Throwback Thursday: #TBT-10
What happens when the goddess herself comedown to battle out the fight but loses unexpectedly?
Well, may be Ingrid Rivera could answer that question the best. Yes, I am talking about the battle of Beauty. All those who are ardent fan of pageants like me, will know the curious case of Ingrid Rivera. Ingrid represented Puerto Rico at Miss World in 2005. Miss World 2005 was my first edition when I literally followed Miss World contest. I remember there was a local news paper who listed out hot favourites of Miss World back then just 3-4 days before finale. The had mentioned Miss India, China, Philippines, Iceland, Russia, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and few more. However, out of all the pics I saw in that list, what caught my attention was this:
You might think that I am exaggerating but I was literally stunned at her beauty. To me, she was the best for the crown. In fact I could not even see other 9 girls coming closer to her. However, to everybody’s dismay, she was declared as 2nd runners up to Miss Mexico and the winner Miss Iceland. She might not have won that night, but to me she was the most beautiful girl out there….!!!
However, the saga didn’t end here, she brought back the life in pageant fans’ interest for Puerto Rico when she was rumoured to be participating in Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2008. People were flooding the online portals with hype around her and as everyone expected, she won. However, her win was bit controversial as she reported that some one mixed pepper spray in her gown and make up. This led to speculations that her competitors who were jealous of her would have done this purposefully to make her lose. But sad, their trick didn’t work out, she emerged out as a deserving winner. She looked lovely and as angelic as she was in Miss World. She was touted as one of the top front runners along with Venezuela’s Dayana Mendoza, USA’s Crystle Stewart and India’s Simran Kaur Mundi to win the crown of Miss Universe.
However, the National Director of Miss Puerto Rico then, Magali Febles made her under go a Nose Surgery which in opinion of many went all wrong. Her goddess look was completely destroyed and she looked a bit messed up. Yet, she was still on the bet because many believed that she would rock the prelim considering her stage performance and her training. She was not getting as much attention as the candidates of Venezuela, India, Mexico, USA etc were getting. At this point it was clear that she might not win but will definitely give a tough fight to her competitors in the finale.
Before Finale, there was an interview round, after which Ingrid was reportedly found crying because she thought she didn’t perform as expected. In prelims as well, you could make out that she was not the happiest soul out there like you could see for Venezuela, Dominican Republic or mexico. Her performance was lack lusture, just compare her appearance at Miss World and Miss Universe. I made my final prediction list on that day, I kept Venezuela on top followed by Colombia, India, Puerto Rico and USA. To my shock, as well as everyone’s, India and Puerto Rico failed ot make the first cut itself. It was a huge shock that a girl like Ingrid could not even find herself a place in Top 15 after placing 3rd at Miss World 2005. Her journey for the quest of Miss Universe ended right there..!!!!
I felt sad but then it was bit of expected as well, she failed to deliver when it mattered the most. Do you think she could have beaten Dayana had she place in Top 15?