TUESDAY
MARIEL de Leon and the Philippines are on the cusp of beauty pageantry history.
Tonight, the 23-year-old daughter of drama king Christopher de Leon and actress Sandy Andolong will vie for the country’s seventh Miss International crown, and effectively, a back-to-back win with current titleholder Kylie Versoza in Tokyo, Japan.
De Leon is considered by international pageant observers as one of the strongest candidates to succeed her fellow Filipina. If and when she wins, the feat would be a
PH standing
Already, the Philippines holds a record of sorts in Miss International.
To begin with, six of the pageant’s eight winners from Asia are from the Philippines. They are Gemma Cruz in 1964, Aurora Pijuan in second to Venezuela as the country with the most number of winners at seven.
[The other two Asians who won Miss International are Christina Sawava of
USA, Colombia, England, Spain, Poland and Australia have three winners each Mexico have two. Other countries with
Meanwhile, a very interesting bit of trivia involving the pageant and the Philippines of Colombia, married Filipino tycoon Jorge Pilipinas, considered the breeding ground Radiant in Tokyo, Japan where the 57th Miss International pageant will be held tonight bring honor to the country.
Inspired by Pia
In an interview with TheManilaTimes during her send off party with fellow placed second runner-up to Maria Jose Lora of Peru at Miss Grand International the second time was wholly her decision.
“I was pushed to join the pageant in it was my personal decision—my own resolve,” she said.
De Leon related she was inspired by Pia Wurtzbach’s determination—placing less on her third outing.
And while the pressure is on her to clinch a back-to-back win with Versoza, the levelheaded beauty is taking everything in stride. Saying she just wants to be as natural as possible in the contest, she told The Manila Times that she also learned basic conversational Japanese to help her out.
“I don’t think about the whole back-toback pressure. I just want to stay focused do my best as Miss International, and will give it my all,” she said.
Movie with Coco
- ence, de Leon has always said she will continue to pursue her passion in music. A classical group, which has seen substantial TV exposure.
And while her parents are esteemed movie personalities, she initially said that acting was not part of her plans until prime time star Coco Martin asked her to be his leading lady in the remake of Fernando Poe Jr.’s “Ang Panday” for the coming Metro Manial Film Festival.
“I’d be out of my mind if I rejected the offer. Coco Martin is Coco Martin. thought, I shot my scenes only on weekends, twice- a- week, so my training told TheManilaTimes .
She wrapped up her scenes before leaving for Tokyo, and just a few days ago, it was revealed that besides de Leon, Verzosa will also play an important role in Panday. In other words, two Miss International beauties will be part of Martin’s movie project, which incidentally also marks his directorial
A favorite
Proof that de Leon is strongly in the running for the Miss International crown is how she even caught the eye of Madam Akie Abe, wife of Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to join her in a shopping spree, as reported by a beauty pageant site.
Duterte will serve as a lucky charm to de Leon, just as he was thought to be when Versoza the President visited Japan just before Versoza’s Asean activities, during which time de Leon was already busy with pre-pageant activities in Tokyo.
all over the globe will compete for the Miss International title and its famed Mikimoto pearl crown at the Tokyo Dome City Hall. The pageant begins at 3 pm, Japanese time.