Russia's Victoria Radochinskaya wins Mrs World 2009; 2 bets from Vietnam shocked fans

I have finally watched the coronation night of the Miss Earth 2009 pageant in Boracay, a famous island and beach resort in the province of Aklan, south of Manila in the Philippines. I have a lot of things to say but I gonna reserve it for my next blog entry. Instead, I will talk about the results of the just-concluded Mrs. World 2009 that took place in Vietnam.

Mrs Russia Victoria Radochinskaya amazingly captured the title of Mrs World 2009 in Vung Tau, Vietnam on the same day Miss Earth 2009 crowned its winner. She was crowned by Ukraine's Natalya Shmarenkova, the winner in 2008. This is the second time a Russian representative was favored to win the title after Sofia Arzhakovskaya clinched the top honor in 2006 in a very controversial pageant in her home country, in St. Petersburg in particular.

Victoria is a 31-year old mother of one. She has been married for 8 years. She recieved a crown of white golds that was decorated with 63 rubies. The crown is valued at $100,000.

Mrs USA Andrea Robertson was first runner-up and Mrs Vietnam Hoang Thi Yen was the second runner-up.

Most fans are not convinced about Mrs USA and Mrs Vietnam. As they claim, it's not surprising to see the two married beauty queens having awards simply because of two factors: first - the pageant is owned or based in the US; second - the pageant was held in Vietnam.

It is also very odd to see two Vietnamese representatives in the pageant. It is something very questionable. Pageant fans are actually shocked upon learning this. But Joyce Ann Burton, Miss Philippines Universe 1985, has an answer.

In Joyce's blog (www.adventuresofabeautyqueen.wordpress.com), she noted that when she asked the National Director of Mrs World (probably for Philippines), Mr. Ovette explained that one of them represented Vung Tau, the city where the pageant was held, and one of them is representative of Vietnam as a country.

Why would a pageant of international calibre would allow this?

Mrs India, Mrs Brazil and Mrs Poland made the Top 6. On the other, Top 12 includes representatives from the Philippines, Malaysia, Costa Rica, South Africa, England and Cote d'lvoire.

The Best in National Costume was awarded to Mrs Hong Kong.

75 married ladies from all over the world competed for the title.

Mrs World 2010 will be held in Korea.

Miss Brazil Larissa Ramos Wins Miss Earth 2009

Brazil, a country of beauty pageant fanatics, made another history by becoming the first country to win two crowns at the Miss Earth pageant with the conclusion of this year's pageant in Boracay, Philippines.

Miss Brazil Larissa Ramos was proclaimed Miss Earth 2009 although she did not give the best answer to the final question-and-answer which determined her as the winner and the runners-up.

The Final 8 were presented with a photo and each were asked to interpret it. This is actually an old format. According to my friend who witnessed the pageant in Boracay, Miss Philippines Sandra Inez Seifert gave the most intelligent answer but she ended up with the Miss Earth Air title only or the 1st runner-up. I was actually right that the 1st runner-up was the highest she could get because of Karla Paula Henry's victory last year.

I guess, Carousel Productions, the owner of the pageant, succumbed to the pressure of some rabid fans who dilligently campaigned against the Philippine bet by bashing her and the pageant organizers. If a contestant really deserves the title or gives the best answer at the final stage, why don't you give her the crown?

Miss Earth 2004 Priscilla Meiralles was one of the 3 non-Filipino judges. With the victory of Larissa, will these same bashers use this angle to pull down the integrity of the pageant. I don't think so. For those who are not aware of what I am implying, rabid fans kept on protesting about the Filipinos who make the majority of the panel of judges every year. They claim that the victories of Karla Paula Henry at Miss Earth 2008  and Jessica Trisko who has Filipino heritage at Miss Earth 2007 were mainly because of the presence of Filipino judges.

The other two non-Filipino judges out of nine were Miss Earth Vietnam 2004 Bui Thuy Hahn and Miss Earth Kosovo 2003 Teuta Hoxha.

Miss Spain Alejandra Echevarria who I predicted will win was Miss Earth Fire or 3rd runner-up. Completing the list is Miss Venezuela Kessica Barbosa who was named Miss Earth Water or 2nd runner-up.

An earlier report that there will be Top 18 turned out to be a hoax since there were only Top 16. All ladies competed at the evening gown and swimsuit portions before they were trimmed downed to Top 8.

Singapore and Northern Ireland placed for the first time as semi-finalists.

Here is the complete list:

Miss Earth 2009 - Larissa Ramos (Brazil)
Miss Earth Air or 1st Runner Up - Sandra Inez Seifert (Philippines)
Miss Earth Water or 2nd Runner Up - Jessica Barbosa (Venezuela)
Miss Earth Fire or 3rd Runner Up - Alejandra Echevarria (Spain)

TOP 8 or Finalists:

Miss Colombia - Alejandra Castillo Munera
Miss Martinique - Pascale Nelide
Miss Poland - Izabela Wilczek
Miss Thailand - Rujinan Phanseethum

Top 16 or Semi-finalists:

Miss France - Magalie Thierry
Miss Georgia - Nona Diakonidze
Miss India - Shriya Kishore
Miss Korea - Park Ye-ju
Miss Northern Ireland - Kayleigh O'Reilly
Miss Paraguay - Gabriela Rejala
Miss Singapore - Valerie Lim
Miss South Africa - Chanel Grantham

Heavy favourites like Miss Cuba Jamillette Gaxiola, Miss Mexico Natalia Quinonez, Miss USA Amy Diaz and Miss Italy Luna Isabella Voce failed to advance.

Miss Earth 2009 Winner - Miss Spain Alejandra Echevarria?

The final stage for the Miss Earth 2009 pageant at Boracay Resort and Convention Centerin the Philippines.

Today is the big day for Miss Earth 2009 pageant when the new winner will be crowned at Boracay Ecovillage Resort and Convention Center in the Philippines.

In less than 4 hours, we will see if the most anticipated back-to-back win for the Philippines with Sandra Inez Seifert happen. Or will the overrated Cuba's Jamillette Gaxiola and Venezuela's Jessica Barboza live up to the expectations.

Sandra started the competition with fire. Her Best in Swimsuit and Long Gown Awards are validation to this. Unfortunately, these awards have no bearings come tonight's final.

I just would like to address those people who are questioning the victory of Sandra. I have seen the videos and I can say Sandra was deserving to win the Best in Evening Gown. She had the most unique gown. The other gowns are equally beautiful but you usually see them in beauty pageants. The moment Sandra was flashed in the screen with the so-called rainbow gown, I was really mesmerized which I didn't feel with the others. In fact, she deserved the Best in Long Gown more than the Best in Swimsuit.

At the preliminary swimsuit competition, Sandra may not have the best body among all the finalists but she was oozing with charisma. She was so energetic in her presentation. She was simply glowing. I guess these are the factors the judges saw on Sandra which eventually convinced them to give the title to her.

But relax and sit back, folks. The pageant has not even started. It's not yet over 'till it's over. Like what I have said earlier, the awards that were given to Miss Philippines have no bearings tonight. These awards only cemented Sandra's fate as one of the finalists - that is for sure - but all the ladies who will be included in the Final Top 18 will start the night again with equal chances. They will all start from scratch.

Just take a quick look on what happened during the Miss Earth 2007. Venezuela's Silvana Santaella bagged these two major awards also during the preliminary competition but she ended up Miss Earth-Water or second runner-up only.

Like what I have said in my entry yesterday, I would have love to come up with my prediction of the Final Top 18 but since I was just fully updated with this year's pageant few days ago, I am afraid I will be very biased with my list. For sure, I will only be basing my judgment on the pictures which is not fair to do. But in case you are interested to know my bias opinion, I will tell you that I have the feeling that Miss Spain's Alejandra Echevarria will take the crown.

We will see.

Beauty In Pageants is Back

Contestants of Miss Earth 2009 pageant during the filming at the famous world-class Boracay in the Philippines. The new Miss Earth winner will be crowned on Sunday, 22 November 2009, by Miss Philippines Karla Paula Henry.

Beauty In Pageants has not been updated for 3 months and 9 days to be exact. The last blog entry we have posted was on 12 August by Kuh Chara, at the heights of the 2009 Miss Universe pageant in Bahamas which was won by Miss Venezuela Stefania Fernandez.

Now, that I am back with my favourite hobby and that is blogging on beauty pageants, I am very happy to tell everyone that I missed you all. It was actually almost six months that I never posted anything in my blog because of the accident I was involved with.

And, I also would like to thank everyone for the support you have given on this site. Some of you remained regular visitors despite of having no fresh updates from us for more than 3 months. Kuh had to leave blogging for more important things and I don't know if he's coming back. I can't tell. For the benefit of my new readers, it was Kuh who continued writing on this blog for almost 3 months when I can't do it because of the accident.

It's a good thing I am over with my ordeal - hospital and jail. So, now I can concentrate on bringing you up the latest news, gossips and comments about the latest beauty pageants on earth. I will try to introduce some changes in my site for the next few days and hopefully, everyone would still remain loyal. I owe to all of you the success of this blog.

I just want to tell everyone about this one big opportunity I missed for a lifetime -bigtime!

I was surprised to learn that the more than hundred delegates of the Miss World 2009 pageant visited Abu Dhabi for a fashion show. They were in the capital of United Arab Emirates for 3 days, I guess. They left the country for South Africa on 14th November. Here's the most depressing part of the story. I was released out from jail (because of the accident)of Dubai on 15th November. I missed the chance of covering the event. As a beauty pageant fanatic, I should have given you personal updates and tidbits about the Miss World 2009 pageant here if only I was released earlier. Sigh!

Anyways, I am excited about the upcoming Miss Earth 2009 pageant to be held at the famous Boracay Beach in the Philippines on November 22nd and the Miss International 2009 pageant in China on November 29th. Unfortunately, I can't give you my predictions on who will most likely penetrates the Final Top 15 or Top 18 because I have little information about the ladies. I am hoping I can do this with Miss World 2009.

So, stay tuned.