Pageant vignettes

Octoberfest: Pageant edition!

By Earl D.C. Bracamonte

In pre-pandemic times, beer kegs had been overflowing the bars of Germany and the rest of Europe. In the Philippines, bottles of beer would be sold cheaply all over the country as health advocates wear pink ribbons in support of the breast cancer awareness campaign. In this time of the ongoing pandemic, with its varying levels of quarantine protocols, much of the drinking, and campaigning is confined to the virtual platform.

The beauty industry, however, is in full swing as local and international pageants abound in this beer-drinking month.

Binibining Pilipinas InterContinental 2021 Cinderella Faye Obeñita flew to Egypt to compete in the Miss InterContinental finals on Oct. 29 in the coastal city of Sharm El-Sheikh on the Red Sea.

After her send-off, Reina Hispanoamericana Filipinas 2021 winner Emmanuelle Vera will fly to Bolivia for the international finals. 

Two days after Vera's departure, Binibining Pilipinas Globe 2021 Maureen Montagne will also fly to Albania for the final show in the city of Tirana. The Miss Globe's coronation night happens simultaneously with that of Miss Universe UAE.

Pageant veteran Shannon Tampon, who was appointed by the Cebu-based pageant organization Hiyas ng Pilipinas as the country's representative to the Miss Elite World 2021, will also be leaving this month for the finals in Turkey.

But the busiest of these ladies would be our former Miss Universe queens. Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray will join Miss Universe 2019 Zozibini Tunzi as pre-show and backstage host in the Miss South Africa Universe 2021 pageant slated to happen this weekend, Oct 16, 4pm, South African time.

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, Miss Universe 2018 1st runner-up Tamaryn Green, and reigning Miss Universe Andrea Meza will be part of the selection committee.

Pageant fans, especially those who are Web-savvy, will have a field day covering all these pageant events. But the fun doesn't stop here. The pageant season fever will keep burning 'til it reaches fever pitch in December with the final show of the Miss Grand International in Phuket, Thailand on Dec. 4, the Miss World in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Dec. 16, and the Miss Universe, around the same time, in Eilat, Israel. Stay tuned!