I typically would want to commit to posting my results reaction article within 24 hours after the pageant has ended. But since we dealt with a triple whammy of major international pageant finals being held on the same date (along with all the sleep sacrificed to deliver those homestretch review articles), there are limits to what an adrenaline rush could provide, and my body wound down a bit as a result.
Now that I recovered a bit, I have to note that even if the conduct of the finals seem to harken back to the scaled down editions of 2000 and 2003, I felt a rush of euphoria as I followed the updates on this pageant–partly because I learned that they brought back the shirtlessness, as their opening number featured the 48 contestants parading shirtless in jeans. Of course most of them do deliver the goods.
I think the bulk of the evening turned into a talent show, as all ten Talent challenge finalists performed their talents. England (Roland Johnson) performed with a full band (he probably was already part of a band before he competed in pageants), and I learned reading in a messageboard post on a popular (though controversial) website that Czech Republic (Milan Nevosad) used to perform his hip-hop dance for children–so my “children hugging a sequoia” reference in my homestretch review may not be too far-fetched after all. The judges liked pop music after all, so Canada (Darren Hayes… oops, I mean Frankie Cena) beat the more classical stylings of Mongolia (Daniel Dae Kim… oops, I mean Enkhbold Erdenetuya) in this challenge.
I was surprised on who was shortlisted in the Multimedia challenge: I thought South Africa (Andrew Govender), Turkey (Barış Aslan), and Venezuela (Jessus Zambrano) would be in the running, but they were nowhere to be found. Instead, we have Belgium (Gianni Sennesael), Canada, Colombia (Francisco Escobar), Netherlands (Bas Gosewisch), and the Philippines (Andrew Wolff) shortlisted. Again, this challenge is dominated by members of the Blue team. Surprisingly, even if he was not able to upload his video during the Canterbury tour (only a couple of days afterwards), the Philippines won. Good thing that the judges did not take it against him that there were internet connectivity issues during the Canterbury tour and judged based on the finished product (which is well-made, and packed with great information) and the amount of interaction with the fans.
Apparently they changed the rules a bit for the Fashion & Style challenge. Instead of selecting a Top 10 who will then undergo a makeover with stylists, this challenge is now simply all 48 contestants wearing their most fashionable outfits and determine the winner from there. Well, it’s so obvious that Vietnam (Trương Nam Thành), who sported a gold suit and brown boots for this round, would win based on the new rules. I wish the organizers thought about how to more properly implement this challenge more thoroughly and factor in real-life criteria in what the fashion world looks for in a male model–it might come to the point that a guy wearing drag or sporting an outré Lady Gaga style would win this in subsequent editions!
I completely expected Croatia (Vanja Grgeć) to win the Extreme Sports challenge and Ireland (Leo Delaney) to win the Sports challenge. Now I find it too brutal that after the challenge winners are accounted for, there are only five slots remaining for the rest of the finalists. Two of the challenge winners, frankly, would not be finalist caliber if it weren’t for their challenge wins. Especially with the caliber of contestants this year, they need to have opened up more slots (if you ask me, five more, but two more would’ve also been acceptable). So many awesome guys are left out as a result. Most pageant fans and pundits are particularly upset at the exclusion of Mexico (Enrique Ramírez Mayagoitia)–with all the expectations by several pageant fans and pundits of him clinching the title, he deserves to be granted the Lucas Malvacini award. I personally lament at the exclusion of Spain (Alvaro Villanueva Santos)–he still remains my Beefcake Behemoth in this contest.
I got 6/10 semifinalists in my “fearful” forecast, but the four I did not get, they were always in serious consideration and were in my “Bubbling Under” list, so I’m satisfied with their inclusion. It’s interesting how the three Manhunt 2011 semifinalists (Belgium, England, and Vietnam) all made the final cut in this contest, too. Also, notice that the Top 10 is again dominated by the Blue Team, which occupied 6/10 slots.
I know four men from this roster are in serious contention for the Final Three spots, and though I’m sad Croatia failed to advance further, I am totally pleased with the final three of Colombia, Ireland, and the Philippines. I don’t even care how they ended up ranking as for me whatever combination would still yield an excellent result. Any one of them would make a worthy winner.
So the final results had it with Ireland taking 3rd place, Philippines 2nd place, and Colombia winning the title. Though I patriotically wanted my countryman to win it, the mere fact that he forged a breakthrough for our nation in this pageant and ranked as high as he did amidst a bevy of extremely competitive and handsome contestants brought my heart glee–the first words in my head are “Happy Happy Joy Joy”–see snippet of that Ren & Stimpy song below:
I couldn’t help resist that if Andrew would have this moment re-enacted in a local TV drama, I have the perfect actor to play Francisco Escobar–Carlos Agassi! All Carlos would need to do is slim down a bit (because Francisco is more lean and sinewy than beefy and muscular) and sport a nose prosthetic and they would be perfect deadringers!
On a parting note, I wanted to embed the new Mister World’s own video showing all 48 contestants saying hello and introducing themselves as he filmed them. Most of the 48 contestants post-pageant had expressed that though they might be disappointed at not winning, they would not forget the friendships they have forged. I salute all 48 of them, but of course, congratulations to the worthy new Mister World!
JUST ME!
JOSEPH
All images courtesy of Mister World unless otherwise indicated.
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