After being the last major international pageant to stage its pageant before the entire world went into lockdown in 2020, Manhunt International (MHI) is back to stage its 21st edition. As with other pageants that have managed to stage their competition since then, it doesn’t mean that the COVID-19 pandemic has gone away, but it’s more we have to live and cope with it, taking all necessary precautions to prevent an outbreak like what happened at Miss World 2021.
Manhunt International decided to double down on advertising itself as a modeling search, as it integrated the term “Male Supermodel” in its branding. This is nothing new as since 2001 that’s what this competition has turned out to be anyway. This year they also had the delegates submit videos for three online challenges–physique (where they showcase their bodies), casting (basically them clothed), and runway (demonstrating their runway skills). It’s not made clear how those submissions would factor in determining the final outcome of this pageant, but I presume it might be factored in as possibly a fast-track slot for each of those challenges. There is a disclosure made by MHI chairman Rosko Dickinson during the press presentation that is a bit eye-opening but does explain how probably they manage to decide the winners of the 2000s editions (especially when held in China) as the final show doesn’t feature individual showcases of delegates in those days–all decisions are made during the preliminary judging. It does beg the question–what’s the point of staging a final competition when it seems everything is already decided the previous day? I hope based on the format of presentation in the more recent editions that there is a “real” competition being judged during finals night.
The pageant was expecting 39 delegates to compete, but five turn out to be no-shows, so the final turnout is 34, which makes this edition tied as the 5th lowest turnout in this pageant’s history.*1 Let’s talk a bit about the no-shows on how they could have fared, starting with…
*1 It tied with the 1998 edition. Editions with lower turnouts include 1993 (25), 1994 (24), 2018 (28) and 2000 (33). It has to be noted that in the 2000 edition, there were actually 35 delegates who showed up, but two withdrew prior to the final in controversial and unamicable circumstances.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Manuel Arias. Just like his 2017 counterpart, he sported long hair. I’m not that fond of his looks but somehow in a less competitive year there is a window where this guy could’ve gotten away with it and make the cut like his 2017 counterpart.
MEXICO – Ivan Hernandez. He looks pale and boyish, so I am not bullish on his prospects if he had shown up–we’ve seen more charismatic contestants fielded by this country in previous editions and in other pageants.
PUERTO RICO – Christian Vazquez. He seemed to be a competitive-enough delegate based on his looks, but it’s not a guarantee he would make the cut. At the very least he could’ve been a worthwhile contender.
SIERRA LEONE – Alhaji Hassan Mansaray. He submitted a runway challenge video so I was wondering if he could make it but it seems he couldn’t. At most he probably would’ve been a worthwhile contender who is likely to miss the cut.
TURKEY – Eren Semerci. He seems to have a handsome face and a chiseled physique, so he could’ve had an inside track for the Top 16 and possibly even make a play for the Final Five. His absence is the one that is most felt.
Normally this is the part I’ll be doing a full-fledged assessment of the 34 delegates who are in the competition. However, with a very tight timeline (less than one week) of activities with the preliminary competition only to be staged tonight, less than 24 hours before the final, and conflicts with my own schedule I would need to trot out my leaderboard this early and do a complete delegates’ review post-final. Here’s my leaderboard:
TOP CONTENDERS: AUSTRALIA, BRAZIL, SPAIN, U S A
SHOO-INS: FRANCE, GREECE, NETHERLANDS, PERU, PHILIPPINES, VIETNAM
LIKELIEST: BULGARIA, CANADA, EL SALVADOR, INDONESIA, JAPAN, MALAYSIA, NEPAL, NICARAGUA, NIGERIA, PANAMA, SINGAPORE, SOUTH AFRICA, SRI LANKA, THAILAND, VENEZUELA
EXCELLENT: PAKISTAN
VERY STRONG: GERMANY, KAZAKHSTAN, MYANMAR, POLAND
STRONG: BELGIUM, KOREA
VERY GOOD: FERNANDO DE NORONA, INDIA
Now, here’s my “Fearful” Forecast:
FINAL FIVE: AUSTRALIA, BRAZIL, SPAIN, U S A, VIETNAM
TOP 16: BULGARIA, EL SALVADOR, FRANCE, GREECE, MALAYSIA, NETHERLANDS, NIGERIA, PERU, PHILIPPINES, SOUTH AFRICA, SRI LANKA
BUBBLING UNDER: CANADA, INDONESIA, JAPAN, MALAYSIA, NEPAL, NICARAGUA, PANAMA, SINGAPORE, THAILAND, VENEZUELA
STRIKING DISTANCE: PAKISTAN
To be honest, this year’s batch is not as stellar as the previous edition (which I would belatedly bestow the “Magnificient” tag that I have previously given to Manhunt International 2012, Mister International 2015, and Mister World 2019) but there are some highlights to watch out for: AUSTRALIA (Lochie Carey) and U S A (Elijah Van Zanten) have that classic handsomeness that follow in the mode of the reigning winner, Paul Luzineau from the Netherlands, then there is the undeniable buffness and sexiness of SPAIN (Alexander Calvo) and then there is the human interest story provided by BRAZIL (Hendson Baltazar), who is a person with disability (PWD) as he is competing with only one leg but that is not stopping him from exuding oodles of charisma–if Nyle Dimarco (who is deaf) could win America’s Next Top Model, why not make a statement by bringing forth Brazil’s first ever victory in this contest?
Let’s not overlook a few possible usurpers who could fill out that fifth slot and maybe, just maybe, upset the aforementioned front-runners. FRANCE (Cedric Cabane) has undeniable boyish cuteness working in his favor; GREECE (Zacharia Ktistakis) may not be as breathtaking as his predecessor but is projecting at a high level; same could be said likewise for NETHERLANDS (Cas Hagman); VIETNAM (Tran Manh Kien) seems to be the top Asian and following in the footsteps of recent successes delivered in Mister International and Mister Global, even if publicity and special awards seem to be going towards PHILIPPINES (Joshua De Sequera)*2 thus far; and finally we have PERU (Daniel Jares), who made a major splash in the press presentation by showcasing his multilingual skills as he acted as the English translator for delegates who could only speak Spanish and Portuguese (and we learned later he can also speak a little Hindi)–now we would wonder if he would still keep his scruffy look during the preliminary competition or will he shave just like what BRAZIL and FRANCE have done?
*2 He’s one of the tallest delegates in this batch and he has pedigree as his mom is Asian modeling legend and our representative to Miss World 1992, Marina Benipayo.
Let’s see how the online challenges factor in the final results, and if the final night would now play a factor in deciding the final results. Best of luck to all the delegates.
JUST ME!
JOSEPH
All images courtesy of Manhunt International unless otherwise indicated.
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