Of placements and wins

The country's 11-year semi-final streak is not a small feat

By Earl D.C. Bracamonte

In the 69 editions of the annual Miss Universe pageant, since its inception in 1952, there were only four years - 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961 - that the Philippines did not send a representative. But, mind you, there are two countries with perfect attendance in all editions: Canada and France. Germany would have joined these two countries, except that it did not field a candidate in the Miss Universe 2020 pageant.

It was only in 1964 that the Binibining Pilipinas crowned its first winner, the late Myrna Panlilio, great aunt of this year's Bb. Pilipinas candidate from Cavite, Samantha Panlilio. So the honors of placing in the semi-final round the first time belongs to Miss Philippines 1954 Blessilda Ocampo, and the distinction of landing in the Top 5 for the first time is given to Lalaine Bennett for winning 3rd runner-up in the Miss Universe of 1963. Six years later, Gloria Diaz would win the country's first Miss Universe crown.

In Miss Universe's history, the year with the most participation was in the Bangkok competition of 2018, which was won by Catriona Gray. On the other hand, the year with the most number of participants in the Miss World competition was the 2013 contest in Indonesia won by Megan.Young. You could say, the Philippines truly conquered the 'world' and the 'universe' for the record. In toto, there have been 190 countries who have joined the Miss Universe pageant, from the start, though not in the same years.

The United States of America, as franchise owner - first with Madison Square Productions, to the Trump era, and today's WME/IMG ownership - has participated 67 times and has the most number of wins with eight (1954 (Miriam Stevenson), 1956 (Carol Morris), 1960 (Linda Bement), 1967 (Sylvia Hitchcock), 1980 (Shawn Weatherly), 1995 (Chelsi Smith), 1997 (Brooke Lee), and 2012 (Olivia Culpo).

Venezuela has participated 66 times and has won seven times (1979 (Maritza Sayalero), 1981 (Irene Saez), 1986 (Barbara Palacios), 1996 (Alicia Machado), 2008 (Dayana Mendoza), 2009 Stefania Fernandez), and 2013 (Gabriela Isler).

Puerto Rico has joined 65 times and won the crown in 1970 (Marisol Malaret), 1985 (Deborah Carthy Deu), 1993 (Dayanara Torres), 2001 (Denise Quinones), and 2006 (Zuleyka Rivera).

The Philippines has joined 64 times and won the title in 1969 (Gloria Diaz), 1973 (Margarita Moran), 2015 (Pia Alonso Wurtzbach), and 2018 (Catriona Magnayon Gray).

Sweden participated 63 times and won three times - 1955 (Hillevi Rombin), 1966 (Margareta Arvidsson), and 1984 (Yvonne Ryding).

South Africa participated 45 times and won thrice - 1978 (Margaret Gardiner), 2017 (Demi Leigh nel-Peters), and 2019 (Zozibini Tunzi).

The current title is won by Andrea Meza of Mexico. Her country has previously won in 1991 (Lupita Jones) and 2010 (Ximena Navarrete).

However, there are 31 countries who have been part of the semi-final round but have yet to win the title. These are the the Latin American countries of Costa Rica, Uruguay, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Jamaica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Aruba, Curacao, Bahamas, and Paraguay; the European countries of Poland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Austria, Turkey, Switzerland, Ireland, Denmark, Iceland, and Belgium; the Asian countries of Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Sri Lanka, Indonesia; as well as the island states of Sri Lanka, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands.

With the aforementioned piece of information, pageant fans should realize it's not only the Philippines that's exerting so much time, money and effort to win the title. While we may be working on winning our fifth crown, other countries are working to simply land in the semi-final round, while others are still aiming for their first win.

So the country's 11-year placement streak at the semi-finals is no small feat, considering that, in the recent pageant alone, frontrunners like South Africa, Venezuela, Chile, Romania, and Canada did not even make it to the Top 21.

So in the next international pageant we will watch and follow, let's be kind and supportive of our representative. Let's wish her well in her journey. After all, it's not easy to compete on any stage. If you don't believe me, give it a try, join a pageant and you'll know what I mean.