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Beauty Spotted by Ariel Allera

~ My Online Lifestyle Magazine on People, Places, Arts, Culture, Pageants, Et Cetera

Beauty Spotted by Ariel Allera

Tag Archives: miss universe 2013

From Russia with Love, EMIN

09 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by ARIEL ALLERA in Uncategorized

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ariel allera, bb pilipinas 2014, Emin Agalarov, gabriela isler, miss universe 2013, paula shugart, smart araneta coliseum, venus raj

Witnessing the Binibining Pilipinas 2014 Coronation Night in Quezon City on March 30 felt like watching the Miss Universe 2013 Pageant live from Moscow last November 9. Aside from all of the 40 equally world-class and internationally ready candidates, many familiar faces from the latter added meaning to the glitz and glamour of the former, such as the Miss Universe Organization president Paula Shugart, Miss Universe 2013 Gabriela Isler, outgoing Miss Universe Philippines Ariella Arida (who placed third runner-up at Miss Universe 2013), et alia. Of course, how could we forget Emin Agalarov, this hot Russian pop star, son of Russian billionaire Aras Agalarov, and son-in-law of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev? Although I wasn’t as starstruck by him as I was awestruck by Paula and Gabriela, I couldn’t deny the fact that I was smitten with his boyish grin. Unbeknownst to his bodyguards, I took a chance for a selfie with Emin while waiting for the results of the one-hour, closed-door deliberation.

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Up Close and Personal with Miss Universe Organization President Paula Shugart and Miss Universe 2013 Gabriela Isler

06 Sunday Apr 2014

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ariel allera, bb pilipinas, bb pilipinas 2014, benigno aquino, gabriela isler, miss universe 2013, miss universe organization president, noynoy aquino, paula shugart, smart araneta coliseum

I have never seen Benigno Aquino III as our country’s president, for he was then a senator when we rode the same ferry from mainland Surigao to the island of Siargao. Nor have I seen, even from afar, any of our former presidents.

What I find notable, though, is that I have, not just seen, but also met and talked to a president who I never imagined fleshing out like a dream come true right before my very eyes. She is Paula Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization!

Prior to my departure to Manila on March 27, I expressed in a separate blog how excited I was to witness the Binibining Pilipinas 2014 Coronation Night, because both the reigning Miss Universe Gabriela Isler and the Miss Universe Organization president Paula Shugart would be in attendance as special guests. Little did I know that part of God’s plan for me was to actually be able to shake hands with the most awesome woman in the universe. Although getting up close and personal with her seemed precarious, considering the tight security, I didn’t arrive at the venue unprepared: I brought a copy or two of a blog I’d written about her and Gabriela, printed and laminated.

So when she was returning from an hour of closed-door deliberation together with the judges, I called her, waving my write-ups, “Hi, Paula! Let’s talk. I have something for you and Gabriela.” I handed her my presents, and then I overheard the gays around commenting on my gesture: “Aba, hindi siya masyadong prepared.” For the sake of my foreign readers, what they said, in jest, was: “Wow, he’s not that prepared.”

Paula was all smiles upon accepting the printouts. That, in all its simplicity and nothingness, could’ve been one of the sweetest things that she had ever received from a mere fan of such a great organization which she’s presiding. She said, glancing at my write-up and the byline, “Oh, thank you, Ariel. How sweet of you to do this for me and Gabriela. Thank you very much!”

Click the following links for related post:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152042473692194&set=a.171168842193.121747.707622193&type=1&theater

or

https://arielallera.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/gabriela-isler-paula-shugart-to-embellish-binibining-pilipinas-2014-coronation-night/

 
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Gabriela Isler, Paula Shugart to Embellish Binibining Pilipinas 2014 Coronation Night

27 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by ARIEL ALLERA in Uncategorized

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ariel allera, bb pilipinas 2014, binibining pilipinas 2014, gabriela isler, miss universe 2013, miss universe president, paula shugart

Despite a smidgen of fear of flying in the wake of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, I am utterly excited right now as I am about to be on board in a couple of hours. It’s impossible not to be, especially because I’m going to witness the coronation night of Binibining Pilipinas 2014 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on March 30, 2014, where five most exceptional Filipinas will be chosen to represent the Philippines to Miss Universe 2014, Miss International 2014, Miss Tourism Queen International 2014, Miss Supranational 2014, and Miss Intercontinental 2014. 

And, what’s more, the reigning Miss Universe Gabriela Isler of Venezuela, together with the Miss Universe Organization president Paula Shugart, will be gracing this most prestigious beauty pageant in the country. But while Lara Dutta of India, Miss Universe 2000, will forever be my ultimate favorite beauty queen, I won’t deny the fact that I’m one of Gabriela Isler’s enamored fans and I would also be honored to shake hands with the world’s most influential pageant heavyweight, Paula Shugart. Whatever it takes, I will try my best to muscle into even just a brief conversation with the duo. 

But if ever luck is not meant to sit on my lap come Sunday night, being in the same rendezvous as Gabriela and Paula, attending the Binibining Pilipinas 2014 pageant and seeing the strongest batch of candidates in the history of Philippine pageantry would be more than enough reason for me to thank God for such a rare experience.

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And our Miss Universe 2013 is . . . Philippines, Ariella Arida

09 Saturday Nov 2013

Posted by ARIEL ALLERA in Uncategorized

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ariel allera, ariella arida, donald trump, miss philippines, miss universe 2013, moscow, russia

Our country has suffered more than enough this year. From the political scumbags’ myriad scandals to the Oct. 15 earthquake, the Nov. 4 tornado to the Nov. 8 super typhoon, and all that jazz, I think that we deserve some sort of a breather although, apparently, there’s really no great news that would effectively dispel the havoc which many of our countrymen have experienced from all of the above. 

I know that not even the two crowns—Miss Supranational and Miss World—which the Philippines has won for this year could help to save the lives lost and restore the roofs blown away, but who are we to complain if the Miss Universe 2013 crown will be cinched by our very own Ariel Allera—er, Ariella Arida—a few hours from now in Moscow, Russia?

Ariella Arida may not be as articulate as Maria Sovietskaya Bacud, but she’s certainly equipped with her own brand of wit and wisdom which only she will know how to bring to the judges’ table. After all, she’s not joining an extemporaneous speaking competition. Most of Ariella is fit for the crown and ready to sit on the throne prepared for the most beautiful and responsible woman in the universe.

Don’t you go ahead of me by saying that I take too much pride in our names being homonymous, but the name “Ariella Arida” just sounds surpassingly regal and suitably beauty-queenly. Having said that, I’m getting ready to yelp in joy later when hosts Thomas Roberts and Mel B end the night by saying: “Miss Universe 2013 is Philippines, Ariella Arida!”

This is the fourth year that I’ve been blogging on Miss Universe, both predicting our delegates’ placements and at the same time hoping for the most coveted crown. In 2010 I said that Venus Raj would be in the top five—she was awarded as fourth runner-up. The following year, I wrote that Shamcey Supsup would surely be among the five finalists—she was third runner-up. And then, last year, I was confident in my prediction that Janine Tugonon would be one of the last two standing—she ended up as first runner-up to USA’s Olivia Culpo.

All I can say for this year is that, if Ariella Arida could manage to say her piece with enough—actually, just enough—conviction and confidence during the crucial Question-and-Answer portion of the pageant, then, sure as fate, she will bring home the Miss Universe 2013 crown, a third for our country (after Gloria Diaz in 1969 and Margarita “Margie” Moran in 1973). But if she made a huge blunder—which our last year’s delegate didn’t—then Ariella Arida will repeat Janine Tugonon’s feat, or be called as second runner-up—the only position other than the crown which we haven’t won since Venus Raj paved the way in 2010.

As they say, after every storm comes a rainbow. Let’s see and let’s keep our fingers crossed both for our beautiful Ariella Arida to win the Miss Universe 2013 crown and, of course, for our fellow countrymen out there whose lives and homes have been ravaged by ugly Yolanda.

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Janine Tugonon: The Miss Universe 2012 in Filipinos’s Hearts and Peoples’s Eyes

24 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by ARIEL ALLERA in Uncategorized

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ariel allera, bb pilipinas 2012, binibining pilipinas 2012, edgar allan poe, face of the year, ford supermodel of the world, Gabriela Markus, international public speaking competition, Irene Esser, janine tugonon, las vegas, leila lopes, malabuyoc, malabuyoc cebu, miss australia 2012, miss brazil 2012, Miss Universe, miss universe 2012, miss universe 2012 gown, miss universe 2012 judges, miss universe 2012 q&a, miss universe 2012 swimsuit, miss universe 2013, miss universe pageant, miss usa, miss usa 2012, miss venezuela 2012, nbc, olivia culpo, patricia evangelista, Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Renae Ayris, Rhode Island, shamcey supsup, telemundo, There is no exquisite beauty without some strangeness in the proportion, usa, venus raj

I maintain that the Miss Universe pageant is not only about what’s the best answer by who, as it’s not the International Public Speaking Competition once won by our very own Patricia Evangelista; or which candidate had the prettiest face, as it’s not a Face of the Year search. Nor is it only about how each of the 89 candidates glided onstage because, definitely, it’s not the search for Ford Supermodel of the World. The competition is all about total package; the selection of winner is about who had the best stage presence that evening.

A panel of judges had interviewed the delegates up close; they were then judged in their national costumes, swimsuits, and evening gowns at the preliminary. From then on, sixteen most exceptional ladies emerged as semifinalists. During the coronation night, they competed again in swimsuit, in evening gown, and at the question-and-answer round.

Anyone who knows about pageants will agree that the one who stood out consistently from the rest should be crowned Miss Universe 2012. And if you televiewed the show, either the live coverage or the delayed telecast, you will most certainly maintain, too, that Miss Philippines Janine Tugonon brought the house down with her classic Filipina pulchritude, her fierce elegance, her graceful gestures and, of course, her momentous performance at the Q&A.

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Why I believe Miss Philippines Janine Mari Tugonon should have brought home the bacon, bagged the sash, and cinched the Miss Universe 2012 crown is not only because she gave the best answer. Janine was an outstanding contender in every way. The problem is: some people, even our fellow countrymen who were supposed to support our representative and should be proud of our country for such a monumental achievement, could be so irrational, if not bitter, to a point of saying, “She seemed rehearsed; her answer sounded too scripted.”

When Venus Raj responded to her question at the pageant in 2010, these same people made a big fuss over her choice of words—major-major, that is—and blamed the answer for a fourth runner-up finish. Last year, third runner-up Shamcey Supsup’s honest-to-goodness answer drew negative remarks from the same bunch of bashers, who said that she should have given a politically correct response in front of the judges who, presumably, were not all Christians.

And here they come again, wishing that Janine Tugonon had faltered so as to sound natural and, in their own words, unrehearsed. Now, before we start lashing out at anyone who has made a huge contribution to our country, why don’t we look at ourselves in the mirror and ask: “Has any of us here done something more spectacular than Janine’s, Shamcey’s, and Venus’s feats which saved some of us from our inutility?”

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As some people out there would say that Janine Tugonon paled in comparison with her fellow semifinalists who were prettier, I avow that her beauty takes a trained eye to be appreciated. And while I respect them for their limited exposure to beauty culture, lack of appreciation, or oblivion of their own blemishes, I wonder why on earth, up to this day and age, they refuse to understand what beauty means.

Just because they say Janine’s nose is not perfect does not make her less beautiful than their ideal women. I dare them: “How would you want an Oriental lady to look alongside the different beauties from the different regions around the world? Could you imagine what a global beauty pageant looked like if all contestants had the same facial shape, bone structure, nose size, skin color, and so forth?

Beauty is not monopolized by one race. It may sound corny, but there is beauty in diversity. As Edgar Allan Poe had said before he left this beautiful world: “There is no exquisite beauty . . . without some strangeness in the proportion.” Remember?

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At the dreaded Q&A, judge Nigel Barker asked, “As an international ambassador, do you believe that speaking English is a prerequisite to be Miss Universe?”

Poised to display the character and the beauty and brains of a Filipina, Janine Tugonon answered, “Being Miss Universe is not just about knowing how to speak a specific language; it’s being able to influence and inspire other people. So whatever language you have, as long as you have a heart to serve and a strong mind to show people, then you can be Miss Universe.”

Interestingly, our very own Miss Philippines brought a best thought to the table and gave the best delivery—in English, that is, considering that Filipino is her first language, whereas the other finalists (especially Miss USA) whose first language is English, shared a so-so response to their questions respectively, observers said.

But to despise Miss Venezuela for her answer—which, according to many, went astray from the question—seems bigoted, since English is not widely used in her country. In my pre-pageant blog, I predicted that the last two standing would be Philippines and Venezuela. So, even if Irene Esser’s answer was not the least bit impressive, she would still have deserved a notch higher, because she shone alongside Janine from the start, adding bells and whistles to the ocean of beauties onstage.

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Any keen observer will agree that Miss USA Oliva Culpo’s sole asset was her charm, period. Beyond that, it’s explicitly understandable why her victory did not educe incoming salvos from both the live spectators and the televiewers.

Based on her performance that night, we could not help asking ourselves what she did from winning as Miss USA through packing up her bags in Rhode Island to competing in Las Vegas, Nevada—that is, to develop queenly grace, runway skills, and reasoning ability.

Given that she’s three inches taller than five-feet-five and a lot more graceful and confident in her strides, still, she wouldn’t have been lauded happily for winning the Miss Universe 2012 crown—because, in the first place, as Miss USA whose first language is English, she should have nailed the Q&A with a fabulous answer.

(A big thanks for the photos to my dear friend and OPMB Worldwide’s Jory Rivera, who was in Las Vegas covering the recently concluded Miss Universe 2012 Pageant.)

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