I finally managed to review the show, the results were not the best but not awful either but then again I can see why many are saying it's a "cooking show", not really sure why cooking show specifically but I'm guessing it's relating to things being pre determined.
Anyway to quickly sum up I thought MJ, Nicole, Patricia, Ali and Jaine were the best in swimsuit followed closely by Jill, Fer, Ayelee, Janine and Roxane. In terms of evening gown I thought Patricia, Jaine, Rose Ann, MJ, Angelee and Katrina were best in evening gown whilst Ali, Jill, Ayelee, Janine and Karen follow.
I thought the top 12 were decent but I didn't understand Gina's inclusion as I didn't think she excelled in any way. I was disappointed Jaine missed out from a spot because she was actually among my Top 3 from the two rounds. She performed amazingly in both rounds, showing fighting form so I don't understand why she missed out. Rose Ann, Jill and Ayelee were also part of my Top 12, Fer also just missed out.
My Top 12 in order
MJ - Patricia - Jaine - Nicole - Ali - Rose Ann - Jill - Ayelee - Janine - Angelee - Katrina - Karen (13th Fer)
Anyway onto the Q&A, here's my comment on each delegate.
30. Sherlyn Gonzalez
Sherlyn provided a very predictable answer but I guess there's no problem with predictability. This question has been asked time and time again and 90% of delegates answer the way Sherlyn did but at least she managed a good delivery. I was just hoping Sherlyn would have the creativity of producing a more interesting answer because predictability also equates to being boring and that never gains any points.
16. Liezl Alcantara
I like Liezl but I found her slightly disappointing throughout the pageant. I found her answer ok, the main problem for me was the delivery she just didn't convince me with the way she spoke and that's why her answer didn't sound convincing when she said it.
7. Patricia Ejercitado
Patricia provided me with one of the most compelling answers of the night, it wasn't the most intelligent or well phrased but it was true to herself and that's what I loved about it. She also said it with conviction that's why, in my opinion, she gave the second best question and answer performance of the night and truly deserved a Top 5 finish but like Patricia Tumulak last year she didn't get anything.
29. Annalie Forbes
Annalie performed beautifully until the Q&A section where she fumbled massively. The main problem was that she didn't actually answer the question, instead of the disadvantages of social media she talked about the advantages. I think she was in such a muddle that she tried to pull out a quote to sound more clever but without backing it up at all it made her answer even worse. Her inclusion in the Top 5 was probably one of the side reasons why people called this a cooking show.
26. Angelee De Los Reyes
I was never a fan of Angelee but she did perform well in evening gown but her Q&A performance quickly turned me against her again. Her overconfidence was not attractive at all and in fact she didn't answer her question anyway. She tried to stand out like MJ did last year but whilst MJ impressed viewers she shocked them. Humility is also an important factor in winning but she did not show that at all.
9. Mary Jean Lastimosa
I think when she won Miss PAL and Miss Avon everybody thought she would finally win a crown, to be honest I don't get why she didn't make the Top 5 if she managed 1st RUP last year but anyway her answer wasn't bad and she said it with conviction however if we dig deeper into the answer I find it inadequate. MJ said the most pressing problem in the world today is the curiosity we have, but there was very little reasoning as to why and in fact she didn't answer the latter part of her question. This is an example where sticking to the protocol might have helped her.been better (like Katrina). However MJ seemed much more down to earth than last year.
13. Katrina Dimaranan
Katrina stuck to protocol but managed to make the answer her own by tweaking a few things, she stuck to the book and because of that she did well. However I also thought there was a lot of potential in her question to be creative and focus on the aspect of only being president for one day so therefore making a quick impact rather than trying to promote education which would definitely take more than a day of presidency.
18. Janine Tugonon
I really don't like questions which pigeon hole the candidate to chose from only two options because it restricts creativity but anyway Janine did the same as Katrina and also came off well in general. Mentioning God in the Philippines always draw votes so Janine definitely studied well. In the end she managed a good enough answer to a common question.
15. Elaine Moll
I didn't like Elaine's answer because it wasn't developed well and she didn't deliver it well either. However to her benefit she did get a tough question because wanting to change something about one's culture can easily sound derogatory and I think that's what caused Elaine the most trouble.
14. Gina Howell
This question is pretty similar to Janine's. Gina answered decently but it wasn't really memorable to be honest. It was a crowd pleasing answer but then again it's easy to do that with this type of question. I think when these simple "pageant-patty" questions are asked the delegate should try to be a bit more creative in their answers or they might fade into the background.
8. Nicole Schmitz
In my opinion Nicole produced the best performance in the Q&A of the night. Her answer was well structured and she backed her statement with reasoning. She also delivered it with conviction and didn't stumble or blabber on. If she didn't win a crown with that answer there would be no justice.
1. Karen Gallman
Sadly Karen had the worst performance of the 12, not only did she not answer the question there was also no structure to her answer making it sound like a jumble of words. Even if you don't know what you are saying you need to say it with conviction like Ali did but Karen did neither therefore scored the lowest for me.
My ranking of the girls Q&A performance
Nicole - Patricia - Janine - Katrina - MJ - Sherlyn - Gina - Liezl - Elaine - Ali - Angelee - Karen
My final ranking of the Top 12
BP Universe - 7. Patricia Ejercitado
BP International - 8. Nicole Schmitz
BP Tourism - 9. MJ Lastimosa
1st Runner Up - 18. Janine Tugonon
2nd Runner Up - 13. Katrina Dimaranan
6th - 29. Ali Forbes
7th - 16. Liezl Alcantara
8th - 30. Sherlyn Gonzalez
9th - 15. Elaine Moll
10th - 26. Angelee De Los Reyes
11th - 1. Karen Gallman
12th - 14. Gina Howell
Not going to dwell on why I thought certain contestants should have placed differently but I felt that the results in general were decent however there were obviously better choices than Janine for the BPU title. I'm so happy for Nicole and I think Katrina has potential as well.
This year I was definitely less excited than last year, the pageant also seemed more muted than last year. When they started announcing the winners it seemed less exciting compared to last year as well. I wish Janine the best of luck at Miss Universe because I think it will be tough for her to repeat the success of Venus and Shamcey.
