It is when the year draws to a
close that one of the big and longstanding pillars of the international beauty
pageant competition scene prefers to hold its court. This coming Sunday will
see the 68th Miss Universe be crowned in Atlanta, Georgia. Filipinos
will get their pride on one more time at least as one of their own – reigning
Miss Universe Catriona Gray – will pass on her crown to the pageant winner,
with fervent hopes that it might be current Miss Philippines Gazini Ganados. But
a week before the big day, the Miss Universe Organization has opened the global
participation segment of its pageant.
The Manila Bulletin reports that as of Monday, December 2, the
online voting for Miss Universe 2019 has been initiated by the Miss Universe
Organization (MUO) on their official website. Interested voters looking to
support their national candidate no matter which part of the world they hail
from can cast their online vote for two competitions in the pageant proper. One
is for advancing candidates through the Preliminary portion to the Top 20,
which has already been opened. The other vote is for the winner of the National
Costume special award, separate from pageant ranking.
As the MUO explains on their
voting rules, interested voters for their respective candidates must be at
least 14 years old. By accessing the official Miss Universe website they can
cast one vote for their contestant of choice absolutely free. Afterwards, they
can opt to cast extra votes by purchasing voting packs chargeable via mobile operator
or credit card billing, if their country allows it. The voting period began December
1 (Dec. 2 Philippine time) and will end on December 6 at 11:59 PM-ET (Dec. 7
12:59 PM Philippine time). Extra vote packs are available in batches from 3 to
300, at $0.33/P18.89 per vote.
Miss Philippines Gazini Ganados
of Talisay will be up against 89 other competitors for the title of Miss
Universe 2019, and is gunning for the honor of receiving it from a titleholder
and fellow Filipina. This pageant sees the debut of contestants from Bangladesh
and Equatorial Guinea, the fifth consecutive hosting stint of Steve Harvey
(once-maligned and now-beloved by Filipinos on account of Pia Wurtzbach), as
well as the introduction of a new crown crafted by Swiss/Emirati jeweler
Mouawad. The pageant airs at Tyler Perry Studios Sunday night in Atlanta (December
8), or Monday morning in the Philippines (December 9).
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