Swimsuit preliminary

Dominican Republic sashays to the top of swimsuit prelims; Angola, Hong Kong, and the Philippines delivers the goods too!

By Earl D.C. Bracamonte

The say a dramatic entrance is everything! And so it is! Like the press conference and gala dinner night where the candidates were whisked off to the Four Points Sheraton aboard a shining crimson Corvette C8 Mustang - wearing their national crowns and evening finery, the swimsuit preliminary did that as well - only, this time, the girls came to shore from Chalong Bay in a double-decked sailboat - the H.E. Hype Boat Club!

Garbed in bright yellow-orange maillots, the official MGI swimwear of the preliminary, all camera angles (from the bust frames, medium/long shots, to the several drone angles - captured the ladies' curves and contours (or the lack thereof) in the unforgiving glare of the mid-morning sun; intensifying the glamour and drama of the ongoing Miss Grand International 2021 pageant!

Stephanie Medina of Dominican Republic delivered a whallop of a performance to snatch the top spot of the swimsuit parade - gliding through the quay like it was the most natural thing to do!

Adriana Moya (Costa Rica), Maria Jose Sazo (Guatemala), Sophia Rogan (Indonesia), and Samantha Alexandra Panlilio (Philippines) equally stood out in their respective pasarela routines down the gangplanks of the JL Marina.

The other candidates who stood out during the swimwear preliminary, in alphabetical order, were:

- Marcia de Menezes (Angola)

- Sothida Pokimtheng (Cambodia)

- Geysel Vaillant (Cuba)

- Iris Yasmin Guerra (El Salvador)

- Cecilia Monteroja (Honduras)

- Sen Yang (Hong Kong)

- Marnela Macias (Mexico)

- Patience Chenema Christopher (Nigeria)

- Jeane Van Dam (South Africa)

- Indy Johnson (Thailand), and

- Nguyen Thuc Tuy Tien (Vietnam)

Prior to the swimsuit preliminary, the candidates had their swimwear photo shoot at the beautiful beaches of Banana Island. 

And for a true Thai experience, the ladies planted rice at the paddies of the Old Phuket Farm dressed in farming getup. They were also taught how to winnow hand-milled rice grains.

Like last year, one lucky contestant is fast-tracked to the Top 10 through the fan votes. Pageant fans can help their favorites by voting on the Star app by using *789. The National Costume competition is scheduled on Nov 30, while the preliminaries is set on Dec 2.

The Miss Grand International 2021 coronation night will happen on Dec. 4 and will be beamed live to an international audience via Grand TV on YouTube and Facebook. Stay tuned for more updates in the weeks and days leading to the final show.