5 Miss Earth bets top talent tilt

5 Miss Earth bets top talent tilt
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
By Patrick Pangilinan & Adrian Nemes III

Negrenses were treated to an international showcase of mainly dance numbers at the preliminary talent competition of the Miss Earth 2009 at the La Proa Ballroom of L'Fisher Hotel in Bacolod City Monday night, as 15 candidates took to the stage and filled the hall with a mix of native sways and modern struts.

Five ladies stood out from the rest of the “women of the earth” and earned the approval of the eight-member board of judges.

Larissa Ramos of Brazil paid homage to her county's famed annual Carnaval in her green Mardi gras costume complemented by her flowing hair and perked up the audience with her hip sways.

Tahiti 's Niuriki Teremente made a follow-up to Ramos' upbeat hip swings with her own rhythmic traditional dance in her three-piece red and brown dress.

Serving the audience with a new cultural flavor, Richa Thapa Magar of Nepal , in her white and sequined traditional Nepali costume, mimicked the basic elements – fire, water, wind, and earth – in a ritual-like performance that called for more understanding and care of the world's ecosystems.

Jia Pei of Macau added to the solemn call for environmental awareness in a combination of sign language and dance to render a Chinese song, which asks the viewers to care for the earth.

Dressed in her red satin gown, Pei got the crowd's participation towards the end of her number, when she briefly paused to emphasize the circular motion of her right hand to symbolize the earth followed by a wave from her heart as a sign of love.

Another audience favorite among the Miss Earth performers, Magalie Thierry brought France 's classic high-kick Can-Can dance to the stage in her black and red dress and drew applause from the crowd, especially with her full split finale.

Other notable performances were that of Honduras ' Alejandra Mendoza, in her Broadway-inspired number and Yi-Wen Chen of Chinese Taipei with her traditional peacock dance.

The 15 performers were among the 26 Miss Earth contenders who visited Negros Occidental to promote the annual contest's goals.

Other contestants visited areas in Luzon where talent competitions were also held.

Earlier during Monday's show, candidates Mayra Aldana of El Salvador , Triantafyllia Sarantinou of Greece , Malta 's Alison Galea Valleta, Natalia Quinonez Perez of Mexico , Northern Ireland 's Kayleigh O' Reilly, and Dignelis Taymi Jimenez of Puerto Rico , ruled the catwalk and mingled with the audience.

Sarah Finlay of Scotland, Valerie Lim of Singapore, Slovenia's Maja Jamnik and Switzerland 's Graziella Rogers also joined the ramp walk portion and shared what they think are the best practices in to protect the environment.

Judging the two-hour talent show were former MassKara Foundation President Girlie Belzunse, Dr. Severo Lacson, former Bacolod Vice Mayor Ramiro Garcia, former Valladolid Mayor Ricardo Prisbitero, and concert pianist Leonor Kilayko.

Silay Tourism Officer Severino Pacete, former Provicnial Administrator Roy Balicas and Visayan Daily Star Columnist Ivy Visitacion were also among the board of judges.

Negros Occidental Governor Isidro Zayco thanked the organizers of Miss Earth 2009 for choosing the province as one of the hosts of the contest, saying this would help boost the province's tourism industry.

The Miss Earth candidates also had a tour of the famous landmarks of Silay City before they flew back to Manila yesterday.

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