Cyberprince Chronicles

In a few a few hours the gates to the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City will open. Hundreds maybe thousands will be there in person while millions all over the world will tune in LIVE as the life of one woman is changed forever. That woman will be crowned Miss Universe 2007 and the rest as we all know is history.

And so before this fateful night is upon us let us take a break and go through our usual list of predictions.

For those who have joined us just recently I have been covering the Miss Universe pageant online since 2003. Last year I started the Miss Universe Blog to provide more than just a yearly list and commentary on the pageant but also reviews of the preliminary competition, pageant updates and more importantly LIVE running web coverage of the event.

Modesty aside I have a relatively good record for picking the semifinalists and the eventual winner, you can see that record here. But the following piece as it has become a tradition, is not about me but about 20 of the 77 girls vying for the crown and more importantly the two which I believe have the biggest chances of making it all the way.

Why 2? In 2005 I was torn between Puerto Rico and Canada (I was rooting for Puerto Rico but had an inkling Canada would win it)…Canada won. So last year I decided to select two women, one that I wanted to win and the other who I felt would take the title. Last year it was my favorite who took the title hopefully it happens again this year.

A couple of days back I didn’t have a clue as to who I would pick this year, at first now one stuck out as a sure winner, finally though a few hours ago I wound up the grueling process. Here is the list you’ve been waiting for, my Miss Universe 2007 Predictions.

1.) KOREA: When one girl is too hot a favorite I often pause to make sure I’m not just jumping onto the bandwagon. But, after much thought, I am quite convinced that Korea is the woman to beat this year. She just looks more and more beautiful with each passing day, and that is vital in the days leading up to the pageant, especially in a month-long competition like this; you can’t run out of steam instead you need to build the momentum all the way to the finish. I really think its time an Asian woman of oriental descent wears the crown and I believe Honey Lee has both the beauty and the brains that would make her a great Miss Universe.

1.) USA: Even before the start of the pageant, I’ve had a funny feeling that this might be one of those years that Miss USA is crowned Miss Universe. After the preliminary competition, I must say that chances are high for Rachel Smith. Her natural beauty, and bubbly personality are endearing. She also comes to Mexico well prepared to win the title. I also must give her props for performing so well despite the constant jeers every time she makes an appearance in public. Again with both good looks and a great brain, this lady would also make a good Miss Universe.

3.) VENEZUELA: Personally I don’t think Ly Jonaitis is among most beautiful woman in the pageant this year. She seems overly made up, maybe to compensate for whatever she is lacking. However, Venezuela, being the pageant superpower that it is, has done a great job in making this lady over. In Mexico, Ly has really shown brightly throughout the competition and I take it she’s more than prepared to strut herself come pageant night. Whether it be in photos or in video she has a way of making her presence felt, and honestly she did quite well in her interview also. A strong delegate overall she is not one to be overlooked.

4.) THAILAND: Farung Yuthithum was actually crowned by Zuleyka Rivera Miss Universe 2006 back in Bangkok last year, and I would not be a surprise if Zuleyka also crowns her as her successor tonight. Another strong delegate from Asia, Thailand did extremely well during the preliminaries (in both swimsuit and more so in evening gown). Its worth mentioning that I was not as impressed with her interview as the other ladies in my top 5, however at 5″11 Farung is the tallest delegate from Asia, and if Donald’s looking for a Asian supermodel, she’d fit the bill perfectly. Also wouldn’t it be great to see Thailand and Korea in the top two…just like what happened in 1988.

5.) ESTONIA: Eastern Europe sent a couple of formidable blonds this year and on top of that list is Miss Estonia. Viktoria Azovskaja looks like a supermodel version of Paris Hilton. Although based on close up photos, I wouldn’t say that Viktoria is the most beautiful delegate but she definitely has the personality. She was very candid and sweet in her interview and I was very impressed with her performance in the preliminaries. I hope she does well, expect her to charm her way into the semis and beyond.

6.) JAPAN: After last year’s spectacular performance, expect Japan to do very well this year. I’d say Rio Mori is enjoying a bit of hype coming from the success of her predecessor, not that she hasn’t been creating waves on her own. For example on her own account she had the best evening gown during the preliminaries, a Gucci dress from the 2007 Spring/Summer collection (although I expect her to wear something else during pageant night). I’m only saying this because she isn’t the prettiest Asian delegate, in fact a couple of others are far more superior than her, however she’s been getting a lot of attention from the beginning. Rio wasn’t superb in the swimsuit competition, and not as superb in the interview, but I expect her to place, nonetheless.

7.) ITALY: A pleasant surprise from the preliminaries, Valentina Massia is once again proof that performance in the preliminaries can make or break a delegate. I’m pretty sure we’ll be seeing her as go as far as the top ten if not even more. She’s looked stellar in her swim suit, although she does look dangerously thin, then again look where that got Zuleyka (last year’s winner). It would be very interesting how far she is able to go tonight, but I think she has real elegance and class, and wouldn’t mind seeing the crown on her head either.

8.) MEXICO: Who can forget the home town bet, Rosa Maria Ojeda Cuen. It isn’t always tradition to give the host delegate a spot in the semifinals and we’ve seen that not happen plenty of times. It is always a welcome treat however, especially with a lively home crowd like this. But not to worry, I think Mexicans are in for a treat this year. Rosa is obviously trained in old world pageant school. I really hope they look for a more natural beauty and not one that is overly made up.

Outside the Top 8 I think everything is pretty much an open field for the following ladies on my list. Of course I’m ranking them anyway. Forgive me if I’m blunt about t he way some of the delegates look. This is in no way an attack on their character.

9.) DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: I’m a bit torn going back and forth between her photos and her video. Over the last few years Dominican Republic has been fielding very strong delegates. This year is no exception Massiel Taveras is well prepared and did great in the preliminaries. My only complaint is that her looks aren’t at par as most of the girls on this list. Still one cannot overlook preliminaries, and I think her performance there is good enough to get her this far.

10.) SPAIN: A favorite early on, I’m quite disappointed with Spain’s overall performance in the preliminaries, I think she could have done much better. I’ve always felt that her being a favorite can be attributed to that amazing fashion photoshoot with Fadil Berisha. Most of her photos on the other hand show that she actually has quite a strong jaw and is not that stunning.

11.) SOUTH AFRICA: Photos throughout the pageant have shown Megan Coleman to be an very lovely woman, with a fresh, face and an amazing body. But something about the way she looked during the preliminaries made me change the way I’ve thought about her. She looked a bit old and maybe that’s because of the hairdo, but get her to change that and maybe her evening gown and maybe she’ll do better.

12.) PUERTO RICO: This girl’s been off my list for the duration of the pageant, because of her shall we say “unconventional” looks. Again the preliminaries are important and when it mattered I think she delivered. She has a great catwalk, and long graceful legs. Many count her out but I think she could pretty much make it into the semifinals.

13.) GUATEMALA: Guatemala has only had two semifinalists ever, first in 1955 and then in 1984. It would be great is 2007 be the year they break the dry spell. I’ve literally not been paying attention, but Alida Boer did captivate me with amazing performances in both legs of the preliminaries. With that latin flair she did amazing on the catwalk, has a great bod, and even a great gown choice. The tallest delegate this year she has ironically been overlooked, still I hope the judges saw what I saw in her and give her that chance to go even further.

14.) PHILIPPINES: If you look at close up shots, out of all the women from Asia, the Philippines Ana Theresa Lecaros has one of the most stunning faces out of the bunch (except for maybe Miss Korea). At the same time I expect her to have given the judges one of the best preliminary interviews over any one else. However I’m not totally convinced by her preliminaries performance. I’m hoping she did enough to take her through to the Top 15. Get her to let her hair down and change that evening gown and she should make the Top 10.

15.) GREECE: One of the biggest disappointments of the preliminary pageant is Greece. A stunner from early on, Doukissa Nomikou’s flame died town too early. I don’t know if she had enough to get her all the way to semifinals. I’m hoping she did. Looks wise Doukissa has that mystical gaze. She’s another one of those photogenic ladies that did amazing in her Fail Berisha photoshoot. Alas its one thing to look amazing in photos and another to shine on stage when it matters most.

16.) TANZANIA: A recent Associated Press article quoted Ms. Tanzania as saying she decided to shave all her hair off so that she wouldn’t be defined by how her hair looks. Ironically the lack of it has perhaps got her the most attention. I’m not sure if her preliminary performance was good enough to have pulled her up into the semifinals though. She looked sexy in the swimsuit competition, but chose a lackluster evening gown. This one we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

ALTERNATES

17.) BRAZIL: A favorite from early on but slightly missing the mark is Brazil. I think she tried too hard and wasn’t completely herself. Also as we’ve seen from past Misses Brazils, they’ve suffered from poor coaching.

18.) DENMARK: Another girl who I think could have made it into the semis. I was very happy with her preliminary performance but there just ins’t any more room for her in the Top 16.

19.) ANGOLA: A personal favorite from early on, Angola actually did a great job overall, however I felt she had too much hair covering her face, it made me feel heavy instead of light and joyous. I don’t think this helped her chances. Still she is a viable alternate for the semis.

20.) SLOVENIA: Initially I had put her as high as ten on my list but I have a feeling she is not ready to go all the way just yet.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 29th, 2007 at 2:06 am and is filed under Miss Universe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.