THE PRETHOUGHTS
THE RESULTS (January 15, 2023)
The powers that be made their powers known! USA's R'Bonney Gabriel is Miss Universe 2022. This is the 9th Miss Universe crown for the land of the free and the home of the brave which has dominated the list of Who Has the Most Miss Universes since the beginning of the American-owned Miss Universe which just changed ownership hands from American company IMG to Thai company JKN owned by Thai trans-woman, Jakkaphong (Anne) Jakrajutatip. R'Bonney is also the second Texan to capture the Miss Universe crown succeeding the late, great Chelsi Smith-Miss Universe 1995. Did you notice that both Chelsi and R'Bonney were crowned by an Indian Miss Universe?? Chelsi Smith was crowned Miss Universe by Sushmita Sen who was present also at her wins of Miss Texas USA and Miss USA and R'Bonney Gabriel was crowned by Harnaaz Sandhu. Interestingly enough, Texas' Kandace Krueger also won Miss USA 2001 the year after India's Lara Dutta won Miss Universe 2000! We can easily conclude that India winning Miss Universe is good luck for Texans winning Miss USA the following year! R'Bonney now passes her Miss USA crown to her runner-up, North Carolina's Morgan Romano. 2022 is also the fourth time in history that the most successful countries at Miss Universe: USA and Venezuela were the final two. The other years were: 1967, 1986 and 1997. It isn't often that the host delegate wins but this is the 7th of the 9 Miss Universe winners representing the USA that won in their own country. The other two were Shawn Weatherly who won her crown in 1980 in Korea and Chelsi Smith who won her crown in 1995 in Namibia. Puerto Rico's Denise Quinones also won as the host delegate in her own country in 2001. It was destiny as R'Bonney's middle name is Nola and this year's host city of New Orleans, Louisiana is also nicknamed Nola. R'Bonney now defeats Andrea Meza's record as the oldest woman to win Miss Universe as her birthday is March 20, 1994 so she won the title at the age of 28 years and almost 10 months.
R'Bonney's win of Miss USA 2022 was fraught with controversy though as many of the other contestants and even some other people working behind-the-scenes felt like the cards were stacked in R'Bonney's favor due to the new Miss USA director also being another Texan, Miss USA 2008-Crystle Stewart. Miss USA and Miss Teen USA 2020 were under the Miss Universe Organization's umbrella until Crystle started directing Miss USA and Teen USA 2021 and 2022 was her second year but there were also issues with Crystle's husband Max acting inappropriately with some contestants leading to a separation and his name not included in the credits for Miss USA 2022. But oh yes, we experienced something very similar after Miss USA 2012 when the delegate from Pennsylvania said she heard Florida had seen a list of the exact top 5 prior to the list officially being announced which led to trouble and the winner of that pageant, Rhode Island's Olivia Culpo would go on to win Miss Universe 2012 which seemed like a similar scenario to this year with R'Bonney Gabriel winning Miss Universe 2022 as if to show that she definitely deserved to win Miss USA since she went on to win Miss Universe. With Khun Anne being the new owner, some felt that this would skew things in Thailand's favor but surprisingly Thailand didn't place this year and it was back to USA being favored at Miss Universe and after Crystle's directorship was taken back by the Miss Universe Organization and all 3 pageants including Miss Teen USA are under Khun Anne's JKN ownership so USA being favored at Miss Universe could continue into Khun Anne's ownership. There are clauses in contracts the contestants sign that usually point to behind-the-scenes judging leading to choices being made for the one they want to employ and even the recent Miss Venezuela pageant was a recent example of this when Diana Silva won Miss Venezuela to compete at Miss Universe 2023 but judges claim they chose La Guaira's Andrea Romero but were told about a separate panel of judges from the Miss Venezuela Organization also judging behind-the-scenes so are we about to see Diana Silva crowned Miss Universe 2023?? We'll just have to wait and see!
It was not announced during the telecast who won the online vote. Some special awards were also handed out which included Miss Congeniality resulting in a tie with co-winners being Chile's Sofia Depassier and Malta's Maxine Formosa. The Social Impact Award announced by Khun Anne herself went to her compatriot Thailand's Anna Sueangam-iam and the Spirit of Carnival Award went to Ukraine's Viktoria Apanasenko who I suspected would not place to avoid politics. They appear to have permanently done away with the regional divisions this year and interestingly enough, Europe only had two delegates place (Portugal and Spain). How did I do with my predictions? Well, I picked 9 of the top 16 plus 2 alternates (Trinidad & Tobago and Australia) and 1 honorable mention (Portugal). 4 of the semifinalists missed my list entirely and they were: Spain (who was an early favorite but fizzled as the competition progressed) as well as Canada (my own country...), Haiti and Laos(first time placement for this country) who were all complete shocks. Interviews were held before the preliminary swimsuit and gown competitions so usually this leads to more surprises than expected and interview was rumored to count for 50% of the preliminary interview score whereas swimsuit and gown each counted for 25% of the preliminary score. The 7 ladies in my list that didn't place were: Thailand, Mauritius, Brazil, Philippines (which broke the longest running streak in the semifinals as they had placed every year since 2010 but the new Miss Universe R'Bonney Gabriel is half-Filipina on her father's side so this should serve as some consolation to them), Angola, Germany and Vietnam.
For the first time in a long time, we already know the host country of the next Miss Universe pageant likely to be held in December 2023 and it's the gentleman of the Americas, El Salvador for the second time as they also hosted in 1975 and their president, Nayib Bukele made an appearance during the Miss Universe pageant to announce El Salvador as the host country for Miss Universe 2023.
It's official. All pageants are off the air and are not being broadcast nationally on a major American television network. The four big American networks are ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX. The Miss Universe pageant has had its turn on three of these networks but not ABC. ABC did broadcast the Miss America pageant though for several years. The Miss Universe pageant was broadcast on CBS during the early years until 2002, then NBC broadcast the Miss Universe pageant from 2003-2014/15, then FOX broadcast our treasured pageant from 2015 to 2019 and 2021. A smaller network called fyi broadcast the 2020/21 Miss Universe pageant and now the 2022/23 Miss Universe pageant is not being broadcast on a major network but a streaming service called the Roku channel. Call it a sign of the times as pageantry has increasingly struggled to find its place and relevance among viewers particularly in first world countries combined with the changing landscape of media consumption as less viewers are watching traditional cable television and are streaming content from any number of streaming services requiring internet access and one of them is the Roku channel. The Miss Teen USA pageant was the first to go this route as the last to be broadcast on NBC was the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant and has been relegated to a webcast ever since. Miss USA 2019 was broadcast on FOX but the 2020 to 2022 pageants were broadcast on the fyi channel which isn't available in all American states and was discontinued in Canada in 2019. Miss America has been shopped around from network to network over time with the 2019 Miss America pageant on ABC, the 2020 Miss America pageant on NBC and then Covid affected the world so there was no 2021 Miss America pageant but the 2022 pageant was relegated to NBC's streaming service called peacock and the 2023 Miss America pageant was only available on a paid pageant streaming website. 
Ratings for pageants have been dwindling over the years in the U.S. so this turn is not surprising. The 2021 Miss Universe pageant on FOX drew in 2.7 million viewers which was a 30 percent drop from the 2019 pageant on FOX which drew in 3.8 million viewers so the 2021 pageant had the lowest ratings on a major U.S. network and the 2020 pageant that aired on fyi drew in much less than this since it didn't air on a major network.
Ooooooohhh... On the JKN Tip! Jakkaphong "Anne" Jakrajutatip is a wealthy Thai trans-woman who heads her own company called the JKN Global Media Group and is also a long-time Miss Universe fan who stepped up to purchase the Miss Universe Organization for $20 million U.S. from the previous owner, IMG. The directorship of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants which were under the Miss Universe Organization were given to the Miss Group under the direction of Miss USA 2008-Texas' Crystle Stewart starting with the 2021 Miss USA and Teen USA pageants but after some accusations after the 2022 Miss USA of the cards being stacked in Texas' favor whose representative R'Bonney Gabriel would win the 2022 Miss USA pageant, it was announced that the Miss Universe Organization would be taking back ownership of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA while an investigation occurred, then the news of Anne taking ownership was revealed and during the presentation, it was shown that JKN would also be taking ownership of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA so it appears that Crystle Stewart will not be returning as director and as it is, her personal life was also affected when her husband Max was allegedly acting inappropriately with some of the contestants leading to a separation. It looks like for the first time in history that the Miss Universe pageant, the Miss USA pageant and the Miss Teen USA pageant are no longer American owned but there will still be an office in New York and another in Thailand. This also technically marks the first time that the Miss Universe pageant will be female-owned although Khun Anne was born male in 1979 and later transitioned to female after fathering a son and a daughter using donated eggs from a German woman. There was initially some confusion since Anne owns a Thai channel called JKN-CNBC leading some to believe that the Miss Universe pageant would be broadcast on NBC in the U.S. especially since the broadcaster of the Spanish version, Telemundo is also under the NBC umbrella but it was not to be and we had to settle for Roku but we will see if Anne can perhaps work some magic for possibly getting the 2023 pageants back on a major American television network but I feel like we have reached a point of no return when it comes to getting back on a major American network although it is possible that only the host city, New Orleans local affiliate of NBC called WDSU may air it. The announcement was made official on October 25 (a few weeks after Miss USA 2022 was held on October 3) and an Extravaganza reunion to celebrate the new ownership was held on November 7 featuring Khun Anne herself in addition to five Miss Universe titleholders: India's Harnaaz Sandhu (2021), Mexico's Andrea Meza (2020), Philippines' Catriona Gray (2018), Angola's Leila Lopes (2011) who is now Angola's national director and Canada's Natalie Glebova (2005). Also featured on stage was the first transgendered Miss Universe contestant, Angela Ponce who represented Spain at Miss Universe 2018 but went unplaced. With Khun Anne also being transgendered, will this encourage other transgendered participants to compete and could we see the first transgendered Miss Universe in the near future?? Transgendered delegates started being accepted in 2012 when Jenna Talackova was initially dismissed from competing to represent Canada at Miss Universe but then was later permitted to compete when the Miss Universe organization decided to accept transgendered delegates and Jenna would place among the top 12 at Miss Universe Canada 2012 pageant but did not advance to the top 5. Khun Anne does have quite the social media following too and there was talk of Anne potentially crowning the new Miss Universe but almost immediately, many people said that was the reigning Miss Universe, Harnaaz Sandhu's job only so Anne said she would sash the new winner instead which makes more sense. This is already causing some to speculate if Anne's presence might be deemed somewhat overbearing so we shall see how prominently she is featured during the show.
Leona’s unique story was that she became pregnant at age 13 by a 24-year-old Gene Ennis who was a member of the U.S. Air Force who didn’t respond to her letters and so she married another man, Edward Thacker but that marriage was annulled soon after and Ennis returned to her and he became Leona’s second husband when she was 14 and she had another son with him at age 16. After that marriage deteriorated, Leona sought to pursue her ambitions to be a model and she met another model who introduced her to a modeling agency and supported her entry to the 1957 Miss Maryland-Universe competition to represent Maryland at Miss USA. Leona kept her past hidden and wound up winning Miss USA 1957. Since Miss USA was held only a few days before Miss Universe back then, Leona had already competed in the Miss Universe preliminaries and placed among the top 15 but then Leona was questioned about the rumors after an investigation was launched and she confessed that she had lied about her age and that she was actually 18 and not 21 and she had been married twice and also had two young sons. Leona had to sashay away as the decision was made to exclude Leona from the Miss Universe finals marking the only year that the USA did not participate in the finals of Miss Universe. (Canada and France are the only two countries to have competed through to the finals of every Miss Universe pageant since its inception in 1952). Argentina’s 1957 delegate, Monica Lamas who had placed 16th was given Leona’s semifinalist spot at Miss Universe 1957 and it was too late for Leona’s runner up, Utah’s Charlotte Sheffield to compete at Miss Universe even though Charlotte inherited the 1957 Miss USA title when Leona was dethroned and she would be sent to compete later for the 1957 Miss World title instead where Charlotte went unplaced. Leona would parlay this scandal and all her media appearances into an moderate acting career and she worked as a burlesque showgirl. Leona married six times in her life and had four sons and one daughter and sadly, two of Leona's children passed away before she did. Leona passed away in 2010 at age 71 and she has an autobiography released in 1965 entitled, ‘My Name Is Leona Gage, Will Somebody Please Help Me?’ Had the new rules for 2023 been in place back then in 1957, Leona would not have had to sashay away and she would have been able to keep her crown and I wonder if the new rules were implemented because of Leona’s story and to avoid the shame that Leona experienced in her life to happen to other participants. They might get the news for publicity but if they are going unplaced, this leads to the perception that these delegates get used and may be given the special-segment treatment or not and there is the whole job readiness aspect of this as a woman with children may be able to find caretakers but her ability to do the job as a titleholder may come into question and these may be grounds for elimination so I wonder if these types of contestants should even bother unless they really just want the experience of competing in a major pageant.
A similar scandal happened to Helen Morgan who represented Wales at the 1974 Miss Universe pageant placing 1st runner up to Spain’s Amparo Munoz who was quietly dethroned after being a difficult titleholder allegedly punching her chaperone but Helen Morgan would go on to win the 1974 Miss World title representing the United Kingdom and it was soon discovered that she was an unwed mother to a young son and although there was no clause stating that she couldn’t be a mother, the pressures of the press and the scandal that ensued led her to resign and South Africa’s Anneline Kriel would inherit the 1974 Miss World title but since the top 2 of Miss Universe 1974 were both dethroned, there was no final appearance of the reigning Miss Universe at the 1975 Miss Universe pageant and that pageant’s winner, Finland’s Anne Marie Pohtamo was crowned by Miss Universe 1972-Australia’s Kerry Wells. 
With all these changes also come a new sash sponsored by the Sash Company (who also makes sashes for the Miss America system and Miss Earth also). It is said to be the first-ever sustainable sash made from 100 percent recycled fabric and thread with ethically produced rhinestones. They hope to inspire people to reduce plastic waste but I'm pretty sure no one would throw away their sash! And there is yet another new Miss Universe crown but still sponsored and designed by Mouawad who started sponsorship with their 2019 crown first worn by Miss Universe 2019-South Africa's Zozibini Tunzi. The 12th crown in Miss Universe history was unveiled in Bangkok on December 19. The event was chaired by Anne Jakrajutatip with the presence of crown designer Fred Mouawad and former Miss Universes Natalie Glebova and Apasra Hongsakula. The new crown is called 'Force for Good' with a value of around $6 million U.S. Instead of a yellow stone in the centre, the new crown carries a large blue stone on the front. Like many other crown changes, this one drew mixed reactions among fans. Some feel it bears a similarity to the CAO Fine Jewelry crown used only in 2008 to crown Venezuela's Dayana Mendoza when she won the Miss Universe title in Vietnam but Dayana wore the Mikimoto crown in 2009 when she crowned her successor. I personally think they should never have changed from the Chandelier crown that had a rough Sarah Coventry version used from 1963 to 1972 with the more refined version used from 1973 to 2001. Rumor has it that Anne wants this new crown to be used through to the 100th anniversary in 2051 but I highly doubt that will happen. Another interesting change is that Jacqueline Aguilera-Miss World 1995 is a sponsor for swimsuits with her line called J by Jacqueline Aguilera. I find it rather curious that a former Miss World is a sponsor for Miss Universe but hey, business is business, right?? It is quite likely that the 2023 Miss Universe pageant will be held in Thailand probably in December 2023 so that 13-year chain of Thailand hosting probably will be no longer a thing as I expected them to next host the 2031 Miss Universe pageant since they hosted 1992, 2005 and 2018 (all 13 years apart) but they probably will still host 2031 and likely several years leading up to that so we'll see how this goes. Another international pageant called Miss Grand International is also Thai-owned so we shall see if the owner of that pageant, Nawat Itsaragrisil becomes rivals with Queen Anne but these two have been photographed together so it looks like they are friends and will stay that way. Other major international pageants like Miss World is British owned, Miss International is Japanese owned, Miss Earth is Filipino owned, Miss Supranational is Polish owned and Miss Intercontinental is German owned but started in Aruba which has crowned several Miss Universe contestants as winners including the most notable being India's Lara Dutta who won Miss Intercontinental 1997 prior to winning Miss Universe 2000. All these changes are just the tip of the iceberg so we shall see what other surprises Queen Khun Anne has for us.
I'd love to see Dr. Seuss' interpretation of Anna's story because what a story she has! Thailand is being represented by Anna Sueangam-iam which means Beautiful Tiger and of course, Thailand is also the land of the new owner, Anne Jakrajutatip, causing some to speculate that a win for Thailand may be in the cards for the near future. Could it be this year? Anna's compelling story is that she was born and raised in a slum in Bangkok with her father. To try to protect her from this kind of undesirable environment, Anna's family sent her to a temple where she grew up among Buddhist nuns where her meals consisted of leftover food from the monks which most people would consider waste. However, it helped her to grow up and survive childhood life. At an early age, poverty differentiated her life at school from other children, especially the cost of tuition. In order to cover her tuition fees, she had to collect merit points, donate blood every semester, collect plastic waste bottles, and clean public restrooms. This experience made her question the accessibility Thai children had to education. Through overcoming a difficult childhood, Anna felt empowered to represent all the children from underprivileged backgrounds and make their voices heard. Like Kenya Moore said at Miss USA 1993 prior to winning her title, 'A woman has a strong voice and it should be HEARD!' Anna uses her bigger voice to collaborate with many nonprofit organizations in order to provide children with access to educational systems. She has conducted the “Do it, Earn it” campaign, supports the project No Mixed Waste, participates in a Saturday school project, and works with Smile Train Thailand. All of this sounds very in-step with the IMG direction of Miss Universe so will this style carry over into Khun Anne's ownership? I think so. Unfortunately, Anna's story has prompted some online slurs being projected and some dare to even call her Miss Garbage due to her being raised in a slum so maybe she actually has tried green eggs and ham?? Nah... Anna is one of this year's top contenders but I know her fluency in English isn't the best but that may not matter this year with the new ownership but at the same time, already crowning Thailand as Miss Universe might not look good on the new owner but a top 5 placement is likely as has often been the case for Thailand in recent years but their next win may come soon. The golden kingdom has won the Miss Universe crown twice thanks to Apasra Hongsakula in 1965 and Porntip (Bui) Nakhirunkanok-Simon in 1988. Will Queen Khun Anne have her first Miss Universe with her country's own Queen Anna??
You come and go. You come and go. And boy, did she come and go! Colombia's Maria Fernanda Aristizabal is a heavy favorite to win the Miss Universe crown but she originally would have competed for the 2020 Miss Universe crown when she won the original Miss Colombia crown that (back then) sent their titleholders to compete for Miss Universe but the franchise for 2020 was given to former Miss Germany Universe 2006, Natalie Ackermann Montealegre and she held a separate Miss Universe Colombia pageant for 2020 which is why we saw Laura Olascuaga compete for Miss Universe 2020 instead of Fernanda but even though Laura did place among the top 21 for 2020, much disappointment was expressed not only amongst Colombians but internationally that Fernanda was not given the chance to compete for Miss Universe which was likely why she competed for the original Miss Colombia title in the first place. Then another Colombian, Valeria Ayos competed for Miss Universe 2021 and placed in the top 5 replicating a similar placement since Valeria also placed third at the Miss Earth 2018 pageant. But for 2022, it was Fernanda's time so Natalie Ackermann held a press conference curiously inviting Valeria's runner-up, Risaralda's Maria Alejandra López as well causing some suspicion as to who would actually be representing Colombia for Miss Universe 2022 but as many suspected Fernanda was announced as the one appointed to represent Colombia for Miss Universe 2022 which may have been disheartening for Maria Alejandra López but Fernanda was given her rightful opportunity to compete for the Miss Universe title after all and karma worked out in Fernanda's favor and this chameleon went from non-participant to major Miss Universe crown contender and many people including myself believe Fernanda could take it all. My friend Hernan points out another pattern favoring Fernanda in that this is a leap year with the 2022 pageant being held in January 2023 similarly to the 2014 pageant being held in January 2015 where another Colombian, Paulina Vega won the Miss Universe crown and Paulina was also crowned with a new crown (the DIC crown used from 2014 to 2016) which also contained a blue stone in the center of the crown similarly to the new Mouawad Miss Universe crown. The pageant is also being held in the south of the USA like Paulina's year in Miami/Doral, Florida and this year is in New Orleans, Louisiana so do these patterns further indicate that Fernanda is the one?? Will Fernanda's good karma with all the cards aligning cause this Colombian to become like a chameleon that changed from out of contention to possibly become the new Miss Universe?? Recent years have favored countries capturing their third Miss Universe crowns which India did in 2021, Mexico in 2020 and South Africa in 2019 so is Colombia next?? The land of passions and emeralds and the world's finest coffee land has claimed the Miss Universe crown twice thanks to Luz Marina Zuluaga in 1958 and Paulina Vega for 2014 so is it Fernanda's time?
I blame you for the moonlit sky... If Puerto Rico's Ashley Ann Cariño Barreto looks familiar, you're right! Ashley was Miss Florida USA 2021 and placed as 2nd runner up to Miss USA 2021, Elle Smith of Kentucky but she had a plan B and country-hopped to the territory of Puerto Rico and won that title and is taking that route to get to the Miss Universe stage. Of course, country-hopping is nothing new. Numerous Miss Universe delegates have done this and taken advantage of their dual citizenship or heritage to compete at Miss Universe representing another country. Ashley was likely inspired to do this by Madison Anderson who was originally first runner-up to Miss Florida USA 2019 and didn't make it to the Miss USA stage but Madison's mother is Puerto Rican so she hopped and competed for the 2019 Puerto Rican crown and won and ended up finishing up as 1st runner-up to Miss Universe 2019, Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa even defeating Miss USA who placed in the top 10. Some other famous country-hopping examples include Miss Universe 1988, Porntip Nakhirunkanok who won the Miss Thailand 1988 title to get to Miss Universe but wasn't able to win a title in California to get to the Miss USA stage and confessed during her interview with Alan Thicke during the 1988 Miss Universe pageant that she did grow up in Los Angeles when her family immigrated there after Porntip was born and Porntip was likely inspired by Savinee Prakaranang-Miss Thailand 1984 who made the top 10 for Miss Universe 1984 and later was 1st runner-up at Mrs. World 1989 and Savinee also mentioned living in Los Angeles during her interview with Bob Barker. Miss Yugoslavia 1991, Natasha Pavlovic also made the semifinals at Miss California USA 1990 representing Beverly Hills before showing up at Miss Universe 1991 representing Yugoslavia and making the top 10 at Miss Universe 1991 where Dick Clark outed her as a UCLA graduate during her interview with him. Just last year in 2021, Panama's Brenda Smith-Lezama placed among the semifinalists and she was also Miss Missouri Teen USA 2013 and won the online vote to place at Miss Teen USA 2013. Even Brittany Bell who was Miss Arizona USA 2010 but went unplaced at Miss USA 2010 (even though she was 4th place in my predictions list for Miss USA 2010) would go on to represent Guam at Miss Universe 2014 also going unplaced there but later would mother some of Nick Cannon's multiple children and Nick was even a judge at Miss Teen USA 2002. Okay, you get it. Country-hopping is a thing and a lot of women will go to great lengths to get on the Miss Universe stage and sometimes it pays off big and sometimes it doesn't but hey, go big or go home, right? Even if that isn't really your home... Some also are a bit uneasy about the whole country-hopping thing seeing it as taking opportunities away from contestants that may not be as privileged. Now, back to Ashley. 
I based the headline for this article on Tasmin Archer's one-hit wonder 'Sleeping Satellite' because Ashley's national costume is a satellite dish that actually projects brief notable Puerto Rican video images including the reactions of the five Puerto Rican Miss Universe winners. This reminded me that many years ago, I once envisioned a Miss Universe contestant wearing a gown that projected Miss Universe winning moments and these would play on the gown itself as she walked down the runway but now I realize that a gown like that would be too distracting for competition since you would be looking at the gown and not the girl and as I remember Julie Moran and Ali Landry commentating during the evening gown competition of Miss Universe 1998, 'Don't distract.' 'Not at all.' Amazing how those 90s pageants just stick in your brain, no? This is a cool costume and we'll see if it gets Ashley the best national costume award as 2022 is actually the 50 year anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant being broadcast for countries off the mainland of the U.S. and Puerto Rico was the first to host both the 1972 Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants via satellite. Miss Universe 1952 to 1959 were held in Long Beach, California and Miss Universe 1960 to 1971 were held in Miami Beach, Florida. It was this advancement in television history that led to the Miss Universe pageant being held in different locations around the world so after Puerto Rico in 1972, then it was Greece in 1973, Philippines in 1974, El Salvador in 1975, Hong Kong in 1976, Dominican Republic in 1977, Mexico in 1978, Australia in 1979, Korea in 1980 before the return to mainland USA in New York for 1981. We have come a long way in terms of technological advances in media since those early days to the present where we have an excessive amount of content. I'd also like to point out a few coincidences of the Miss Universe pageants of the 70s. Did you notice that a caption saying 'Via Satellite' would appear when the future winners of those pageants appeared? i.e. when eventual winner Spain's Amparo Munoz did her introduction during Miss Universe 1974, the caption 'Via Satellite' showed on screen and this also happened when Finland's Anne Marie Pohtamo appeared in the special swimsuit segment during Miss Universe 1975. Hmmm...it's almost as if they knew or perhaps this was the captioner's way of foreshadowing? Anyway, as mentioned earlier, Puerto Rico has captured the Miss Universe crown five times thanks to Marisol Malaret in 1970, Deborah Carthy-Deu in 1985, Dayanara Torres in 1993, Denise Quinones in 2001 and Zuleyka Rivera in 2006. My friend Hernan points out a few patterns that support a Puerto Rican win this year. There was an 8-year chain between the Puerto Rican wins of 1985, 1993 and 2001 but instead of 2009 being the next year for Puerto Rico, they turned the 9 upside down and gave them the win for 2006 so does the pattern shift to add 8+8 to 2006 so after adding 16 becomes 2022 so is the 2022 crown for Puerto Rico? Also, Indian Miss Universe wins have previously been surrounded by a Puerto Rican Miss Universe win, i.e. Puerto Rico won in 1993 and crowned India in 1994, then India won in 2000 and crowned Puerto Rico in 2001 so are we about to see repeat since India won in 2021 to crown Puerto Rico for 2022?? Hernan also mentioned that double-digit years tend to help dusky-skinned winners like the winners of 1999 from Botswana, 2011 from Angola and 1977 from Trinidad & Tobago so 2022 could be a year favoring a duskier-skinned candidate like Ashley but double-digit years also helped winners from Sweden since they won 1955 and 1966. My friend Wassim points out another correlation supporting a Puerto Rican win relating to the Philippines' placements 7 years prior. In 2011, Philippines placed top 5 and in 2018, Puerto Rico also placed top 5. In 2012, Philippines was 1st runner up then in 2019, Puerto Rico was also 1st runner up. In 2013, Philippines made top 5 but in 2020, Puerto Rico made top 10 (but both made top 10). In 2014, Philippines made top 10 then in 2021, Puerto Rico also made top 10. Finally, in 2015, Philippines won so does this mean that 7 years later in 2022 that Puerto Rico wins?? So now let's talk about Ashley and her qualifications, shall we?? It's fitting for Ashley to be competing for Miss Universe since she loves the TV show 'Star Trek' and she actually aspires to go into outer space. She is completing a degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Central Florida aiming to specialize in the field of rocket propulsion and has been hoping to work for NASA since childhood. Ashley is the eldest of five siblings and has spent the last five years working with young people that have mental health diagnoses to develop their creative skills via STEM initiatives. Will Ashley capture a sixth Miss Universe crown for the shining star of the Caribbean and could she even be the first Miss Universe to actually travel the Universe?? "And when we shoot for the stars. What a giant step. Have we got what it takes to carry the weight of this concept?"
The year 2018 seems to be well represented for the 2022 Miss Universe pageant as we have quite a few crossovers from other international pageants competing. The first of whom we will discuss is Panama's Solaris De La Luna Barba Cañizales. Doesn't Solaris De La Luna sound like a name fitting for a Miss Universe?? It's very intergalactic so perhaps her parents naming her this was prophetic and she could be destined for the Miss Universe crown. Solaris previously competed for the 2018 Miss World crown in China which was won by Mexico's Vanessa Ponce. Solaris placed as one of the top 12 semifinalists at Miss World 2018 and was awarded the title of Miss World Americas 2018, which meant that she was the highest ranking delegate from the Americas apart from the winner from Mexico and this is the highest placement achieved by Panama at Miss World so far. Recent years have been kind to Miss World crossovers including recent winners, Miss Universe 2020-Mexico's Andrea Meza who was 1st runner up at Miss World 2017 and Miss Universe 2018-Philippines' Catriona Gray who placed in the top 5 of Miss World 2016 so is a win for Panama's Solaris written in the stars?? Panama inherited their only Miss Universe crown in 2002 when Oxana Federova was dethroned and her runner-up Justine Pasek took over the title so is it time for the tropical isthmus of Panama to win the Miss Universe title outright? Solaris studies psychology and is passionate about dance and fine arts. She works as a TV presenter for a show celebrating Panamanian traditions and customs and is involved with various organizations like the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Smile Train Latin America Foundation and S.O.S. Albinos Panama Foundation. She even runs a burger business with her sisters! 
The next crossover from 2018 is the Philippines' Celeste Cortesi who represented her country at Miss Earth 2018 placing in the top 8 that year. Celeste was born to a Filipino mother, Maria Luisa Rabimbi, and an Italian father from Venezuela after her parents met at an Italian restaurant in Manila which her father owned and her mother worked. Shortly after Celeste was born in the Philippines, the family moved to Parma, Italy and her father passed away when she was young causing her mother to have to raise Celeste and her older sister on her own. Initially, Celeste only spoke Italian but learned English and Tagalog and she was inspired to pursue pageantry upon witnessing the win of Miss Universe 2015-Philippines' Pia Wurtzbach. Celeste is currently pursuing her real estate license in the Philippines. My concern about Celeste is the numerous tattoos she has which tend to be frowned upon but last year's Filipina representative, Beatrice Luigi Gomez also sported tattoos and she ended up placing in the top 5 for Miss Universe 2021 so we will see if more successful tatted-up queens become a thing in future pageants. Of course, the pearl of the Orient seas has captured the Miss Universe crown four times thanks to Gloria Diaz in 1969, Margarita Moran in 1973, Pia Wurtzbach in 2015 and Catriona Gray in 2018. But Celeste isn't the only 2022 Miss Universe contestant to place in the top 8 at Miss Earth 2018, Portugal's Telma Madeira is very engaged in helping people with mental health issues as she herself was a victim of bullying. She actively creates awareness of medical malpractices regarding women’s reproductive rights. She also uses her platform as Miss Universe Portugal to promote better protection of the environment. She also cooks and serves her local fishermen after long hours of hard work and she also studies dental customer service. The land of explorers only placed for the first time in 2011 thanks to Laura Goncalves (a Venezuelan country-hopper who used her Portuguese roots to represent Portugal and won the online vote for Miss Universe 2011 finishing in the top 10 that year) and they placed again in 2019 among the top 20 thanks to Sylvie Silva but Portugal's luck at Miss Universe has not been good overall but with their recent success, we shall see if Telma with her high-placing experience can help turn that around. Speaking of the class of Miss Earth 2018 being well represented at Miss Universe, that year's 2nd runner up was Colombia's Valeria Ayos who also placed in the top 5 of Miss Universe 2021 and there's another one coming next year for 2023 already!! But we'll talk about her a little later...
Call it a coincidence that Miss USA, R'Bonney Gabriel's middle name is Nola and the abbreviation of this year's Miss Universe pageant, New Orleans, Louisiana is also Nola?? Is this destiny in the making and should we just crown R'Bonney as the new Miss Universe now?? R'Bonney is the first woman of Filipina descent and even Asian descent to win the Miss Texas USA and Miss USA titles and even Texas' representative for Miss America, Averie Bishop is also of Filipina descent (on her mother's side) and she finished as 2nd runner up at Miss America 2023 but we came very close to having both Miss USA and Miss America being Filipina Texans. R'Bonney is youngest of four children (the first girl after three boys) born to Filipino father, Remigio Bonzon (R.Bon) Gabriel and American Caucasian mother, Dana Walker. Yes, you would be correct that R'Bonney's name is a variation of her father's name. R'Bonney is a graduate of the University of North Texas with a Bachelor's degree in fashion design with a minor in fibers. She now works as a designer creating eco-friendly clothing and has her own line under her name RBonneyNola. Environmentally conscious clothing does seem to be in step with Miss Universe's direction. R'Bonney is the 10th woman to represent Texas to win the Miss USA title and this win further cemented their place at the top of the list of Who Has the Most Miss USAs just above California which boasts 6 Miss USA winners. The USA has always dominated the list of Who Has the Most Miss Universes currently leading the list with eight winners crowned in the years of 1954, 1956, 1960, 1967, 1980, 1995, 1997 and 2012 and the most placements in history which should come as no surprise with Miss Universe being American-owned for so many years but now that it is Thai-owned, we will see if there is a shift in how Miss USA places compared to Thailand's representative. However, R'Bonney's Miss USA win was surrounded by controversy when the contestants and other people involved felt like the cards were stacked in her favor and this led to some contestants feeling like they didn't have a fair chance to win Miss USA and then there was an onslaught of online posts which led to the Miss Universe Organization stepping in. The Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants were under the Miss Universe Organization's umbrella since inception but the 2021 and 2022 pageants branched off and were directed by Miss USA 2008-Texas' Crystle Stewart under her Miss Brand but as mentioned earlier, there were problems with her husband and his name was not shown on the credits for Miss USA 2022 but it was for Miss USA 2021. The Miss Universe Organization took back Miss USA and Miss Teen USA and said an investigation would be conducted. R'Bonney's selection as Miss USA was found to be ethical and she will compete for the Miss Universe crown representing the USA.
Speaking of investigations, the recently concluded Miss Venezuela competition to select their delegate for 2023 (not 2022) was also fraught with controversy. That winner, Diana Silva, also happened to place in the top 8 of Miss Earth 2018 if you can believe it. However, after the pageant concluded, some of the judges from the panel also started posting on social media that they actually chose the representative of La Guaira, Andrea Romero who ended up finishing in 4th place to win the Miss Venezuela crown with Delta Amacuro's Daniela Malavé who finished in 3rd place as her runner-up. One of the judges was Miss Venezuela 1975, Maritza Pineda who went unplaced at Miss Universe 1975 and Maritza posted on social media shortly after the pageant expressing her anger and frustration with the results and that the rest of the panel of judges actually chose La Guaira to win Miss Venezuela. 
Maritza recounted that before the coronation act, she left the Poliedro de Caracas to avoid traffic and ran into another finals judge, Ángel Sánchez. Both then met with the general manager of Miss Venezuela, Nina Sicilia, and asked her what had happened. Maritza said Nina told them that there is another jury apart from them made up of 20 people from the Miss Venezuela Organization watching the contestants behind the scenes. Maritza said she was told that supposedly this other jury consists of the beauty committee, artists, make-up artists, designers, etc. but then Maritza said if they had a jury already selected, why put another jury in front of the screen? She said they should just make the selection and send the girl they want and don't make the show jury waste time as she felt it seemed disrespectful. Of course, this kind of judging is nothing new in pageantry. Many contracts that contestants sign have clauses that allow this kind of behind the scenes judging to occur and often when a favorite doesn't place, it's often due to this reason. The Miss Venezuela Organization headed by Miss Universe 2013-Venezuela's Gabriela Isler took over directorship of Miss Venezuela in 2018 (there's that year again!) from Osmel Sousa, who had been directing it for decades. Osmel was supposed to retire but he then started directing Argentina and Uruguay. While watching Miss Venezuela, I actually thought Diana Silva was the right choice based on overall appearance and on-stage carriage and presence whereas La Guaira's representative had a bit of an awkward walk. I think the Miss Venezuela Organization members knew this and went ahead and chose her anyway despite what the show's judges thought. We might even recall a similar incident for Miss USA 2012 when Pennsylvania's representative said Florida's representative saw a list of the predetermined top 5 but Florida's representative denied it and needless to say, things got ugly for Pennsylvania's representative. However, the winner of Miss USA 2012, Olivia Culpo went on to win Miss Universe 2012 so is the same thing about to happen to Diana Silva for Miss Universe 2023?? We've got about a year to find out! But will this affect Venezuela's current representative for Miss Universe 2022, Amanda Dudamel? Most people seem to think not and Amanda is considered a frontrunner for the Miss Universe crown and could take it all. Amanda has been showing the Miss Universe Organization that she is job-ready by conducting numerous interviews on social media with her fellow titleholders and former Miss Universe winners also and those efforts could pay off big! Amanda was born in Mérida, Venezuela and is the daughter of former Venezuelan soccer player Rafael Dudamel and Nahir Newman Torres, a Venezuelan real estate agent. Having travelled the world due to her parents' work during her childhood and adolescence, she learned to speak English. Amanda studied fashion design in Rome, Italy, where she lived for several years and she also learned to speak Italian. Like the USA's representative, Amanda is the owner and executive director of her own clothing brand "By Amanda Dudamel" and co-founder of the brand "Reborn the Brand." Venezuela has captured the Miss Universe crown seven times in the years of 1979, 1981, 1986, 1996, 2008, 2009 and 2013 so is the gateway of South America about to capture an eighth Miss Universe crown with Amanda??
Okay, did we learn nothing from what happened to Russia's Alina Sanko in 2020?? Bolivia (or should we say Bullyvia)'s original candidate for Miss Universe, Maria Fernanda Pavisic Rojas was dethroned and apparently had to return the Bolivian crown and the prizes she received after posting a video on her social media where she made comments that were deemed racist and discriminatory against other Miss Universe contestants when scrolling through their pictures on the contestants section of the official Miss Universe website. This naturally led to a backlash of her online followers accusing Fernanda of bullying and calling for her title to be removed. Fernanda's picture was originally posted to the Miss Universe website in November only to replaced by her runner-up after Promociones Gloria, which organizes beauty pageants in Bolivia, communicated in a letter to Fernanda the reasons she would no longer hold the title of Miss Bolivia 2022 due to not complying with the clauses referring to the behavior of beauty queens and publicly issuing inappropriate statements and expressions about their fellow candidates for Miss Universe which diminishes the good credit of the title and the organization. Fernanda thought the decision was unfair and claimed she never made a comment, nor a racist or discriminatory statement against anyone. She claimed that her comments were actually a social experiment on the effects of bullying but nobody really bought that defense. Some believe that Peru's delegate Alessia Rovegno was one of the targets of the negative comments but Alessia herself commented that she didn't believe that she was one of the targets and that she said she was not directly mentioned in Fernanda's comments and it was all a misunderstanding and Peru's national director, Jessica Newton-Miss Peru 1987 and top 10 semifinalist at Miss Universe 1987 also denied that Alessia was mentioned. After she was dethroned, Fernanda's runner-up was then appointed and María Camila Sanabria Pereyra, who placed second in the Miss Bolivia pageant is now representing Bolivia at Miss Universe. Of course, a similar incident plagued Russia's 2020 delegate, Alina Sanko who also posted a video on social media of her commenting on her fellow Miss Universe contestants making negative comments about some of their headshots particularly targeting Canada's Nova Stevens. However, Alina was still allowed to compete for the Miss Universe title but did not place as many people including myself expected would happen so this should be a lesson for all future participants to not make catty comments about fellow contestants and posting them on social media. Bolivia has never won the Miss Universe crown but their best placement was in 1990 when Rosario Rico Toro made the top 6 at Miss Universe 1990. There have been past instances where a national runner-up ended up doing very well at Miss Universe such as in 1976 when Venezuela's Judith Josefina Castillo Uribe who was not Venezuela's original winner but a runner-up when Elluz Peraza gave up her Venezuelan title but Judith ended up finishing as 1st runner up at Miss Universe 1976! Also, Philippines' Miriam Quiambao was also originally a runner-up but when Janelle Bautista was dethroned for not having Philippines citizenship but Canadian citizenship that Miriam was given the chance to compete for Miss Universe 1999 and she also was 1st runner up at Miss Universe 1999! Is a similar fate in store for the new Bolivian representative, Camila? Well, Camila is accomplished as she has a degree in business administration and a master's degree in marketing and business management. She has a nephew with autism and is passionate about helping children with this condition as they often have problems with social communication and interaction, and restrictive or repetitive behaviors or interests. She wants to be part of the socialization process for these children and her nephew. Camila is actually quite stunning but Bolivians tend to not have the body for this competition so they don't have a great track record but we shall see if Camila can turn this around for her nation.
King Akeem of Zamunda surely would love to see some of these African Queens take the title of Miss Universe as they come to America to compete for the crown. One of the African contenders includes Angola's Swelia Da Silva Antonio who has such a pleasant face with those glowing eyes and beaming smile and she is pictured here in her national costume looking like a true African queen. Swelia is also quite accomplished as she became the first in her family to graduate with a Master of Science degree in a third language and Swelia runs Better Tomorrow Africa as a co-founder. This association works to improve the living standards of people by providing practical tools and education for sustainable and generational benefit. Having suffered bullying and discrimination herself, Swelia became an advocate for justice and equality from a young age and seeks to address issues regarding education, women, and the environment in her country. Swelia even recently made the top 12 at Miss Supranational 2021. Angola has captured the Miss Universe crown once back in 2011 thanks to Leila Lopes who happens to be Angola's national director currently and Leila was among the honored guests featured at the Miss Universe extravaganza gala in Thailand on November 7 and Leila was asked many questions and looked fabulous but Angola hasn't placed since Leila's win even though they placed three times prior to Leila's win (2007, 2004 and for the first time in 2003) so is it time for Angola to make a comeback and will lovely Swelia be the one to do it? Of course, one African nation has dominated Miss Universe in recent years and that would be Mandela's rainbow nation, South Africa who has placed in the top 3 for four of the the last five Miss Universe pageant with two of those placements being wins which is a phenomenal feat and their 2021 titleholder, Lalela Mswane, who placed as 2nd runner up at Miss Universe 2021 would even go on to win Miss Supranational 2022 earlier this year! Their latest bet is Ndavi Nokeri who like her predecessors is very well-spoken, articulate and educated and Ndavi possesses a Bachelor of Commerce Investment Management degree from the University of Pretoria and was working for an asset management firm when she won her national title. Also passionate about advocating for equal educational opportunities for all, Ndavi is devoting her reign raising awareness of this platform. Even prior to earning her title, Ndavi had already worked with various organizations to promote educational equality in South Africa by increasing computer literacy in undeveloped schools and she continues this work with a campaign called Ed-Unite. The gold capital of the universe has captured three Miss Universe crowns thanks to Margaret Gardiner in 1978, Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters in 2017 and Zozibini Tunzi in 2019 so is Ndavi already about to capture a fourth Miss Universe crown for South Africa?
