Miss Universe 2012 Review: Honduras - Korea

The 61st Miss Universe Pageant will be held on December 19 at PH Live, Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. This has not been the best year for the Miss Universe Organization as they were scrambling for the greatest part of the year to find a host for the pageant and in the end it resulted in Vegas again and the pageant being held right at the very end of year for the first time. As a result, Angola's Leila Lopes has become the longest reigning titleholder in the history of the pageant. She will crown Miss Universe 2012 at the conclusion of the event that will be shown live on NBC and Telemundo Wednesday night. The Miss Universe Organization has made the most of this year's pageant despite all the setbacks and embraced the time of the year with a holiday themed show. The great group of delegates also made up for the very long wait. A note to the Miss Universe Organization: PLEASE LOWER THE HOSTING FEE!!! You will find a host if you don't charge a fortune. We want to see the pageant in new exotic locations.
Now on to the stars of the show:

KEY:

POSSIBLE WINNER - ******
POSSIBLE TOP 5 FINALIST - *****
POSSIBLE TOP 10 SEMI-FINALIST - ****
POSSIBLE TOP 16 QUARTER FINALIST - ***
UNLIKELY TO PLACE - **
HIGHLY UNLIKELY TO PLACE - *

HONDURAS: JENNIFER ANDRADE **

Jennifer is probably the shortest delegate at this year’s pageant. She has a striking resemblance to Sahar Biniaz who was supposed to represent Canada. I also see a bit of Angelina Jolie. Even though Jennifer’s height (or lack thereof) will probably count against her, she gave it her all during the preliminaries. She gave a competent performance and proved that even the shortest girls can make a positive impact at a pageant.

HUNGARY: AGNES KONKOLY ***

Agnes was one of the pleasant surprises of the night. She did not put a foot wrong and gave a really impressive performance. She has such a gorgeous face that it is very hard to miss her. With a bit of luck, she will be one of the lucky 16 whose names will be called out on Wednesday night.

INDIA: SHILPA SINGH *

It’s sad to see what has become of this once powerhouse since former Miss Universe, Sushmita Sen, took over. Their delegates are just not up to par anymore and it’s sad that the I am She franchise has been a disaster so far. Shilpa tried her best but she just could not compete with most of the other ladies on stage. She does an attractive face though.

INDONESIA: MARIA SELENA **

Miss Indonesia was one of the delegates I kept an eye on. Her Fadils were really impressive so I thought she could be surprise. She was very good at the preliminaries but not spectacular. When she almost tripped in evening gown she looked visibly nervous. Overall, I’d say she was better in swimsuit than gown.

IRELAND: ADRIENNE MURPHY **

Adrienne reminds me a bit of a young Christine Baranski. Ireland had a great year in 2010 but since then they could just not find someone as spectacular as Rozanna Purcell. Adrienne tried her best but things did not go her way. When she slipped during her swimsuit presentation, it seemed like she said: “Oh Sh1t!”. She never recovered from that slip and it seemed like she just wanted to rush through it and get off stage as soon as possible.

ISRAEL: LINA MAKHULI **

I was keeping my eyes on Lina because in photos she is quite striking. I was disappointed though. She is definitely more photogenic than telegenic and she did not have a great walk.

ITALY: GRAZIA PINTO **

Miss Italy is not spectacular but she is not terrible either. She is definitely somewhere in the middle of the pack. I actually enjoyed her evening gown performance but she was not that great in swimsuit.

JAMAICA: CHANTAL ZAKY *

Jamaica has really gorgeous women so I was a bit disappointed when I saw Chantal’s preliminary performance. She was fierce but I don’t know if it was the styling or the fact that she was too fierce. It just seemed too harsh.

JAPAN: AYAKO HARA ***

I really like this girl and there is something insanely sexy about her. I love her sultry beauty and she was great on stage. She might not be one of the contenders from Asia but I think she could definitely pull a surprise. I will be super happy to see her in the top 16.

KOREA: SUNG-HYE LEE **

Sung-Hye had a looooong time to prepare and it showed. She was fierce and tried her best. Her body is in great shape. I still think that there are stronger Asian girls. Her face is a bit too angular for my taste but she did make a good impression.

Photos: www.missuniverse.com