Beauty pageant aficionados, Miss Universe fans, pageantologists, journalists, bloggers and even ordinary folks will always have a winner in mind, whether based on gut feel, basic preference, tarot card- or crystal ball-reading, or plain visual judgment. This has always been part of the excitement at every Miss Universe pageant, but most especially now that the contest is being held in the Philippines, with the reigning titleholder a Filipina to boot.
If you’ve made bets – whether monetary or simply on your good name – it may do you well to find out what others have predicted and make that last-minute-adjustment for the win.
Did you know that as early as April 25, 2015, a psychic named Gurmeet already predicted Pia Wurtzbach’s win?
“This is going to be tough for the judges but the islands between Australia and China [are sure] to be in the top choices, and also Brazil. But I see a beautiful woman from the East, with the alphabet ‘A’ attached to her name, has a great scope in some controversy at some time, but that will be in her favor and [she] will have a chance to win, with her being soft spoken and winner of hearts.”
Those familiar with the Steve Harvey blunder announcing Miss Columbia as the winner when it was indeed Pia (with an “A”) Wurtzbach who won the crown on December 20, 2015 in Las Vegas will surely find Psychic Gurmeet pretty cool.
What then does the website have to say about today’s competition?
“Today, I have seen how things will unfold at the 2016 edition of the Miss Universe Pageant,” Gurmeet wrote on August 31, 2016.
“I see a beautiful lady who will speak from the heart and touch the spirits of all present, and there will be no words but silence for a few seconds, then a rush of emotions so the world will be hers now. With ‘C’ in her name, it will not take long to see her talents too! She will come close to winning and has a very bright scope. She will be from a country between Pacific Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean.”
Checking out the names of the candidates, Miss Thailand is Chalita Suansane; Miss Aruba is Charlene Leslie; Miss Curacao is Chanelle De Lau; and Miss Ecuador is Connie Jimenez. Definitely the girl could not come from Europe or Africa.
“The next top best participant will be with that softness and calm with a triple ‘I’ in her name, and a royal tradition in her blood. She is from a country next to North Atlantic Ocean,” said the clairvoyant.
Since it’s not specified if the “triple I” is in the first or given name or the full name, The Manila Times considered all candidates with three or more I’s in their names – Maria Mika Maxine Medina of the Philippines (who some say exuded a royal bearing at the January 26 preliminaries), Iris Mittenaere of France, Caris Tiivel of Australia, Barbara Filipovic of Croatia, Virginia Argueta of Guatemala, Lindita Idriza of Albania, Muneka Joy Taisipic of Guam, Christina Mikkelsen of Denmark, and Dijana Cvijetic of Switzerland.
“The next top best participant will be from a big country where world exists together. She will have D starting in her name,” the psychic said.
Going through the candidates of G8 (Group of Eight) countries – considered as First World and among the strongest economies – only Deshauna Barber of the US fits the bill.
“There will be a lady of magical charm and also belong to a big corporate or an organized sector. I see her name will start with an ‘M’ from a place starting with ‘V’ who will find it hard at first but will have a fair chance to win later,” Gurmeet continued.
Mariam Habach of Venezuela is the only name and nationality to match the specifics.
In the final prediction, the psychic said, “At this position I see a lady with some sadness as her heart breaks, with the name having ‘Y,’ very proud and win many titles.”
Two candidates have the Y as first letter of their names – Miss Russia Yuliana Korolkova and Miss Israel Yam Kaspers Anshel. The other candidates with the letter Y in their full names are Miss Nicaragua Marina Jacoby, Miss Guam Muneka Joy Taisipic, Miss India Roshmitha Harimurthy, Miss Netherlands Zoey Ivory, Miss Jamaica Isabel Dalley, Miss Finland Shirly Karvinen Miss Ukraine Alena Spodynyuk, Miss Kenya Mary Were, Miss Korea Jenny Kim, Miss Guyana Soyini Fraser, Miss Nigeria Unoaku Anyadike, Miss Sri Lanka Jayathi De Silva, Miss Panama Keity Drennan and Miss China Li Zhen Ying.
“There are hidden things that will come to notice during the Miss Universe pageant. There can be some possible disqualifications, and also something that marks some serious issues at that duration of time in some part of the world,” the now popular psychic concluded.
Missosology hot picks
Meanwhile, beauty pageant-related community forum Missosology’s “Hot Picks” have gained a strong following around the world for years – whether their choices were hits or misses.
With a slight change in the system of choosing the winner for Miss Universe in announcing the Top 12 (based on the preliminary competition scores from the interview, swimsuit and long gown), then down to nine, six and the Final Three, Missosology panelists have named the strongest successors to the Philippines’ Pia Wurtzbach.
In their sixth “Hot Picks” released on January 24, the beauty contest experts chose Miss Brazil Raissa Santana as their top bet.
“Raissa has been winning many hearts since the day she arrived in the Philippines. With her lovely personality, those who have been following her on Instagram can probably relate when we say that she has a very infectious giggle,” commented Missosology, although everyone knows that giggling is nowhere to be found among the criteria for judging.
Miss Nicaragua Marina Jacoby is No. 2, followed by Miss Thailand Chalita Suansane. No. 4 is Miss Argentina Estefania Bernal, followed by Miss Venezuela Mariam Habach.
Host delegate Maxine Medina dropped from pre-arrival No. 1 pick to number six, then up to No. 2, down again to No. 4, before finally settling as Missosology’s No. 6 choice.
“If Maxine survives the Top 6 Q&A with convincing response, she can make a back-to-back win possible,” said the panelists.
Rounding out the Top 12 are Misses Australia, China, Great Britain, Spain, Malaysia and Ukraine.
Others in the Missosology radar are Barbados, Belgium, Mexico, Sierra Leone, Indonesia, Peru, USA and Colombia.
Online betting choices
Top betting sites have also joined the frenzy.
Paddy Power ranks Miss Colombia Andrea Tovar as No. 1 with 4 to 1 odds; Miss Peru Valeria Piazza second at 9 to 1; Miss Brazil Raissa Santana, Miss Mexico Kristal Silva and Miss Belgium Stephanie Geldhof at 10 to 1; Misses Philippines, Nicaragua and Venezuela at 12 to 1; Puerto Rico, Russia, Great Britain and Bolivia at 14 to 1; and France, Costa Rica and Ukraine at 16 to 1.
Pinnacle.com’s Top 10 and their ratings are Colombia at 3.40; Brazil, 9.74; Peru, 9.74; Belgium, 10.33; Bolivia, 10.91; Mexico, 7.17; Nicaragua, 9.66; Guatemala, 12.63; Costa Rica, 12.63 and Puerto Rico, 12.63.
Australian online betting site William Hill ranked the candidates according to betting odds with Colombia at 6; followed by Brazil and Peru at 7; Belgium at 7.5; Bolivia and Nicaragua at 8; Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica at 9; Montenegro at 10; France, Panama, Russia and Venezuela at 11; Ukraine at 13; and Great Britain, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Dominican Republic and Georgia at 15.
While anything can happen at today’s much awaited pageant, it will be fun to check if any of the predictions or odds came true.