Yearend Special: Miss Universe 2024 Victoria Kjaer Theilvig of Denmark (center) is flanked by, from left, Miss Earth 2024 Jessica Lane of Australia, Miss World Krystyna Pyszková of Czechia, Miss International Huynh Thi Thanh Thuy of Vietnam, and Miss Supranational Harashta Haifa Zahra of Indonesia. Graphic design by Lance Uy / INQUIRER.net
After clinching three major titles in 2023, pageant-crazy Latin America was completely shut out in major competitions this year as the region was left with no crowns.
Three of the five major titleholders last year were Latina women — Miss Universe Sheynnis Palacios from Nicaragua, Miss International Andrea Rubio from Venezuela, and Miss Supranational Andrea Aguilera from Ecuador.
Miss World kicked off the 2024 pageant season in February with the much-delayed staging of its 71st edition in India, crowning blonde bombshell Krystyna Pyszkova, the second winner from the Czech Republic.
Two more blondes took home major international titles after the Czech beauty’s coronation, and both of whom were the first winners from their countries in their respective competitions.
Australia’s Jessica Lane was the second blonde queen this year, bagging the Miss Earth crown in the 24th staging of the pageant in Manila in November. Her sweet victory came after three near-wins posted by “The Land Down Under” in previous editions.
Europe scored a second major crown this year through another blonde beauty, Viktoria Kjær Theilvig, whose victory in the 73rd Miss Universe pageant in Mexico was the first for Denmark.
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Pageant powerhouse Philippines also sat this year out, with no major crowns. Southeast Asian neighbors Vietnam and Indonesia raised Asia’s banner for 2024 by posting their first wins in two major global competitions.
Harashta Haifa Zahra became Indonesia’s first Miss Supranational winner when she won in the 15th installment of the pageant in Poland.
Vietnam, on the other hand, scored its first Miss International crown through Huynh Thi Thanh Thuy, who won in the 62nd edition of the pageant held in Japan.
This year also saw the Miss Universe pageant overtaking Miss World as the most well-participated international competition with 125 aspirants, the first time it exceeded 100 candidates.
The Miss World pageant has always been the most well-attended international contest. But it gathered “only” 112 delegates this year, 13 persons shy of the rival competition’s count.
However, the London-based international pageant still holds the record for having the most number of participants at 127, posted in 2013 when Filipino queen Megan Young took the crown.
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The Miss Universe pageant launched an ambitious undertaking this year, with the entry of Mexican entity Legacy Holdings as co-owner together with JKN Global Group of Thailand, and declared an astounding 130 delegates for the 2024 pageant.
But the international pageant was hit by withdrawals, and even an expulsion, during the competition in Mexico, and the number of delegates went below target.
This was also the first time that the Miss Universe pageant introduced “continental queens,” a practice that was already seen in the Miss World, Miss International, and Miss Supranational contests.
The Philippines’ Chelsea Manalo was proclaimed as the first-ever Miss Universe Asia during a press conference held right after the coronation show.
Another Filipino queen, Alethea Ambrosio, was crowned as Miss Supranational Asia and Oceania, the international pageant’s first continental queen from the Philippines.
Rising Thailand-based global pageant Miss Grand International, which has been gaining a significant following despite being hounded by (or because of) controversies every year, also denied Latin America a crown by hailing Rachel Gupta as its first Indian queen, with the Philippines’ CJ Opiaza finishing second.
Venezuela has already crowned its representatives for next year’s editions of the Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss International pageants, who will all try to assert Latin America’s domination in global pageantry.
The Philippines, meanwhile, will rely on Bb. Pilipinas International Myrna Esguerra and Miss World Philippines Krishnah Gravidez to stake the country’s claim as the global pageant powerhouse of Asia.