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Michelle Dee. Image: Dennis Sulit via Instagram/@michelledee
Michelle Dee emerged as one of the top favorites to win the Miss Universe 2023 crown as she landed on the list of two international pageant publications’ hot picks — which were released a day before the coronation.
Though the applause from the Filipino community appeared to be sorely lacking from the audience during the preliminaries and national costume show, Dee was nonetheless the third pick for the coveted title by well-known pageant platform Missosology, as seen on its Instagram account last Friday, Nov. 17.
Nicaragua’s Sheynnis Palacios and Thailand’s Anntonia Porsild were chosen as the first and second picks, respectively.
Also included in their favorites were Karla Guilfu of Puerto Rico, Bryoni Govender of South Africa, Diana Silva of Venezuela, and Camila Avella of Colombia, to name a few.
Missosology also praised the crossover stunner for “proving her critics wrong” in the preliminary competition, where she also showcased her “sheer elegance and sophistication.”
“[Dee] also has a very strong advocacy and she is intelligent. If she wins the crown, that will be hardly [surprising],” they wrote.
On the other hand, Dee was also named as the top three frontrunner for the title in Sash Factor’s final leaderboard which was uploaded on their Instagram page on Saturday, Nov. 18.
The platform chose Porsild as their favorite to win the crown, while Palacios, Silva, and El Salvador’s Isabella Garcia-Manzo rounded up the top five.
Other candidates who made it on their chosen picks are Guilfu, Mexico’s Melissa Flores, Govender, Avella, France’s Diane Leyre, India’s Shweta Sharda, Dominican Republic’s Mariana Downing, Peru’s Camila Escribens, Australia’s Moraya Wilson, and Guatemala’s Michelle Cohn.
Dee is on a quest to win the Philippines’ fifth Miss Universe crown on the pageant’s coronation night in El Salvador on Nov. 18 (Nov. 19 in Manila). She was recently named as one of the silver finalists for its “Voice for Change” video competition.
Throughout her Miss Universe journey, Dee had since made waves for her advocacy, fashion sense, and interactions with fellow candidates.