Miss Universe 2019: Final Hotpicks !!
It’s short. It’s really short, they complain. But it’s really fun! Miss Universe 2019 has literally eaten away all the limelight from the ongoing Miss World pageant. And for right reasons! The traditional preliminary competition just happened yesterday and it’s got the whole pageant community talking. The batch is super-nice and it’s tough to predict who will win. The early favourite Thailand hasn’t really performed like a winner in the preliminaries and now the focus is shifting to other girls who have been garnering attention in the past few days.
MU’19: Top 15 Best in Swimsuit
MU’19: National Costumes Gallery
Without wasting much time, here are the choices of our experts for the Top 20.
- India – There are many things we love about India’s Vartika. She has a stunning face, perhaps the face of the year. She is extremely comfortable in front of the camera and photographs very well. The press loves here. In fact, it is said that everyone at the pageant loves her, even the MUO staff. She is amicable and kind. She is friendly, smiling and positive. She did well at the prelims too! We liked her a lot in the swimsuit round. Now okay, she perhaps doesn’t have the expert walking skills like some of the girls from Venezuela or the Philippines, but she walks well and looked stunning. Even in the evening gown round she looked good. The hair-do helped us focus on her face more, her gorgeous face more. We have no doubt she is breaking the chain of India’s non-placement since 2015 and we feel she can be surely up there in the Top 5 and even more! Third crown for India? Very much possible.
- Brazil – One of the early favourites. She looked really pretty in the prelims and did a good job in both rounds. She “stood out” and is said to be a sweet, nice person. Of course, she comes from a country which often sends well-prepared girls. We expect Brazil’s Julia in the Top 5 and would be shocked if she isn’t even in the Top 10.
- Colombia – Fabulous job in the prelims. We loved her in the swimsuit round. In fact, she is our no. 1 choice. She did well in evening gown round too, although the gown looked similar to the ones used by former Misses from Colombia. Nevertheless, we expect Miss Colombia to do very well in the finals.
- France – Stunning. She was one of our favourites in Miss World and it was shocking to see her out of the Top 5. We feel she can make up for that in Miss Universe. She looks great, has a fabulous aura and we really doubt she would be excluded from the Top 10. And if she makes it to Top 10, she will rise to Top 5.
- Puerto Rico – Madison is a performer. She proved that in the prelims. The energy, the smile, the confidence. She doesn’t have the supreme facial beauty of India or France, but she can rise high with her presentation skills.
- Kenya – Surprise! Kenya did such a good job in the prelims. It was really nice to see her giving a tough competition to delegates from countries which super-train their girls. We don’t know where Kenya learnt her chops, but she did a really good job.
- USA – She has done her very best. We love the choice of gown and we loved her toned body. We love her well-practised walk and we love her balanced personality. This girl, we say, can even make it to the Top 5 or Top 3.
- Thailand – Bit of a disappointment to be honest. She isn’t in her best shape and wasn’t particularly stand out in the evening gown round too. She did a job good enough to place in the Top 20 and maybe even Top 10, but we don’t see her in the Top 5, if there is fair play unless she suddenly improves her performance in the finals, which is not impossible too.
- Chile – Not really a popular choice, but we believe in the potential of this girl to do well in the finals.
- Indonesia – Alright, this girl tripped in the swimsuit round but she recovered well. She did really well in the evening gown round. We loved her overall styling. Probably we will see Indonesia making the cut again this year.
- Peru – Not everyone is talking about her, but those who are talking are talking quite vocally. Many people including us like her, she did well in the prelims.
- Dominican Republic – This girl is really young and yet she is not raw. She isn’t among the best performers, but we still smell a placement. Exuberant, Miss Dominican Republic is.
- Ireland – She did a good “NASA” job in the preliminary “NASA” competition. She did well in “NASA” the swimsuit competition and also in “NASA” the evening gown round. It would be shocking if she “NASA” doesn’t place.
- Vietnam – One of the best performers in the prelims. Swag, the way she walks and presents herself on the stage.
- South Africa – How can you deny this confidence? How can you deny this presence? She speaks well too. Keeping her out of Top 20 would be difficult.
- Iceland – Now she has the “biracial novelist” thing going about her, but she did a good job in prelims, particularly in the swimsuit round.
- Croatia – Europe this year isn’t too weak, but it isn’t too strong either. Every year we do see some random placements from the region. Croatia has done a nice job till now and she may just get lucky, thanks to the “reservations” (official or unofficial) in the Top 20.
- Philippines – Miss Philippines has done well in the prelims. She was good in the swimsuit and evening gown rounds. But she doesn’t speak as well as some of the recent Misses from this pageant powerhouse.
- Belgium – She says that being a pilot isn’t a biggie. But we don’t think many will agree with her! For reasons same as point 17, we feel she has a shot at Top 20, though we don’t see her progressing higher.
- Albania – The competition always begins with Albania, the country which often sends competitive girls. This year is no exception. Miss Albania is good, it’s just that the batch is too strong and hence she isn’t standing out unlike some of the front-runners. We do smell a possible placement though.
Within some hours, we shall KNOW! Let’s keep our fingers crossed for our favorites, shall we?!?!?
Image credits: Miss Universe Org