ann loves to do Sudoku puzzles regularly which she would do with her grandmother as a bonding activity. Contestants of this year’s Miss Universe Great Britain pageant fundraised for A Sisterhood which is a women’s empowerment charity supporting victims of acid attacks in India and funds support centres in the UK for women who have suffered from female genital mutilation. Dee-Ann has work experience in law and athletics and she is passionate about going to schools hosting workshops speaking about the necessity to respect women. Dee-Ann is certainly a very competitive woman growing up a tomboy with several male cousins, she would play soccer and climb trees and today, she is proud of having participated in athletic events starting as a 400m runner and later switching to the heptathlon. In 2014, Dee-Ann (representing Anguilla) competed in the second Commonwealth Games in Glasgow but suffered a knee injury and as a result, she would give up her Olympic dreams to pursue a Law degree from the University of Birmingham and now she is competing in pageants citing that posture is important in pageantry as it is in running track and field so Dee-Ann has an incredible story and is absolutely one to watch during the 2018 Miss Universe competition. Great Britain placed among the semifinalists last year and also in 2013 but they have never won the Miss Universe crown. Will Dee-Ann be able to change that? Another delegate that has a passion for fitness is India’s Nehal Chudasama. Nehal’s story of transforming herself from fat to fit is inspiring. Nehal works as a fitness consultant, anchor and model. After losing her mother when Nehal was 13, Nehal managed to get the support from her father to pursue modelling which is not a common profession amongst Gurajati girls. Nehal is interested in fitness/athletic activities, dancing and cooking. Nehal would win the Miss Beautiful Body award at her national pageant. Two years ago, Nehal became determined to lose weight and get in better shape and she said she was able to meet this goal by visualizing the end result in her mind and never giving up despite any setbacks. Nehal wants to change the Indian perception of fitness especially among females and she wants to work to encourage as many people as she can to adopt fitness as a lifestyle to achieve both mental and physical health. She also currently aspires to work in Indian Civil Services rather than pursuing a career in India’s entertainment industry of Bollywood which is right in step with IMG’s direction for Miss Universe so will Nehal inspire her way to the semifinals? India has captured two Miss Universe crowns in the years of 1994 thanks to Sushmita Sen and 2000 thanks to Lara Dutta and Lara assists in training India’s delegates so we shall see if the obsession with fitness pays off.
It is often said in pageants that beauty comes from within and Chelsi was the perfect example of how true beauty starts on the inside and emanates on the outside. In fact, Chelsi was one of the few Miss Congeniality winners to win the Miss USA crown. She also won Miss Congeniality at Miss Texas USA 1995 which demonstrates Chelsi’s integrity and character. Chelsi often joked that she was very aware that she looked like a member of the famous singing Jackson family (particularly Janet Jackson). Chelsi just had “it” – that star quality that can’t be defined and just comes naturally and can’t be taught. Many people knew even before Chelsi won Miss Universe that they were looking at a Miss Universe. Chelsi’s unmistakable poise and confidence coupled with her natural speaking style with that incredible voice combined with her stellar beauty made Chelsi the true queen she was.
Chelsi took pride in her biracial background being born to teen parents: an African-American father, Craig Smith who was 19, and a Caucasian mother, Mary Denise Trimble (also aged 19) who were briefly married after Chelsi’s birth but then divorced when Chelsi was 2 years old. Chelsi was primarily raised by the Trimble family including her grandparents Barnie and Jeanette Trimble and aunts Stacie and Paulette. Denise struggled with alcoholism at the time and signed custody of Chelsi over to Barnie and Jeanette who would also divorce when Chelsi was 7 years old. After completing her reign as Miss Universe, Chelsi would also experience marriage and divorce after being married to fitness trainer, Kelly Blair for just under five years from December 28, 1996 until their divorce was finalized on what happened to be a notorious day in American history (September 11, 2001). Chelsi would keep the Blair name though and maintained friendship with that family particularly Kelly’s brother Randy who used to perform songs with Chelsi in Christian venues prior to Chelsi’s success in pageantry.
My website is celebrating its 20th year of existence this year (being born on June 9, 1998) and this website has gone through a few changes to the cover page over the years but since 2004, I have stuck to its current design and the most prominently featured pageant queen on the cover has been Chelsi Smith so it should be obvious to everyone how much I adored her. In fact, it was the 1995 Miss Universe pageant which Chelsi won that sparked my obsession with pageants. A friend of mine taped it and we watched it over and over again and practically had the entire 1995 pageant memorized.
The 1995 Miss Universe pageant has so far been the only Miss Universe pageant to be held in Africa (in Windhoek, Namibia from which Miss Universe 1992, Michelle McLean hails.) Chelsi holds the distinction of being the only Miss Universe to be crowned in the African continent.
In 2006, much to my delight, Chelsi appeared as a judge for the 2006 Miss Teen USA pageant marking her first return to a nationally televised pageant since completing her reign during the 1996 Miss Universe pageant. I complimented Chelsi in my commentary for Miss Teen USA 2006 on how I adored her and her incredible voice. Much to my surprise, on June 13, 2007, I received an email from Chelsi after a friend told her about my website which I never expected and she thanked me for the compliments and we became friends after that. She even sold me something very special of hers. Over the years, I would create and send her birthday cards and would send them to her each year on August 23 from 2009 to 2018. She unfortunately didn’t see the last two due to her illness but her warm words of gratitude and appreciation meant so much to me and she loved the ones that she saw and thanked me many times over and said they meant more to her than I would ever know. Pictured here are those 10 birthday cards I made for Chelsi.
