Miss Lumiere International World 2017 first runner-up Sammie Anne Legaspi. Image: INQUIRER.net/ARMIN P. ADINA
MANILA, Philippines—After Singapore-based Lumiere International Pageantry announced that it will mount a “Mrs. Philippines Asia Pacific” pageant, it is also apparently looking for Filipino beauty queens who will compete in global tilts for single ladies.
Justina Quek, the organization’s head, told the Inquirer in an online interview that she will also stage the Miss Philippines Lumiere International World pageant, which will select the Philippines’ next representatives to two international pageants organized by Lumiere International Pageantry.
She said the winner will represent the Philippines in the 2024 Miss Lumiere International World pageant tentatively scheduled for January in Singapore, while the first runner-up will be appointed as the country’s representative to the 2024 Miss Tourism Worldwide contest, tentatively set to take place in Hong Kong in February.
The Philippines scored a victory in the Miss Tourism Worldwide pageant’s first edition held in Indonesia in 2018. Zara Carbonell, daughter of actor Cris Villanueva and 2017 Miss World Philippines Second Princess, clinched the crown. No other Filipino woman was able to win the title after her.
But the Miss Lumiere International World crown remains to be elusive for Filipinos. The highest placement recorded by the Philippines in the global contest was Sammie Anne Legaspi’s first runner-up finish in 2017.
Auditions for the new national pageant are open to single Filipino women between the ages of 20 and 29. A minimum height requirement of 1.6 meters (roughly 5’3”) was also imposed by the pageant organization. Applicants are required to attend the on-site auditions at the Glass Meeting Room 8 of Okada Manila in Parañaque City on March 18. They should arrive at the venue not later than 2 p.m.
Quek will fly to Manila to personally oversee the on-site auditions not only for the applicants for the Miss Philippines Lumiere International World pageant, but also for the prospective candidates for the Mrs. Philippines Asia Pacific pageant. Auditions for the latter will take place in the same venue on the same day.
To help her conduct the screenings, Quek will be joined by 2019 Mrs. Singapore Global Universe Ronalyn Tingcang Tay and 2019 Mrs. Singapore Worldwide first runner-up Mary Ann Carlson. /ra