Miss International 2024 pageant releases new voting mechanics

Reigning Miss International Andrea Rubio (second from right) is flanked by her third runner-up Nicole Borromeo (right), Miss International 2013 Bea Rose Santiago (second from left), and the Philippines’ current delegate Angelica Lopez during her recent visit in Manila. Image: INQUIRER.net/Armin P. Adina

The race for the Miss International crown heats up with the public getting more engaged in the selection of the new queen for the 62nd edition of the pageant.

As announced earlier, three delegates who will top the online poll will earn guaranteed slots in the Top 20. Those are the women who will earn the highest votes from the three regional clusters—Asia and Oceania, Africa and Europe, and the Americas and the Caribbean.

But after the announcement of the semifinalists, another round of voting will help determine the ladies who will advance to the Top 8. The first round of voting will end at 3 p.m. (in Tokyo) on the day of the coronation on Nov. 12.

The next round of voting will resume after the Top 20 delegates have been proclaimed, and will run until the Top 8 candidates are announced. “So if your delegate made it to the Top 8 but she has the least vote, she will receive ZERO point. However if she made it to the Top 8 and she is No. 1 in the votes, that’s an automatic 1st place for her with 50 points,” the Miss International pagent said in a social media post.

The delegate in the Top 8 with the second-highest number of public votes will get 30 points, then the third in the poll will receive 20 points. The candidates who will rank fourth and fifth in the online voting will get 10 and five points, respectively. “Her rank in the final votes (regardless of regional cluster) will be considered as our 11th judge in the finals,” the post continued.

This will be the first time that the Miss International pageant will have 20 ladies in the semifinals. The on-stage swimsuit competition will also return this year, after the 2023 contest only ran a video footage of the ladies in swimwear.

This year, the Miss International pageant will hold a separate National Competition Show for the first time. The public will also get to witness the preliminary evaluation for the first time ever. Both events will take place at the Professional University of Beauty and Wellness in Yokohama on Nov. 3 and Nov. 10, respectively.

The 2024 Miss International coronation ceremonies will be held at the Tokyo Dome City Hall on Nov. 12. Angelica Lopez will try to become the seventh Filipino woman to bring home the crown.