Best of Miss Universe 2018

Miss Universe 2018 recently concluded with the selection of Catriona Gray from the Philippines as the winner of the coveted title. The show was full of glamor and entertainment, and like every year there were some surprises but many not. Here are the contestants who shined the most in the finals, in different categories.

Best in swimsuit

Most of the contestants did well in the round. We were particularly impressed by South Africa, Vietnam and Venezuela. Iwe have to pick one, we will go with Venezuela. She has a great body and a confident walk to match up with it’s flawlessness.

Best in evening gown

We loved Philippines, Puerto Rico and Vietnam in this round! Philippines wore a red gown and worked it well with her now-famous “Lava” walk. Puerto Rico stood out due to her sultry presence. However, the round for us belonged to Miss Vietnam. She was lovely; her presence, her walk and that smile – she was flawless.

Best gown

Hands down, Canada wins this one with her gorgeous dress by Michael Cinco. We also liked the beautiful gowns of Misses Philippines and Vietnam.

Best Answer

The answer of Miss South Africa in Top 5 Q/A round was our favorite answer of the evening! We loved how she diplomatically handled the question – she made a logical point and at the same time her stand was kind and humane.

Question: “Many countries across the world are experiencing and increase in immigration. Do you think countries should limit the number of refugees allowed across their borders?”

Answer: “I think that every country should have their own rules and regulations but for a thriving society if all of us stand together, we have to understand that we are all human and we all are more alike than we are not so we should be open to loving each other, accepting each other, it doesn’t matter where we come from.”

Best overall performance

We have to give this to Miss Philippines (and now Miss Universe) Catriona Gray. She gave strong performances in the swimsuit and evening gown rounds. Her top 5 answer wasn’t probably the best among the five, but she gave the best response in the Top 3 Q/A round. We feel her selection as Miss Universe is clearly justified by her overall performance. Apart from Catriona, we would pick Misses South Africa and Vietnam to complete the Top 3.

Biggest surprise

To us, perhaps the biggest surprise was Natalia Carvajal – Miss Costa Rica making it to the Top 10. She grabbed the attention of the world when she boldly joked with Steve Harvey about the mistake he made in Miss Universe 2015. She performed well in the three rounds she was allowed to be a part of. Almost none of the pageant portals expected her in the Top 20, but she made it and even progressed to the Top 10.

Biggest shock

The biggest shock was perhaps the exclusion of Miss India Nehal Chudasama from the Top 20. She was our top pick for the title of Miss Universe 2018. She had done impressively in the preliminary competition and had won hearts with her story and her congenial, smart personality. In our opinion, she should have been there at least in the Top 10. In fact we also missed Ecuador & Nigeria in the Top 20. Both the ladies did well and deserved acknowledgement in the finals.

Best moment of the show

Miss Spain Angela Ponce received special recognition during the telecast for being the first Trans-gender woman to participate in Miss Universe. A short video was shown where she spoke how just participating in the pageant enables her to give the message of equality and then she gracefully walked on the stage receiving a standing ovation from the crowd. Our hearts melted. We are sure it happened for many.

Thank you for reading this article.

Images: Miss Universe