Evening Gown Preliminaries Review
Click on the thumbnails to view the photos.
Two days ago the all important preliminary competition took place in Los Angeles. The competition was a chance for the 85 delegates to compete in swimsuits, evening gowns and national costumes.
Today as promised I will discuss the evening gown preliminary competition.
Now, I’ve looked through every single photo available on the Miss Universe Press Site and have made my choices based on the over all style of the dress, how it looks on each delegate, and of course the overall impact it has on me.
This year a lot of girls wore white, which makes perfect sense. White has been the evening gown color of every Miss Universe crowned since 2001 (except Jennifer Hawkins in 2004). In 2002, all of the top five finalists were also dressed in white.
White is great. My only complaint is that some of the designs weren’t that special, which wouldn’t be wrong except that tonight was the night they needed to shine the brightest. Some just didn’t.
Having said that I really enjoyed the splash of color that other delegates chose to go with. It was well worth the risk I’d say. And which is why use of color became one of the factors that helped me put my top 20 evening gowns together. That list (below) should not be mixed up with my final prediction list which will come out the night before the pageant.
- Puerto Rico: The gown I must say makes amazing use of beads and crystals. The top portion is just amazing and she looked ravishing in it. Great concept, very original.
- Mexico: I’ve probably seen versions of this gown before, but she’s just so beautiful (shades of Natalie even). The glittery top just lets her standout and shine. On stage she also exudes such class and sophistication that truly a cut above the rest.
- Colombia: Not so sure of the exact earth tone on this dress but the beadwork on the top is amazing. It also fits superbly. I would have wanted the bottom to be a bit more flowing – but I like her almost casual, not too glammed-up look. Very beautiful.
- Indonesia: Lovely use of color. The pinks and yellows all blend together nicely. The top emphasizes her long neck and lovely shoulders, the bottom is also nice and flowing just like I like it.
- Dominican Republic: Red is always a great color choice, it just takes you away and wham! Her long black hair was a great contrast against her dark red lips. This was one sexy number.
- Australia: You have to look at it long enough to appreciate the detail. I like colors and the embroidery – I think the flowing skirt could have been ironed better though, looks like she took it out of the suitcase. Not sure if this color stands out on stage as well.
- Jamaica: I just like the way this dress comes together. Its sleek and modern and has great texture to it.
- Switzerland – Nothing special here but she looked radiant in hot pink. She would have looked great in anything though.
- Peru – The dress was very traditional but it has nice lines, again the strong color worked well in contrast with her tan complexion.
- Nicaragua – She looked sweet and serine in this dress. Not sure if it made strong enough an impression.
- Canada – This is an example of a dress that didn’t say anything. There’s no doubt about it that this girl’s a frontrunner – but the dress doesn’t do her justice. She looks plain and tired in the photo. No spark at all.
- Ghana – Another simple gown on an amazing girl. But I think she did a great job.
- India – It could have just been the photos, but those slits that reveal portions of her waist also show some love handles. Nonetheless she was sexy as ever in this red number.
- Sri Lanka – Lovely color. I’m so partial to green and I think it was the right choice for her.
- Spain – Not much a fan of the gown. But the photos tell us she carried it really well.
- Khazakstan – Here’s a girl I would love to creep into the semifinals. Her gown was light and breezy, it was gold but wasn’t too flashy. She also has a lovely face and a great body to match.
- Brazil – She made up for a poor swimsuit performance (which we’ll talk about tomorrow) with this gown. There are slits in all the right places to show off her sexy figure. But then again its white and I think I’ve seen it all before.
- Trinidad & Tobago – Very simple number but highlights her figure and presented really well. I would have loved something orange – like we’ve seen the last two years, or perhaps another strong color. I find that strong bright colors go great with dark skin types (compare Miss Nigeria 2001 Agbani Derego’s lime green dress that won her the Miss World title with the pale, unattractive one she wore to the Miss Universe pageant months before).
- Bolivia – She looked lovely, again nothing special.
- Ethiopia – Nice beadwork. I was happy to see Ethiopia do well at preliminaries and I am hoping she did well enough to get her through to the Top 20.
Some of my favorites who didn’t do too well in this part of the competition are Philippines (uninspired), Serbia & Montenegro (weird but forgettable), USA (illfitting), and Ukraine (what’s with the bow?).
I’d like to give special mention to Guyana’s dress which is a lovely shade of blue. The bottom could have been a bit more puffy but overall a great gown choice for her. I also liked the deconstructed look of Paraguay’s white/silver number. And St Lucia’s was nice too.
Some really horrible ones were the ones by France (Bjork/Swan like) and Singapore (what was she thinking?). Someone should also start telling Korea that the evening gown competition shouldn’t be a repeat of her national costume dress. China has already learned that lesson.
