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.
