Miss Universe tickets cost up to $2499!

Philippine bet Rabiya Mateo will compete at the Miss Universe 2020 pageant happening on May 16, 2021 (U.S. Time) at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Ticket details about the Miss Universe 2020 pageant are now out! Instagram page @missuupdates revealed in a post on April 14 the two available packages to those who are planning to watch the grand coronation night live.

The full caption reads: "There are two different packages (shown in the 3rd slide) : IVY - The Fan Experience ($999 per person) and DIAMOND - The Ultimate VIP experience ($2499 per person). And you can only buy in batches of 2 or 4, not one ticket only! Plus taxes on that! (check out the last slide for a screenshot of my friend’s bill)"

The Ivy Fan Experience package— which costs USD999 or around PHP49,000, tax excluded— comes with premium seating, a ticket to the VIP KickOff Party, a Virtual Q and A, a ticket to a dress rehearsal, and a swag bag. Meanwhile, those who'll get the Diamond Package, which is worth USD2,400 or around PHP121,000 with tax excluded, will get the full-VIP experience. The package includes premium lounge-style seating; entrance to the VIP Kick-Off

Party; tickets to the national costume, preliminary, and finals; meet and greet, and interview with the reigning Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi; and a photo with the new Miss Universe.

Pageant vlogger Adam Genato said, the swab tests are also included in the packages, according to a source in the U.S. However, the pageant requires a minimum of two tickets for those planning to watch the show live. The total cost of watching the 69th edition of Miss Universe live can cost so much more as lodging fees are yet to be added to the ticket price. VIPs and sponsors had early access to the pageant's tickets. Regular tickets will be available to the public in the coming days. U.S.-based Pinay businesswoman Olivia Quido-Co, one of the sponsors of the Philippine participation in the event, revealed there will be a live audience during the grand coronation night, but it will be limited to only 25 percent of the venue's total cap aci t y.

Olivia, also known as Miss O, shared some of the strict protocols that will be implemented by the Miss Universe Organization, "Yes, there will be live audience but only 25 percent. So we will be placed in a bubble sa hotel. We will be there, ako siguro, May 16 yung event, I will be there on May 10th sa Florida. And then, ang sabi nila, the moment we arrive sa hotel, isa-swab test na nila kami. And then, after the swab test, we will be placed in our hotel room. Hindi kami palalabasin until the next day na malaman namin yung results. So, dun kami kakain sa kuwarto, dun kami magdi-dinner, dun kami magbe-breakfast. And then, I will meet all the 80 delegates at lunch time the next day."

Philippine bet Rabiya Mateo is now in the U.S. for the pre-pageant activities. She is among the 75 candidates vying for the Miss Universe Crown. So far, the Philippines has produced four Miss Universe winners: Gloria Diaz in 1969, Margie Moran in 1973, Pia Wurtzbach in 2015, and Catriona Gray in 2018

* * * Remember when 26k girl Charmel became popular for always holding the briefcase with the jackpot prize in Kapamilya Deal or No Deal? The hit game show was the Philippine franchise of Banijay's (formerly Endemol) hit game show, Deal or No Deal, and it aired on ABS-CBN from 2006 to 2016, with several season breaks in between. The 26K girls were the ladies who each held a briefcase containing the prizes that a contestant could win, ranging from the amounts of one peso to two million pesos. Charmel made a big impact on the show's first era, which ran from 2006 to 2009 with Kris Aquino as host, because she usually held the briefcase that held the three biggest prizes: Php500,000, one million, and two million pesos.

The show's big reveal usually happened when the contestant did not choose Charmel's briefcase over his own briefcase. On April 12, 2021, Twitter account @AltA2ZChannel11— a parody to A2Z Channel 11— tweeted a throwback photo of Charmel holding a briefcase in one of Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’s episodes. The netizen wrote in the tweet, “Sana bumalik tayo sa panahon na ang problema lang natin ay. . . KUNG NA KAY CHARMEL ANG 2 MILLION PESOS”

As of this writing, the tweet has already received more than 11,000 likes and 100 quote tweets. Netizens had different reactions to the tweet, with some reminiscing their childhood while others relating Charmel to the current problems of the country. There were netizens who remembered how suspenseful it was every time it was Charmel’s turn to open the br i ef case:

Some say that Charmel was their “bias” or favorite 26k girl. Other Twitter users recalled how Kris would tell Charmel, “Buksan na iyan!” There were also netizens who were able to bring light to the heavy issues in the country through the tweet, such as the recent PhilHealth PHP15 billion fund fraud: After her Kapamilya Deal or No Deal in 2009, nothing has been heard about Charmel, or Charmel de Asis in real life. According to @AltA2ZChannel11, Charmel is now married to a foreigner named Ben Evans. They are now based in Ohio.