The Earth Warriors going are going on head to head against the Peace keepers. Who will emerge victorious? Lets us look at the pros on cons of each of these and I will let you all decide which side you should take or maybe you can take both or NONE. The choice is yours.

MISS EARTH 2016

PROS:

The Location and Activities

Arguably Philippines is one of the best locations for pre pageant activities and I feel this year they have catapulted to level that wasn’t seen in any of its previous editions. The girls are treated to one of the most scenic places in the country. Also going by their this years theme i.e. empowered to change; the girls are doing what Miss Earth believes in; going to schools, educating children about climate change, planting saplings, taking part in local conservation activities along with other plethora of fun things. Its not hard to say that girls are having a time of their lives.

The diverse locations and the multifaceted scenic beauty of Philippines adds to the color of the already glowing pageant. The girls are having good time and dwelling in activities and earth missions like never before. The pre pageant activities have exceeded the levels of any given pre pageant activities that a contest has.

 

Candidates enjoying local activities   – Picture credits Miss Earth Facebook page

 Quality and Quantity

Quality and quantity of delegates is much superior as compared to all the other pageants happening in the month of October. The top 20 will be hard to pick from an array of beautiful girls.

The Advocacy

Miss Earth has one of the most relevant advocacies among the other pageants and this year it has definitely capitalised on all of its aspects. The earth warriors are putting their best foot and hands forward in conserving the flora and the fauna.

Miss Earth theme for 2016 – Empowered to make a change – Picture credits – Miss Earth FB

Production Value

Another thing to watch out is their new home for the coronation ball. The lavish space and size of Mall of Asia promises extravaganza on a perch. I believe that this year Miss Earth will have its best production number compared to the antecedent 15 years. Miss Earth is reeling in from pressure from younger pageant counterparts in this department and has finally pulled up its socks and everyone is expecting a treat for their

eyes on October 29^th.

Stage of Mall of Asia at Nicki Minaj concert. Picture credits : Manila Concert Scene

CONS:

Bias:

Favouritism is one thing that Miss Earth needs to shake off. There is more emphasis on certain girls who are give more importance than others eg. Their home delegate was darling of the press inspite of her controversial statements. Another thing is that the Medal table, the toppers of which have failed to place 90% of the time. If such a scenario has to repeat will Ecuador- who is the medal topper will be left behind like her predecessors?

Black is not Beautiful:

Ignoring black girls. Many of you will say its about performance and not the color of the skin on how a contestant should be judged, yes I agree but when a girl from a with a colored skin performs, she should be bestowed on with laurels and not ignored. It isn’t just Miss Earth but all pageants tend to do this and its totally unfair. Miss Kenya and Miss Uganda who are touted as the best black delegates hasn’t been noticed at all by the judges. Haven’t they performed? Yes they have and the competition videos are clear proof that they have. So why this ignorance? Look below at the fashion show which group 3 had. ONLY the black delegates were given less fashionable outfits as compared to beautiful gowns worn by the light skinned girls.

Only black girls were given this less impressive outfit in group 3 compared to other white girls : Picture credits – Missosology

 Better crown design:

Yes, I will be barraged with criticisms saying that the crown is unique because it contains jewels and stones from different parts of the world. Yes the idea is very noble, but the design? Common people Miss Earth Organisation can do a crown with a better design and its been more than 8 years for this crown, the design needs to be updated.

 

Miss Earth crown

 

MISS GRAND INTERNATIONAL 2016

 PROS:

 The Grandeur/ Accomplishments

The only pageant which comes closest to Miss Universe in terms of production value is definitely MGI. People who disagree are obviously in denial. In the past 3 years, MGI has proved that time and again it is capable of pulling coronation ball of an A+ level. Having moved to Las Vegas, MGI fans can expect the glitz and blitz of Vegas lights to the charm of the finale. Also, having moved to Vegas in only its fourth year speaks volume about the heights this pageant has reached.

MGI 2016 contestants on stage : Picture credits – Globalbeauties

 Popularity

Miss Grand has definitely left its older counterparts behind in terms of popularity. The number of people talking about MGI has reached surreal levels and NO it’s not just the likes, the reach and  the actual people talking (which cant be faked like autolikes) is much higher than ME or MI. The reach therefore is much greater because these days people tend to be more on social media than on television.

New Crown

The new changes are always welcome and the new crown isn’t just beautiful but symbolic as well. The the 7 elevations represent the 7 continents and the international logo of peace on each of those 7 is quite interesting to look at, also the logo of MGI – lady torch is perched in the centre which makes the crown even more special.

Miss Grand International new Golden crown –  Picture credits MGI FB page

 Equal Importance:

There is no such thing called as a sash factor, even the smallest country with no sash factor are on equal footing as the rest of the elite pageant countries, in the past editions we have seen countries like Cuba, Ethiopia, Slovakia reach the top 5 which is hardly seen at Miss Earth nowadays.

CONS:

Pageant activities/ Contestant Quality

By far their worst year in terms of pre pageant activities. Again, Asian countries are far superior in pre pageant activities than any other region in the world and the move to dessert Vegas has come with its own problems which hampered pre pageant activities which otherwise wouldn’t be an issue if it was held in an Asian country. The girls are most seen in the hotels conference hall and have been on sightseeing tours for merely 3- 4 times.. The quality of contestant this year is also quite under par.

Judging

The judging of the national costume came under heavy scrutiny from pageant fans worldwide wherein the public were given a chance to decide which 10 costumes would move forward based on points on number of likes and shares. Now, how on earth a country like Malta supposed to win this even if had the best national costume? Then, MGI made another stupid move by asking the again to judge these 10 qualified costumes. Which was completely ridiculous.

     3 of the top 10 costumes decided by the public to be in the top 10 – Picture credits – MGI FB page

Miss Iceland Controversy

Miss Iceland was catapulted to the front by her interview by which the judges were totally charmed. After this, Miss Iceland posted a video on snapchat saying that she was asked by the owner of MGI (who liked her very much) to lose weight if she had to advance in the competition. She then posted another video saying that it was all a misunderstand and she was never fat shamed. But to everyone’s surprise she left the below message( in pic) on her facebook account, before leaving the competition. claiming that she was asked to deny being fat shamed. With an already low number of contestants, MGI hit another low with a loss of Miss Iceland.

Note from Miss Iceland Facebook page

Your Say

Having gone through the pros and cons, I have decided to stay neutral until the coronation ball. Which pageant has impressed you the most so far. ME? MGI? BOTH? Or NONE? Your opinion would be SEXY.

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Author:

-Adney Goncalves