Before I disucss the Top 17, I’ll discuss te conduct of the finals. Basically it’s a straightforward, spare affair–a national costume presentation, then for the announcement of the Top 17 the contestants were in streetwear (which they paraded during the preliminaries), then the Top 17 walked in blue swimsuits, a Top 10 announcement, change to formal wear, and then at the same time they called out each of the Final Five, the final Q&A, then announcement of special awards and final announcement. The affair barely acknowledge it is reaching to a global audience as it’s mostly a Thai affair, especially with the two female Thai hosts’ Thai accents were too thick that their English spiels sounded incomprehensible several times. Still, it’s generally well-paced, and for most part the choice of Top 17 is satisfying.
MYANMAR – Myo Htut Naing. He is boyishly cute, and that might be his ticket to edge out some well-touted contenders, but I want to penalize him for the proportion of his legs to his torso–his legs are glaringly very short that I would rather shut him out and pave the way for the likes of FRANCE or PHILIPPINES.
NIGERIA – Emmanuel Somto. There is this buzz that if a male pageant is organized and run by Asians like this pageant, men of African heritage will not have a chance of making the cut. Though this pageant defied that perceived truism last 2019 with the 1st runner-up finish of Tunisia’s Houssem Saidi, it’s obvious they want to encourage and be open to the presence of black contestants such as this one. This guy has been receiving some hype and he won the most inspirational video award, so one can speculate that’s how he earned his Top 17 slot. I don’t object to his inclusion, and I’m all for diversity, though of course to my taste there are five or six guys I’d like to include in his place.
ECUADOR – Fabricio Caicedo. He’s buffed and polished so I can see merit to his inclusion in this group, though I feel it’s more for diversity reasons that he clinched the deal. I have no objections as he does have obvious merits.
INDIA – Tseetej Shiwakoti. I didn’t have a high regard for him, but I have to hand it to him that he proved to be a polished presence that I can understand how the insiders and juges preferred him over some other perceived favorites–he almost fits the boyishly cute trope.
PERU – Daniel Jares. He seemed to at first be under the radar in most of his appearances but he proved very strong during the preliminary competition that he emerged as worthy Tplacer in this group.
INDONESIA – Bagus Ajidani. I’m not into his features but he still fits into the boyishly cute Asian trope that the insiders and judges tend to like on several of the Asian candidates this year. It’s also interesting that in his blue swimsuit he seems to have something, uh, prominent, that I have to hand him this year’s Dino Nicolina award.
LAOS – Sengaphone Souriyamath. Like PERU, he’s a very worthy sleeper inclusion. He has that boyishly cute appeal, but he also has the beginnings of a beefily buffed bod. If I have my way, I’ll make him advance to the Top 10 instead of…
HONG KONG – Anthony Lo. I don’t quite get his appeal and how he got buzz as a winner of some sponsor’s prize, but well, based on that early buzz, it’s not surprising how this guy advanced to the Top 10. Still I’ll only rank him in the rear of this group as the other guys are just more compelling.
THAILAND – Thirapat Sittichai. It’s no surprise that there is a slot for the host contestant, and with his buffed bod and cute appeal, his placement at this level is totally justified. In another year, he could;ve ranked higher but this is a very strong batch that the best I could rank him is 9th.
CUBA – Janiel Julien. Many pageant fans have been hyping him as the favorite to win it all, and I get it–his swarthy sexiness is off the charts. But I’ve noticed is personality tends to be subdued in the available videos I see of him, so even if he exuded a compelling appeal, I felt it might be a miracle if he made the Final Five, which it turned out he didn’t.
U S A – DJ Davids. He’s classically handsome and like most Americans, tend to be a tad loquacious, maybe even more so than your typical American dude. In fact he does give off the vibe of a female American beauty queen in the way he looks at gunning for the title and speaks of his advocacies. He’s highly appealing enough to pull off the slightly feminine vibe but I have a feeling this very thing was the factor that prevented him from becoming a Final Five finisher–though it looks like he came pretty close.
BRAZIL – Bruno da Slva. I didn’t notice he was sporting a topknot, which considering the Thais’ strong Buddhist traditions, turned out to make him fortuitously suited to their tastes and even be the first winner of a sponsor’s prize. He is an undeniably strong contender, but this year’s mix of judges seem to have a stronger preference for certain other types. Like USA, he probably only fell short by a small margin.
I had mentioned how this year the sponsors, judges, and insiders tend to like their Asian guys boyishly cute–but it turns out only to a certain extent. As it turns out the Asian guys they eventually prefer the most are beefily buffed alpha male types who also are taller than the normal Asian, as found in the Asians that made the Final Five. The remainder of the Final Five are handsome Hispanics, starting with…
4TH RUNNER-UP: MEXICO – Gabriel Ortiz. If I was judging the preliminary competition, I would say the winner of that was this guy. He was classically handsome and he was the most consistently strong performer of the bunch–the favorite and front-runner of most fans (including myself) felt he took a big stumble in the formal wear round, which this guy shone. During the final, he was a clear Final Five shoo-in and seemed likely to battle for the Final Two. But then came the Q&A. It turns out he could barely speak English and realizing that and while scrambling for a Spanish translator, he remarked in Spanish about this being an international contest and his pride in speaking his own native Spanish language and his pride participating in this pageant. I think that tirade, even if uttered pleasantly and politely, was his downfall that instead of making the Final Two, he ended up in the bottom of the Final Five. This despite giving a good answer to the question about what wisdom he would like to impart to a newborn child–he talked about letting a child enjoy his childhood and never giving up on his dreams.
3RD RUNNER-UP: VENEZUELA – Juan Carlos da Silva. Most people may have wanted CUBA or BRAZIL in this final group instead of this guy, but he does have an appealing mix of youthful boyishness and rockstar sex appeal that was catnip to the judges and edged out those two early faves. His final question was what he thinks makes for an “inspiring gentleman” [this pageant’s motto]. He gave a solid answer about having values of love and peace and being thankful, and went on to embody the last part by thanking his country, his family, the brotherhood he developed with his fellow contestants, and the organizers. I suppose because he answered all this in English that the hosts assumed MEXICO would likewise would be able to answer without a need of a translator, and that led to that awkward moment that eventually was to MEXICO’s disadvantage.
2ND RUNNER-UP: KOREA – Dongwoo Shin. In his formal wear headshot, he resembles our very own actor/TV presenter Luis Manzano. He was shortlisted for some sponsor’s prizes and I also noticed his beefy buffed bod and tall stature, so I have a feeling he will do well. I’m sure no-one expected him to finish in the Final Five, but he proved his mettle in the final question, where he was asked what is one thing he would like to change about the world. He gave a very timely and relevant answer–hatred, as hatred leads to war and conflict, and that we would be able to live a better life all together if we can turn that hatred into love and learn to forgive each other. His command of English is not perfect, but he proved to be eloquent and arguably gave the best answer in the Final Five. But, the judges most likely felt the eventual Final Two were just too strong that this guy’s answer alone would not be strong to beat them.
1ST RUNNER-UP: VIETNAM – Danh Chieu Linh. Like KOREA, he’s a 6’1″ tall beefily buffed alpha male. Thais do seem to have strong kinship for this country so I’m not surprised this guy would fare well, though not many expected he would end up in the Final Two. For his final question he was asked if he was to deliver a message to a large group of people, what would his message be. He delivered his answer in native Vietnamese and his answer translated to him and he relayed his background as a farmer and that he encourages everyone to farm or plant for the preservation of our planet. His message is relevant as it touched upon our environmental crisis, and perhaps the reason why even if KOREA delivered a better answer this guy still has the edge is that the judges at hand felt he has more charisma.
MISTER GLOBAL 2021: SPAIN – Miguel Angel Lucas Carrasco. From the get-go I pegged him as the favorite to win it all–he towers over everyone with his 6’5″ stature, has an appealingly beefily buffed bod, and there is that dreamily handsome face, resembling NKOTB lead singer Jordan Knight. I was slightly apprehensive during the formal wear round of the preliminary competition as I felt his choice of an oversized black jacket was a big misstep, but I’m glad that was corrected during the final, as everything went perfectly. In the final question, he was asked if “there can be happiness without sadness, pleasure without pain, and peace without war”. In his imperfect English, he didn’t directly answer the question but he did note that we had emerged from the darkness into the light and endured a lot with the pandemic during the past two years that the fact that here we are emerging on the other side is a way that we can show te best of what we are and noted that this papgeant is a way to do that. Implicitly he seemed to state that the negative helps us appreciate the positive even more. Though KOREA gave the best answer, there are major merits to this guy’s oblique answer that with his compelling good looks and sterling modeling skills, it’s obvious that his win is well-earned.
In general, it’s a satisfying return for this pageant, with a strong batch of conteders and great results. Congratulations to all the gentlemen.
JUST ME!
JOSEPH
Joseph Vitug's Views 