Reigning Miss International Jasmin Selberg and Miss Philippines – International Nicole Borromeo. Images from Armin P. Adina
MANILA, Philippines — The changes announced by the Miss International pageant for this year’s competition appeared to have attracted more participants to the global competition, with at least four countries confirmed to send their respective delegates for the first time.
These are the countries of Albania, Bangladesh, Lesotho and Pakistan, which pageant organizers announced on its X (formerly Twitter) page.
“Confirmed first-time participants at #MissInternational2023 are Albania, Bangladesh, Lesotho, and Pakistan! Welcome to the #MissInternational family,” the pageant posted on its official account at the micro-blogging site X (formerly called Twitter).
Confirmed first time participants at #MissInternational2023 are Albania, Bangladesh, Lesotho and Pakistan! Welcome to the ever growing #MissInternational family! We also would like to welcome back Angola who will be participating for the second time.
— Miss International (@MissInterOrg) August 5, 2023
Stephen Diaz, the Filipino head director of pageant organizer International Cultural Association (ICA), told INQUIRER.net in an online interview that they are still waiting for the confirmation of Somalia, another prospective first-timer in the Miss International pageant.
“We also would like to welcome back Angola who will be participating for the second time,” the same social media post also said. Diaz confirmed that aside from Angola, “China, Cote d’Ivoire, Estonia, Ghana, Lithuania, Martinique, Moldova, Myanmar, the Netherlands, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, and Ukraine” are also staging their Miss International comeback for the pageant’s 61st edition this year.
“So far, we already have 66 confirmed participants, and we are soon closing [the] acceptance of delegates,” continued Diaz. He said ICA is setting the limit to 84 participants this year. But confirmations will only be accepted until Aug. 31, whether or not they have reached the maximum number.
“This year, I’m taking charge of the production. But the elimination of the swimsuit portion is a huge challenge. It’s not my decision, but I have to do something about it to make our pageant alive and entertaining,” he said.
The Miss International pageant announced earlier that the swimsuit parade during the final competition will be scrapped. The delegates will be judged in swimsuit for their proportion and skin quality during the closed-door evaluation, which will be conducted days before the coronation show.
READ: Miss International pageant nixes swimsuit parade
Diaz also shared earlier that the association is planning to trim the show to just about two and a half hours, from the usual four-hour production. To help achieve this, he said judges will arrive two hours before the show to conduct their selection of the Top 15, “based on the preliminary evaluation, and their overall impression once they meet the ladies on Oct. 26.”
In the previous editions of the Miss International pageant, all delegates paraded individually in their national costumes, then walked either one-by-one or in pairs during the swimsuit and gown segments. The judges had to score all of them during the actual coronation program to help determine the list of semifinalists.
From among the global pageants currently running, the Philippines has found most success in the Miss International competition with six winners—Gemma Cruz in 1964, Aurora Pijuan in 1970, Melanie Marquez in 1979, Precious Lara Quigaman in 2005, Bea Rose Santiago in 2013, and Kylie Verzosa in 2016—only behind Venezuela’s eight-crown haul.
Nicole Borromeo, who was crowned Binibining Pilipinas in 2022, will represent the country in the 61st Miss International pageant, that will culminate in a coronation show at the Yoyogi Gymnasium in Tokyo’s Shibuya ward on Oct. 26. Jasmin Selberg will relinquish her title to her successor at the end of the show. EDV