Miss Universe Bahrain Shereen Ahmed (left) and Miss Universe Egypt Logina Salah/ARMIN P. ADINA
With the 73rd Miss Universe pageant getting near, more candidates from other countries are coming to the Philippines to prepare for the international competition, the latest being the delegates from Bahrain and Egpyt.
After bringing Miss Universe Pakistan Noor Xarmina to the Philippines last month, Filipino publicist and publisher Josh Yugen presented Bahrain’s Shereen Ahmed and Egypt’s Logina Salah to Filipino journalists and online content creators in Makati City on Oct. 12.
Yugen holds the Miss Universe franchise for the three countries, and has been sending his wards to the country to undergo pageant training with Filipino mentors.
Ahmed is also part-Filipino, whose mother is from the province of Cavite. She was born and raised in Bahrain, but stayed in the Philippines for a bit to study. Salah, meanwhile, is a single mother, and the first woman with vitiligo to qualify for the international stage of Miss Universe. Her skin condition causes patches of skin to lose pigment.
“We’re going to do a lot of pasarela (pageant walk), makeup, hair, a lot of standards that a Miss Universe delegate would happen to have to go through,” Yugen responded when INQUIRER.net asked about his training program.
“But you know, what I just want to share is, whatever training we give, they wouldn’t absorb it if they’re not disciplined. So I’m very happy that both of my queens are actually very disciplined,” he added.
The two ladies also shared with INQUIRER.net what their predecessors told them about undergoing training in the Philippines. “They all loved it. I mean, I watched all of their interviews. I love researching everything there is to do about pageantry, we’ve become quite obsessed with it in the last year. It’s almost scary now,” Ahmed said.
“We all see the same thing. It’s our hospitality, it’s unmatched, right? It’s much like the Bahraini hospitality as well. So they all find familiarity with that. They all love trying the different foods, and I’m really excited to be able to do and explore more and get to learn from their experiences as
well,” she continued.
Salah, for her part, said, “I think the hospitality, the food, the people are smiling, you have something fine in the room. You know, everybody’s kind. I’m so grateful, so happy to be here. It’s already positive energy.”
The two queens will fly to Mexico for the 2024 Miss Universe pageant that will culminate in a final competition show at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City on Nov. 16 (Nov. 17 in Manila). More than 120 delegates from around the world are competing this year.