Today we will appreciate the celestial beauty of Miss Universe Philippines Celeste Cortesi. The inspiration behind this article was from the Kindness Campaign started by Miss Universe President Madam Paula Shugart. They talked about pageantry being a place to celebrate, uplift, and empower women. Unfortunately, we see negativity happening on social media by some fans. We will talk about the gracious and beautiful Miss Universe Philippines Celeste Cortesi aims to win the fifth Miss Universe crown for the Philippines. There are so many Asian countries competing at Miss Universe 2022 and other International beauty pageants. Our guest for today is a Filipino Pageant commentator from Manila, Philippines Mr. Al Senso.
Since Empire Philippines acquired the Miss Universe franchise, there has been a focus on the preparation of the new Miss Universe Philippines. Since the beginning, Venus Raj Miss Universe Philippines 2010 and those consecutive years leading up to Pia Wurtzbach Miss Universe 2015. Everybody was in the spirit to support Filipina queens, pageant fans wanted separation from Binibining Pilipinas and Miss Universe Philippines to have its national pageant. There has been an improvement in terms of good quality production and a bigger stage. In 2020, when the day came, there was outrage among the fans including myself. I am one of those people who gave a negative feedback about it. But after some time, especially this year’s edition of Miss Universe Philippine 2022 with Celeste Cortesi. It became evident more funds were given to the most prestigious pageant in the world, and the creative materials are solid. The winner was given preparation sessions through holistic training. It became more training-centric for the winner and for the organization itself. Even now, it still is a learning curve for the organization to navigate the waters because Miss Universe Philippines is pretty young. They are in a three-year run, there are still mishaps here and there but overall, this edition. Celeste Cortesi was the winner, it is truly a magical one, and people transformed from Binibining Pilipinas to Miss Universe Philippines.
Tell us more about her background.
The meaning of Celeste is sky blue, she was named after her Italian father, and she was born in Pasay City. She represented Pasay city in Miss Universe Philippines, it was also the location of the coronation night. Miss Pasay City won in Pasay City, what a coincidence. She came to the Philippines from Italy because she has dreamed of becoming a beauty queen and then she wanted to get in touch with the people and know about the heritage of the Philippines she did not know how to speak English to join Miss Earth Philippines and then she won She did not make it after the Question and Answer round in Miss Earth 2018 because of the way she speaks. It is not definitive, there is so much to address that she was not able to during the Question and Answer round after Miss Earth 2018. She was bashed so much then she was trained by a new pageant camp here in the Philippines which is called The Camp. She was the only girl being given The Camp focus when she submitted her application through the Kumu app. Everyone was so surprised because the way that she left a mark in the pageant community was not good. In the beginning, people were kind of like skeptical about her talking oh how is she gonna perform in question and answer round? She got into the competition a lot of people took notice that she has improved so much in her speaking skills. Her physicality is just so immensely greater than how it was before and then she is starting to get recognized here and there. Then a lot of people are captivated by the things that she is putting out in the Miss Universe Philippines competition. Filipino people are calling her a Celestial goddess like a goddess, ethereal because the kind of presence that he has is so untouchable. If I look at the roster of Miss Universe 2022 delegates. I can say the Philippines have come back stronger to Miss Universe. Right now there is so much love that she has been receiving from the Filipino community and not just here in the Philippines but from around the world.
What is the biggest strength of your delegate and what can we expect to see in Miss Universe?
I am proud that the Philippines is now being represented by someone who is in the likes of Celeste Cortesi. For the longest time, Pasay City never had representation such as Celeste. To be represented by her and to win Miss Universe Philippines. It is such a great honor for Pasay City and not just for Pasay City but actually for the whole country of the Philippines. A lot of people think that she was the best thing that happened after Catriona Gray Miss Universe 2018 and I could not agree more. She has a queenly aura and she is radiating I think it is so hard to deny that she is one of the strongest Miss Universe 2022 candidates. She is being effortless and these are the things that would make her stand out more in the international competition. After Catriona Gray, if you have noticed but after 2018. The succeeding years would be filled with stronger girls in terms of presentation. Catriona set the standard so high that not a lot of pageant queens can be like her but I guess if we set the standard so high. Even our own country would not be able to meet those expectations.
How are the preparations going for Miss Universe 2022?
The organization never reveals its secrets but from what we know and from what I can see on her Instagram. She is religiously attending her coaching sessions with her trusted Question and Answer mentor. This mentor has brought out the best in Celeste so these are the things that I guess Team Philippines is focusing on. Not just focusing on social issues but also focusing on maybe philosophical questions or personality-related questions Honestly, if you would be asked a philosophical question. It is really hard to answer and not a lot of people are prepared. Celeste has very subtle movements, her speaking skills and presentations are just very queenly and regal and not so intense like how other candidates would present themselves you know and of course, the sash factor still plays into this game. She is still Miss Philippines, she would be supported by a lot of people. Same with Miss Thailand and Miss Indonesia.
Do you have any message you want to give to your beauty queen?
I will like to congratulate her in advance and I want her to know the moment that she won Miss Universe Philippines 2022. The whole Philippines won already and she made our country strongly united after Miss Universe Philippines. I keep on saying this but she is a blessing in disguise after Catriona Gray. The Philippines has never been more excited for Miss Universe. Whatever placement she would be in Miss Universe 2022, she would still be grounded. She would pursue to inspire other people and not just Filipinos or Italians but other nations as well.
What are your thoughts on the online bullying of delegates?
I do think that it is never right. Imagine the mental torture that it can give to someone and I always tell people or fans like myself. To put themselves into the shoes of these candidates. They are trying to drag this person down. For whatever reason that they have, these girls in Miss Universe 2022 honestly have outstanding credentials. It may be best to be critical rather than insulting. If it is not fixable in five or ten minutes then do not bother saying anything. Bullying someone divides our country’s number one and then it divides fan bases and divided feelings for a lot of the fans. So, I highly advise if you have nothing nice to say then just do not say a word or try to look for something where you can have control rather than push something absurd and would not happen.
This is a reason why the Miss Universe organization launched the Universe United campaign and the Kindness Campaign and it is nice to see the first guests for that specific topic were Celeste and Miss Indonesia because there is always this fight between the Philippines and Indonesia. It is time to address that, even pageant bloggers here in the Philippines, I am not fond of the things that they were saying for other Asian countries such as Indonesia because it is a domino effect if you say something bad to one person since they do not know you. They are hiding behind their keyboards they can just you know say something that is insulting and it is really up to you If you would get affected or not. It breaks my heart the kind of standard that there is already in terms of pageantry because these types of things are not acceptable and should be put to a stop.
How can we support our delegates and be respectful of our neighboring delegates?
All these girls want to give pride and joy to their respective countries and make an impact on society and inspire a lot of people with their hardships, dedication, and commitment to serving and we should acknowledge those rather than focusing on the negative things and not the important things that we see in them. For example, Celeste not being able to communicate very well in English or maybe Anna is also receiving the same criticisms. like those things can be managed by the greater things.
For example Iris Mittenaere from France. She cannot even complete the sentence in English but she won Miss Universe 2016. When she became Miss Universe, she was trained by Esther Swan. Imagine Esther was the one who is training Iris in English every day. Imagine the kind of commitment and passion that she was giving just to fulfill her duty as Miss Universe. It is really upon the organization who they would crown, whether this girl grew up poor, whether this girl had enhancements done whether this girl joined pageantry many times before does not matter to the Miss Universe organization. As long as she has the heart to serve and she can fulfill her duty as Miss Universe and inspire a lot of women, not just women but also men and people like us from the LGBTQI plus community and also children. Then she can become Miss Universe.
In the end, do you have any message you want to give to our viewers? Especially from Asia and the Pacific Region?
A harmonious pageant environment starts with us fans and not with a beauty queen. So be kind to one another. We are being watched and heard by the Miss Universe organization. They are doing something about it. May I invite everyone to participate in the #kindnesscampaign I think that this is a movement that we all need right now that is very timely and this is something that a lot of people can benefit from. we can be the pillars of change and hope. If we do it the right way.
Where can our viewers watching this video find you on social media?
On my Youtube channel, you can follow me at Al Senosa and on Instagram. You can message me there you can have a chat with me on my DMS. I post a lot of stories about pageantry there so you can follow me on Instagram at @al.senosa In the end, my message to our viewers is United we stand, divided we fall.
Let’s stand together as a united universe through our #kindnesscampaign to support our delegates as well as our fellow countries’ delegates. Saying that I hope you guys enjoyed our discussion, I had a really good time talking to a fellow pageant commentator from the Philippines.
