The Miss Universe Fiasco

My Facebook and Twitter feeds have been (not shockingly) bombarded by Miss Universe related posts the past couple of days, and quite frankly they are starting to get really irritating. Here are some of the things that fans and critics have been circulating as gospel truth:

1. The Colombia Conspiracy Theory
As it turns out, the person behind the Philippine beauty pageant industry came from Colombia (Stella Marquez Araneta). She has insisted on using the designs of fellow Colombian Alfredo Barraza, citing on national television that the submissions of local designers were "no good." Barraza is said to also have designed the gown worn by this year's winner (Ms. Colombia). As a "logical conclusion," Ms. Philippines (MJ Lastimosa) lost because the Colombian forces rallied to sabotage her chances of winning.

2. The Last Minute Distraction
Rumor has it that right before the evening gown competition, MJ decided to wear a pink gown made by a Philippine designer. Araneta wouldn't hear it and demanded that MJ wear the white mermaid gown designed by Barraza. She allegedly went on a fit and started shouting at "poor MJ." As a result, MJ had a terrible performance at the gown competition which in turned caused her defeat.

3. #MJAllTheWay
This hashtag has trended well on Twitter, and it obviously shows huge support for the Philippine candidate. Some people jokingly said that the judges "got confused" by the hashtag and thought that "MJ" meant "Miss Jamaica." That somehow had something to do with the turnout. Go figure.

4. Miss Jamaica is actually Miss Philippines
Speaking of Miss Jamaica, the fan favorite got extra mileage when a certain columnist hinted on the possibility that she has Filipino roots. Responsible journalism at its best.

5. Blame it on Manny
The Philippines has successfully penetrated the top 5 since 2009, and weirdly enough we failed to make it the very year that a fellow Filipino (boxer Manny Pacquiao) was chosen to be a judge. Is he to blame?

The list goes on and on, but I guess you guys get the point. Since I already painstakingly took the time to write this article, let me go ahead and share my thoughts about the issues.

1. Renowned Filipino designer Michael Cinco posted a bunch of photos of gowns he thought would make MJ win the crown. Nice gowns, I have to say. Well designed. But I am pretty sure he was not one of the "no good" designers who submitted their gown designs before the competition. (I wonder what the process is? Do designers just go in and voluntarily submit designs, or does the team have a selection process?) His gowns are probably too expensive anyway. Hopefully, he backs up his words (or in this case, images) by donating a free gown to next year's candidate.

2. Truth be told, MJ had no business insisting on wearing a certain gown at the last minute. If this were true, then I would think that she should be held responsible if she became emotional or "upset" on stage. If she felt passionately about wearing a certain design, she should have discussed this with her team way ahead of time. If I were Ms Araneta, I would probably also scream at MJ for being unprofessional. I mean, come on! Stick with the program, girl! And besides, if she got to wear the pink gown and still lost, I'm pretty sure that the blame will simply be shifted to her ("You should have worn that stunning Colombian design!")

3. I'm pretty sure the #MJAllTheWay confusion is just a joke.

4. I honestly don't know if Miss Jamaica is part Filipina, but I think I read somewhere that she has already denied this on Instagram. Very interesting how this was brought up in the first place.

5. My only comment about Manny is that he should have rehearsed reading his question multiple times before reading it on air. Practice makes perfect.

As a final thought, I must say that I enjoyed watching this year's Miss Universe pageant. If only for the interesting Q and A rounds. The 2-part Q&A was a special treat for me.