BB. CEBU: A NIGHT OF WIT & BEAUTY
On the fateful night of Oct. 28, the Pacific Grand Ballroom of Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino was filled with applause and cheers as the embodiment of Cebuana beauty and pride walked down the stage. Apriel Smith, representing the town of Badian, was crowned and hailed as the first Binibining Cebu.
The coronation night of Binibining Cebu 2017 started with anxiety and anticipation as a beautiful production number lit the stage and 54 ladies representing 44 different municipalities and nine cities trotted gracefully wearing Little Black Dress by Cary Santiago with heels and accessories by Shandar. The event was hosted by celebrity father and son tandem Edu and Luis Manzano with Miss Earth 2008 Karla Henry.
The 54 hopeful contenders were immediately narrowed down to 20 and the ladies again appeared on stage wearing red hot swimsuits as celebrity heartthrob James Reid serenaded the top 20 candidates. The audience screamed and cheered not only because of the flaming hot runway but because of the next part of the program where the 20 candidates would further be narrowed to 12.
The evening gown competition began and the 12 candidates were asked different questions as if to warm them up for the final portion of the program giving previews to the audience of how beautiful a Cebuana can be both inside and out. The top 12 was again narrowed to only five among which the Queen and her court would be hailed. The top five were composed of representatives from Badian, Asturias, Danao City, Bantayan and Minglanilla.
Soon after that the intensity of wanting to know who will be the first crowned queen and representative of the province of Cebu overwhelmed the stage and as Ingrid Gerodias of Minglanilla and Apriel Smith of Badian held hands for the announcement of Binibining Cebu 2017, the whispers of the crowds’ prayers could be heard in the short moment of silence.
As 12 midnight was fast approaching, a burst of screams echoed around the grand ballroom as Apriel Smith of Badian was finally hailed and crowned as the first title holder of Binibining Cebu. Laid on her head was Oro China’s crown designed by Cary Santiago with the supervision of Kenneth Cobonpue. The crown was made up of 16 carat diamonds, 47 carat emeralds, 66 carat rubies, 30 carat blue sapphires, 25 carat white sapphires, 8 carat sardonix and 14k Italian gold which made the newly crowned queen of Binibining Cebu shine brighter than the rest.
To complete the queen’s court, Minglanilla’s Ingrid Gerodias was hailed first runnerup, Danao City’s Kathleen Mae Lendio as second runner-up and also Best in Production, Bantayan’s Maria Gigante was crowned Binibining Cebu Charity, and Asturias’ Samantha
Lo was crowned Binibining Cebu Tourism. Lo also won Best in Evening Gown for the Evening Gown competition held last Oct. 4 in SM Seaside City Cebu but was only announced during the coronation night. Ronda’s Megan Campbell also bagged the award for the Philippine Terno Competition which was held last Sept. 23 in the Municipality of Argao.
“There is only one thing that I could share to you which is that the man of my life passed away whom I can call my father. His peaceful goodbye changed my perspective of life which I can call the values and the time. Because we cannot take time because time is gold and I know that when you have time with your family, cherish and embrace it with your time especially to the younger ones. Because we never know when our time is up and that will be a very important lesson to all the millennials, is value and time,” Smith answered for her final question, “What is one important life lesson every millennial should learn and why?”
Smith bagged P500,000 in cash and P300,000 in kind with the Municipality of Badian receiving P200,000 being the municipality represented by the winner. Coincidentally enough, Apriel turned 22 as the clock struck 12, making her win as the first Binibining Cebu the most unforgettable birthday gift as she continues with her journey in joining pageants with the hope of being the next lady to represent our country internationally.