GEORGI
In Part Two of our pre-arrival analysis, we will take a look at this year’s European delegates.
EUROPE
The current Miss Universe, Iris Mittenaere, is from Europe and prior to her win, the last European delegate to win Miss Universe was back in 2002, Oxana Federova of Russia. Let’s take a look at this year’s contestants from Europe and see if they can pull a back to back win.
ALBANIA – Blerta is absolutely gorgeous. She’s only 19 and works as a professional model. Albania have only made the semi finals twice since they started sending contestants in 2002. Blerta has the potential to go as far into the competition as Angela Martini in 2010 with the right styling and good interview skills. (67%)
AUSTRIA – Austria returned to Miss Universe in 2013 after a 9-year absence. It’s been a while since Austria has done well in this pageant. Celine is probably their best entrant since their return in 2013 and we expect her to do well. Not sure if she will make the semi-finals necessarily but it should be close. (45%)
BELGIUM – Liesbeth was actually the third runner up at this year’s Miss Belgium pageant. She was appointed Miss Universe Belgium after the winner, Romanie Schotte, decided to compete at Miss World. She’s not as high caliber of a contestants as some of the other previous Miss Belgiums so it will be tough competition for her. (30%)
BULGARIA – Just like Miss Belgium, Nikoleta is another replacement for this pageant. The original winner, Mira Simeonova, did not meet the minimum age requirement. But in our opinion, Nikoleta will do a great job. Is she a semi-final material? She can be with the right training and proper styling. (47%)
CROATIA – Shanaelle has a very exotic look and is different from previous Croatian representatives at Miss Universe. That is because she was actually born in Germany to an African-American father and a Croatian mother. She went to school in the United States and speaks fluent English Spanish, and Croatian. With her American influence and exposure to US pageants, we expect her to be very well-prepared. (55%)
CZECH REPUBLIC – They’ve had some pretty strong contenders in the past but we feel that Michaela will have a hard time cracking the semi-finals this year. It’s just too much competition. (35%)
FINLAND – Michaela is a gorgeous brunette and one of the stronger Finnish in this competition in years. They have struggled to make the semi-finals after Lola Odusoga made the top 3 in 1996. But Michaela might just change that with a strong performance. (61%)
FRANCE – Alicia is simply adorable. There’s a lot of pressure on her to do a back to back win for France. But after seeing her performance at Miss France, she is definitely one of the top contenders this year so we wouldn’t be disappointed to see Iris putting that crown on Alicia’s head. (77%)
GEORGIA – Miriam is a last addition to this year’s list of contestants. We were for sure that last year’s Miss Georgia was going to make the semi-finals but unfortunately, it did not happen. We’re hoping for the same with Miriam. This will be an uphill battle for her but with hard work, who knows. (46%)
GERMANY – Sophia is another contestant that has one of the prettiest faces in the competition. Many pageant fans have her listed as one of their favorites after she won the Miss Universe Germany title. She’s definitely the strongest German candidate since Natascha Börger in 2002. We think she really has a good chance to make the cut. (75%)
GREAT BRITAIN – Anna is a model and hails from Leicester, England. With a good performance, she could follow the footsteps of Amy Willerton from 2013. We actually think that she is prettier than Amy but if she wants to be in the semi-finals, she will need to amp her game. (66%)
ICELAND – Arna is a model and a previous Miss World Iceland in 2015. She made international headlines in 2016, when she withdrew from Miss Grand International 2016, because of pageant organizers asked her to lose weight. From the pictures that we saw of her, she doesn’t need to lose any weight at all. She is absolutely gorgeous as she is and with the right styling, she might just make the semi-finals. (66%)
IRELAND – Cailin is a model from Cork, who won the crown of Miss Universe Ireland after her second try. She placed second runner up in 2015 but never lost her determination. This will be an uphill battle for her but with the right attitude and hard work, she might just surprise everyone. (54%)
ITALY – Miriam is one of the last contestants to be crowned. She is a model and an aspiring actress, who’s won the title of Miss Napoli in 2011 and was in the top 20 at Miss Italia in the same year. She is very striking and photographs really well. She could easily be one of the dark horses of this competition. (62%)
MALTA – Tiffany is yet another model in this group. This 5’11” stunner has appeared on the covers of numerous Maltese magazines and was also the winner of Britain’s Next Top Model competition in 2010. Her edgy look could either work in or against her favor. Having the runway experience will definitely help her in the competition. She just might be the first Maltese to make the semi-finals if she works really hard. (64%)
NETHERLANDS – Nicky Opheij won her crown just a few weeks ago and is ready to set her sights on the Miss Universe crown. Most people would describe her beauty as unconventional but with the right styling, she could grab the judges attention. (49%)
NORWAY – Kaja has a very unique beauty because her mother is Norwegian and her father is Vietnamese. The combination of these two cultures made Kaja just simply stunning. With a good performance, she could just make the cut. (58%)
POLAND – Katarzyna is one, if not, the most beautiful European contestant this year. This blonde bombshell is ready to take the stage in Las Vegas. We just hope that she does well in the preliminary as she is one of our favorites to win the crown. (78%)
PORTUGAL – Matilde is one of those women that pictures don’t always do her justice. This stunning model is one of those contestants that can easily come from behind and surprise everyone. We think that pageant fans will be totally surprised by her. (74%)
ROMANIA – Ioana is another candidate that won her title just a few weeks ago. This actress and model tried twice before winning the Miss Universe Romania title. She placed third runner up in 2012. She’s absolutely beautiful so we are hoping that she doesn’t become a victim of “couture-gown-gone-wrong” come preliminary night like many of her predecessors. With right styling, she could potentially become the first Romanian contestant to make the semi-finals. (67%)
RUSSIA – This country has endless supply of beautiful women and they made an excellent choice to send Ksenia Alexandrova this year because she is just absolutely gorgeous. She is another one of our favorites this year and we just hope that she is just as beautiful in pictures as she is on stage. We are hoping that she’s got some stage presence, which is always the downfall of Russian women at Miss Universe (except of course for Oxana Federova). Perfect example is Irina Antonenko in 2010. She was the favorite coming into the finals but when she got on stage, she lacked stage presence and that’s why she did not advance further as she could have. We think Ksenia is a definite contender! (79%)
SLOVAK REPUBLIC – Vanessa is another blonde beauty from Eastern Europe. She’s only 19 and one of the younger contestants this year. She is blessed with a gorgeous face and flawless body so she should do well. (55%)
SLOVENIA – Emina moved to Australia when she was 16 because she wanted a better future for herself. She attended the University of Melbourne before going back to Slovenia and won her title. Slovenia already made the semi-finals once in 2007 so if Emina works hard, she could be the second. (45%)
SPAIN – We watched Sofia win her national title in her country and we were excited because we were rooting for her from the beginning. Her pageant had a large number of contestants compared to other countries but she immediately stood out. That is usually an indication that a contestant has the “it” factor. We believe she will do well at Miss Universe and one of the ones to watch. (75%)
SWEDEN – Frida is a model and a former Miss Earth Sweden in 2014. Swedish women do really well in this pageant so Frida will be right at home on stage. With her pageant experience, she should do well. (67%)
TURKEY – Pinar is one of the tallest contestants this year. Standing at six feet tall, Pinar works as a professional model so she should do well on stage. Turkey last made the semi-finals in 2012 and we think she could top that. (56%)
UKRAINE – Yana is simply beautiful. She can speak English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese and Italian and is also a gifted singer. Her only downfall will be her height. At 5’6″, she is the shortest contestant this year so she will need to work hard to be noticed, especially standing next to Miss Turkey, who is six feet tall, and Miss Uruguay, who is 5’11”. She will be in between these two if arranged alphabetically. (60%)
NEXT UP – THE SENIORITAS FROM SOUTH AMERICA!
MISS UNIVERSE 2017 