entertainment, live events, Philippines, television

The Month of Beauty Pageants: Miss World on GMA, Miss Universe on ABS-CBN

It has been an eventful month for Filipinas in various beauty pageants.

The Miss Earth pageant, an event dominated by Filipinas of late, was won by Karen Ibasco. Then in the Reina Hispanoamericana, Winwyn Marquez provided the upset of the year by becoming the first Filipina to win the pageant in the country’s debut appearance.

In the Miss Globe pageant, Nelda Ibe finished first runner-up, while Elizabeth Clenci earned a second runner-up finish in the 2017 Miss Grand International. Unfortunately, Mariel de Leon failed to maintain the Philippines’ momentum in beauty pageants as she was eliminated in the preliminary rounds of the 2017 Miss International.

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Nevertheless, the Philippines still has four more beauty pageants to participate before the year ends. Two of them will take place this month and both seem to be the most prestigious of them all.

This Saturday, November 18, the 2017 Miss World will take place in Sanya, China. The Philippines will be represented by Laura Lehmann, a former Binibining Pilipinas participant and UAAP courtside reporter.

The 2017 Miss World will be aired on GMA, albeit on a delayed basis. That said, spoiler alerts are expected to come in social media due to GMA’s loaded programming situation.

Then on November 27, the Miss Universe pageant will take place in Las Vegas. Representing the Philippines will be Rachel Peters, a Filipina-British beauty.

ABS-CBN and FOXlife will share the exclusive Philippine rights to the 2017 Miss Universe. The said pageant will broadcast live at around 8:00 a.m.

Rounding up the 2017 beauty pageant season are the Miss Supranational and the Miss Intercontinental pageants. Chanel Thomas and Katarina Rodriguez will represent the country in their respective pageants, which will take place on December 1 and December 21.

Neither pageant will be aired on television, however. Nevertheless, expect the two representatives to exude the same pride and determination that this month’s achievers accomplished.

Looking ahead to the Miss World and Miss Universe, it will be interesting to see how Laura Lehmann and Rachel Peters fare in their respective pageants. With all the momentum in the Philippines’ favor, one can only hope that the two will have what it takes to bag another crown for the country.

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Philippines, Sports, television

When UAAP Courtside Reporting Is Not a Safe Bet

It is not easy to be a courtside reporter.

After all, it is considered one of the most highly scrutinized positions in the world of sports broadcasting. The best people on the job are those who can relate well to the audience, speak clearly and articulately, and exude confidence whenever possible.

In ABS-CBN Sports’ coverage of the UAAP men’s basketball and women’s volleyball, a courtside reporter is hired not because he/she is pretty or handsome, but because the network wants them to represent the school with both enthusiasm and pride. Unfortunately, there are those who were simply not up to the task.

Last Saturday, ABS-CBN quietly replaced Nicole Sumagui with Stef Monce as Adamson University’s courtside reporter. No explanation was made regarding the change, but observant viewers saw that Sumagui stuttered at times, was tentative and lacked confidence in her abilities.

Sumagui was not the first courtside reporter to get the pink slip early in the season. There have been two such cases in which a UAAP courtside reporter was replaced before the season concluded.

Prior to UAAP Season 73 (2010-11), ABS-CBN assigned Karen Rozul to be the courtside reporter of National University. But the network replaced her with the late Maan Panganiban when they realized that Rozul was not confident enough for the job.

Two seasons later, NU endured some deja vu when the ineffective Muriel Orais was dismissed in favor of Steph Sy. Sy, like Stef Monce later on, had already exhausted her two-year eligibility, but ABS-CBN reinstated her for a third year due to this untimely circumstance.

For all the talk about the next Pia Arcangel, Lia Cruz, Riki Flores, Aaron Atayde, Nikko Ramos and Laura Lehmann, there are those like Karen Rozul, Muriel Orais and Nicole Sumagui who do not deserve to be in the same room. They may have survived the auditions, yet they failed to translate that into at least one year’s worth of on-the-job training for a future broadcasting career.

UAAP courtside reporting is not an easy task, but if one can survive and fulfill a dream, then it should bode well for their future career paths.Β  With the second round of men’s basketball plus a full slate of women’s volleyball still to come, all eyes are on the seven rookies and one returnee to see if they have what it takes to be a great UAAP courtside reporter.

Note: Aside from Stef Monce, this season’s roster of UAAP courtside reporters consist of Martie Bautista (Ateneo de Manila University), Eileen Shi (De La Salle University), Sydney Crespo (Far Eastern University), Miguel Dypiangco (National University), Migs Gomez (University of the East), Agatha Uvero (University of the Philippines) and Tonie Moreno (University of Sto. Tomas).

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