The Miss Universe 2018 candidate just got a little bit more exciting because of the new changes in its format.
Through an Instagram Live video on Tuesday, Miss Universe Philippines 2018 Catriona Gray confirmed that this year’s pageant is different from the previous years.
This time, there will be no live voting wherein live television viewers used to access the Miss Universe website or phone app before to give their scores and act as an additional judge during the pageant.
The viewer’s votes also helped determine who will make the cut, but that will no longer happen this year.
Another major change is that the first cut will choose the top 20 girls, unlike last year where only 16 candidates will move onto the next round.
Out of the 94 candidates this year, they will get trimmed down based on their country’s geographical location.
Five candidates will be selected from each group, namely the Americas, Europe, and Asia and Africa. The five remaining spots in the top 20 will be given to “wildcards” who gained the highest scores during the preliminary competitions regardless of their country’s region.
After that, Gray said that the top 20 candidates “will go straight to an opening statement, which means a 15-second statement, and then the judges will cut down to 10”.
The top 10 candidates will then go head-to-head in the swimsuit and long gown competition.
Their combined scores in those two portions of the show will determine who will be part of the top 5.
“The top 5 will do question and answer, then the top 3 will do final word and final look, and then coronation,” Gray said.
Aside from the changes in the format, another thing that Filipino pageant fans can look forward to is that two Filipinos will be part of the judging panel, namely world-renowned designer Monique Lhuillier and Platinum Skies Aviation and FinTech Casha CEO Richelle Singson-Michael.
Miss Universe Organization president Paula Shugart said in an interview with ABS-CBN’s Dyan Castillejo that, for the first time ever, the judging panel will be composed of all female personalities, which will include Lhuillier and Singson-Michael.
“It’s all women, all female empowerment, they’re all role models for every one of our contestants to aspire to be,” Shugart said.
Shugart also said that including Lhuillier as a judge in the competition will make Filipino fans very happy.
“I think our fans from the Philippines will be very happy. We have a famous Filipina designer, Monique Lhuillier. Very excited. She’s very happy to be participating,” she added.
Other Filipino personalities have judged the Miss Universe pageant in the past years, including Broadway diva Lea Salonga in 2011, Senator Manny Pacquiao in 2014, and Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach in 2017.
Aside from Lhuillier and Singson-Michael, other judges in the all-female panel include Miss Universe 1988 Bui Simon, Miss New Jersey USA 2004 Janaye Ingram, Miss Universe 1992 Michelle McLean, former pageant titleholder and Moroccan-American entrepreneur Iman Oubou, and Colombian entrepreneur Lili Gil Valetta.
The Miss Universe 2018 beauty pageant will be held on Monday, December 17, at the IMPACT Center in Bangkok, Thailand. It will be broadcasted live at 8:00 AM in the Philippines and 4:00 AM in the UAE.
The Philippines’ bet is vying to take home the country’s fourth Miss Universe crown.
