Miss Universe Philippines explains two-hour delay during coronation night

More than a week after crowning it’s new queen, Chelsea Manalo, the Miss Universe Philippines organization addressed the two-hour delay in its coronation night, citing production set-ups and attending to ticket holders’ requests among the reasons.

The coronation night, which took almost six hours, at the Mall of Asia Arena last May 22, was initially announced to start at 6:00 p.m. However, the event started two hours late at 8:00 p.m., and ended at around 1:30 a.m. on May 23.

In a statement on Facebook, the national pageant first thanked its fans for filling the venue despite it being held on a weekday. The organizers then explained that it had to “give way to the numerous requests” of ticket holders and the event’s live stream “takes longer” than the live broadcast.

“Thank you for your patience and understanding when the show started a bit later than the appointed time so we can give way to the numerous requests of ticket-holders who were coming straight from work that day,” it wrote.

“And for understanding that The Coronation, which was live streamed but taped-as-live, takes longer than an actual live broadcast,” it added.

The organization also reiterated that “enough time was needed” to ensure that its production set-ups, tabulations, and costume changes were good to go for the viewers, adding that a shorter version of the event is available on Empire Philippines’ YouTube channel.

“Enough time was needed to be devoted to tabulations, production set-ups, and costume changes to make sure that we give you the best possible edited, geared-for-a-global-audience and made-for-tv-airing version of the event. The shorter version of the full show is now available on the Empire.PH Youtube channel,” it said.

Netizens took to the comments to point out how the pageant was full of “commercials,” while others urged the national pageant to “fix the lighting” in its next editions.

Manalo, who hails from Bulacan, was crowned as the reigning titleholder, succeeding Michelle Dee who ended her Miss Universe 2023 journey at the Top 10.

Four other queens were also named at the end of the event, namely, Baguio’s Tarah Valencia (Miss Supranational Philippines), Quezon Province’s Athisa Manalo (Miss Cosmo Philippines), Pampanga’s Cyrille Payumo (Miss Charm Philippines), and Iloilo City’s Alexie Brooks (Miss Eco International Philippines).

Meanwhile, Cainta’s Stacey Gabriel was named first runner-up while Taguig’s Christi McGarry took the fourth runner-up spot. They didn’t accept any crowns at the end of the pageant.

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