Catriona Gray hopes for transparency, fair competition in Miss Universe

Catriona Gray hoped that the following editions of the Miss Universe pageant will have a “more transparent judging process,” as the victory of recent titleholder Fatima Bosch continues to be marred by controversy and rigging allegations.

On her Instagram Broadcast Channel on Saturday, November 22, Gray called on the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) to give a “fair competition” to the candidates in its upcoming editions, noting the importance of having a “third party official tabulator.”

She also reiterated that the “multiple statements from judges and meant to be judges” are disheartening for the delegates, noting the recent resignations of the global tilt’s selection committee.

“My prayer has always been (as someone who has experienced a competition with vague judging methods first hand lol), is that the girls be given a fair competition. So my question becomes for the MU org. I hope moving forward they can regain the trust of the fans by having a more transparent judging process with a third party official tabulator,” she said.

“The doubts of us fans are not unfounded with multiple statements from judges and meant to be judges. It’s disheartening considering all the effort, sacrifices, and dreams that were up there on that stage,” she continued.

Despite this, Gray admitted that the hate that current titleholder Fatima Bosch is receiving makes her “really sad,” adding that she’ll be on the lookout for how she’ll use the global tilt as a platform to “make a positive impact.”

“But also, I’m actually really sad to see all the hate for Ms Mexico. I really admired how she stood up for herself in the early stages of the competition and I’ll be watching to see how she utilizes the platform to make a positive impact with her title as Miss Universe,” she said.

“Ayun ang 2 cents ko. I hope the best years of MU aren’t behind us. Lets uplift our girls and tell them how they impacted us, made us proud – and when they pursue their respective [journeys let’s] support them,” she further added.

Catriona’s two-cents on this year’s candidates

According to Gray, Ahtisa Manalo and Côte d’Ivoire’s Olivia Yace performed the best in the pageant’s question-and-answer segment, noting that she “really values communication skills.” She added that seeing them on the Top 5 was “no surprise” due to their strong performances throughout the global tilt. 

She also praised the performances of Thailand’s Praveenar Singh, Venezuela’s Stephany Abasali,  and Colombia’s Vanessa Pulgarin, noting they were “fan favorites for a reason.”

“Personal take ko: best in initial Q&A was Cote. And best in final word was PH. But again, kung judge ako — I really value communication skills, so Q&A means alot to me personally,” she said.

However, she pointed out that while the initial questions in the first round were “good,” the final question was “basic” since it’s one of the questions used to prepare for the global tilt.

“When it came to the Q&A, the selection of initial questions were good! Although i had super high expectations for the final word cause — I mean sa totoo guys, super basic yung tanong na yan in preparing for MU. If you don’t have a super solid answer for that question, ewan ko nalang,” she said.

The former beauty queen, emphasizing on her experience as a pageant judge, said the “taste” of the panel will always “be different,” and it is something that couldn’t be explained.

“But just to share, I’ve sat on judging panels both locally and abroad and I have experienced (some, not all) being [surprised] by the results. Sometimes, the “taste” of judges really is different. Baka they value a certain look, beauty, type of walk – basta, baka may personal trip lang nila. We dont know eh,” she said.

“What i would like to see though, is transparency of criteria of judging, how is it being scored and to have an official tabulating firm in MU,” she continued.

Gray is the fourth Miss Universe winner from the Philippines, and her performance in the global tilt’s 2018 edition is often referred to as the “standard” for beauty queens. 

She is also nicknamed the “pambansang coping mechanism” by Filipinos, as many would rewatch her Miss Universe performance whenever a delegate would lose in their respective pageants. /edv