Miss Universe 2021

Highlights from the 70th Miss Universe preliminaries

By Earl D.C. Bracamonte

This year's swimsuit and evening gown preliminaries begun with the candidates introducing themselves in batches of four, wearing Portia and Scarlett dresses of their choice. In the swimwear segment, the ladies went out in their preferred Gottex cut - a monokini, a two-piece bikini, or a body suit. Miss Bahrain, for cultural and religious reasons, opted to don a playwear. In both segments of swim and gown, the ladies were presented in four batches of 16 delegates.

There were several standouts in the swimsuit, as well as in the evening gown competition. So we narrowed our top picks to 16 ladies who both stood out in both categories.

Miss Universe Philippines 2021 Beatrice Luigi Gomez leads the pack garbed in a ruby-toned asymmetrical waist-and-leg baring ensemble and a peridot-hued maillot. The other standouts, in alphabetical order, are:

- Chantel O'Brian, Bahamas

- Antonia Cristal Figueroa, Chile

- Valeria Ayos, Colombia

- Clémence Botino, France

- Dannia Guevara, Guatemala

- Harnaaz Sandhu, India

- Chelsi Shikongo, Namibia

- Anambra Maristella Impala, Nigeria

- Nadia Ferreira, Paraguay

- Michelle Marie Colon, Puerto Rico

- Lalela Mswane, South Africa

- Anchilee Scott-Kemmis, Thailand

- Elle Smith, USA

- Luiseth Materan, Venezuela

- Nguyen Huynh Kim Duyen, Vietnam

And, of course, as representative of the host country, Miss Universe Israel 2021 Noa Cochva could easily dislodge one of our aforementioned picks. Plus, one or two other girls that weren't under our radar.

At the close of the preliminaries, Carnival Cruise's president Christine Duffy named Miss Universe Bahamas 2021 Chantel O'Brian as the "Spirit of Carnival" for embodying the fun, friendship, and diversity of the special award; while Miss Universe Chile 2021 Antonia Cristal Figueroa was named the recipient of the Impact Wave Award and US$ 10,000 cash prize for her "carbon footprint" project.

"I'm looking for someone that is comfortable in her own skin. The job over the next few days will be to help us pick that Top 16 that will become the face of our brand. Again, authenticity. When a Miss Universe walks into the room, she has that compelling aura. And when she speaks to you, she holds your attention. She is a woman that has opinion. She is articulate," declared MUO president Paula Shugart, in a message to the members of the selection committee.

This year's selection committee is comprised of Miss Universe 2016 Iris Mittenaere, Miss Universe India 2015 Urvashi Rautela, Victoria Secret model Adriana Lima, entrepreneur Lori Harvey, Emmy Award-winning actor Adamari Lopez, and Filipino actress Marian Rivera-Dantes, together with prelims judges Miss Universe USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst and Miss Universe 1976 Rina Messinger Mor-Gadore.

Hosted by reigning Miss Universe Andrea Meza and Carson Kressley, the two-hour extravaganza was beamed live to an international audience from Eilat, Israel through the Miss Universe YouTube channel and, locally, through the Lazada app.