January 18, 2017 – The year has just started and still, Baguio City remains incredibly eventful as the candidates from Miss Universe 2017 graced the streets of Baguio. Cue the drums, trumpets, and xylophones!
Upper Session Road to South Drive had been closed for this momentous parade. People lined the sidewalks as they waited for their favorite beauty queens to arrive.
A few different elementary schools, high schools, colleges, and organizations also participated in the event to add to the festive mood, dressed in their own colorful costumes, and even playing the Panagbenga theme song already!
Everyone screamed with glee as the flower-embellished floats carrying the contestants turned the corner. The contestants smiled and waved, and the people fawned over their beauty.
The contestants had been distributed onto three floats, each representing Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
There were 24 candidates in total. According to the Department of Tourism, they are Miss Australia Caris Tiivel, Miss Colombia Andrea Tovar, Miss Peru Valeria Piazza, Miss Puerto Rico Brenda Jimenez, Miss Spain Noelia Freire, Miss Albania Lindita Idrizi, Miss Miss Aruba Charlene Leslie, Miss Barbados Shannon Harris, Miss France Iris Mittenaere,…
(cont’d) Miss Guam Muneka Joy Cruz Taisipic, Miss Haiti Raquel Pelissier, Miss Israel Yam Kaspers Anshel, Miss Italy Sophia Sergio, Miss Kenya Mary Esther Were, Miss Korea Jenny Kim, Miss Kosovo Camila Barraza, Miss Malta Martha Fenech, Miss Mauritius Kushboo Ramnawaj, Miss New Zealand Tania Dawson, Miss Norway Christina Waage, Miss Slovenia Lucija Potočnik, Miss South Africa Ntandoyenkosi Kunene, Miss Sweden Ida Ovmar, Miss US Virgin Islands Carolyn Carter.
As the three floats passed by, everyone waited even more anxiously for the last float, which would carry none other than Miss Universe 2015, Pia Wurtzbach.
After a few more “intermissions” and an appearance by the tiny jeep, Jeepito, the crowd began screaming even louder, chanting “Pia! Pia! Pia!” as her float finally turned the corner.
Confidently beautiful with a heart. Pia was absolutely stunning in person, and all eyes were on her. All those moments waiting under the sun were finally made worth it.
The Miss Universe participants were followed by cute and majestic animal friends, and to be honest, they totally stole the show. Hurr hurr
And the Pony Boys on their majestic steeds rounded up the parade (pun intended),
The next Miss Universe will be crowned on January 30, 2017 at the SM MOA Arena. We’re also excited to see how that will turn out.
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