MGP prelims

 Frontrunners sizzle in preliminaries

By Earl D.C. Bracamonte

Since the screening rounds began, up until the preliminaries at the grand ballroom of the Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila over the weekend, frontrunners to the national Grand crown never lost steam. They, instead, upped the ante; giving co-contenders a harder time to catch up.

Angono, Rizal's Herlene Nicole Budol, Caloocan City's Shannon Tampon, Bagumbayan, QC's Michelle Arceo, and Cagayan de Oro's Nikki de Moura all brought their A-game to the swimwear, evening gown, and national costume categories.

The prelims, which was also the Charity Gala Night, featured the creations of six featured designers, whose designs the candidates and outgoing queens gamely wore at the 'Fashion Ensemble' segment of the night.

Reina Hispanoamericana Filipinas 2022 Ingrid Santa Maria looked resplendent in a carmine Leo Almodal number. Miss Eco Philippines 2022 Ashley Subijano Montenegro donned a gravity-defying ebony creation by Rau Ablaza. 

Miss World Philippines Charity 2022 Cassandra Chan scorched the catwalk in a golden caped gown from Cherry Veric.

Pablo Mendez's cowled silver ensemble made a princess of Miss Eco Teen International 1st runner-up Tatyana Austria. Miss Tourism World 2022 1st runner-up Justine Felizarta was a spectacle in Val Taguba's design. While Miss Grand International 2022 5th runner-up Roberta Tamondong stole the show in a beautifully executed off-the-shoulder creation by Mark Bumgarner.

The thirty candidates all competed in the creative cultural costume presentation, in the evening gown, and the swimsuit in identical cerulean monokinis from Bench.

MGI president Nawat Itsaragrisil would have been delighted to see how Nueva Ecija's Aeroz Ganiban did her introduction in the "grand" manner. He would have also applauded the national costume parade. He will arrive in Manila early this week in time for the final show.

The 2023 Miss Grand Philippines coronation night unfolds on July 13 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Aside from the national Grand title, two other lucky delegates will also be crowned as Reina Hispanoamericana Filipinas and Miss Tourism World Philippines, aside from two runner-up titles. Stay tuned!