The 2009 edition of Miss Earth has ended with the crowning of Larissa Ramos from Brazil. However, our coverage of this environment dedicated pageant still continues with one last part, the final night review. Join us and find out which parts of the final night that we love and which ones we think should just be left behind!
Love It (Things We Like)
• The opening number. Featuring the contestants having fun in both swimsuits and national costumes at the beautiful sandy beach of Boracay, the opening number of Miss Earth 2009 embodies what a pageant should be. It blends color, music, and dance into a truly spectacular presentation. One of the best opening number in pageant history.
• Marc Nelson. He has hosted Miss Earth twice before (2002 and 2004) and he did a decent job both times. This time is also no exception. Marc Nelson is really a perfect choice for the male host position and we love to see this eye candy hunk back once again at Miss Earth stage.
• The return of evening gown round to Top 16. Since 2004, the evening gown round is reserved exclusively to Top 8 only. This leaves the swimsuit round as the only way for the judges to score the Top 16. But this year, with the Top 16 compete in both evening gown and swimsuit, the judges will get more chances to evaluate the semifinalists and hopefully a better judgement in determining who will advance to Top 8.
• The inclusion of Korea and France in Top 16. We have fallen in love with Park Ye Ju since the first sight and it doesn't change until the final night. We are totally glad that this unique, funky, and chic beauty is not ignored by the judges. Magalie Thierry, on the other hand, is a pleasant surprise for us. We do not expect her to place but her performance on the final convince us that she is a worthy choice for semifinal line up.
• The stage presence of Spain. Alejandra Echevarria's style for final night is really a reminiscence of Gona Dragusha during Miss Universe 2009. Alejandra sports the same hair style with Gona (which seems to be inspired from Audrey Hepburn's "Breakfast at Tiffany's") and like Gona did during Miss Universe final, Alejandra captures everybody's attention with her glam and elegant persona. Best stage presence of the night.
• The victory of Brazil. We never predicted Larissa would win before but now that this exotic beauty crowned Miss Earth 2009, we actually love the result. Larissa is a good choice to become Miss Earth 2009 and we wish her good luck throughout her reign.
Leave It (Things We Dislike)
• Too many hosts. The more is not always the merrier. The number of hosts for a pageant event should just be limited to two, one male and one female. There is no need to have three hosts for this event.
• The inclusion of Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Singapore in Top 16. Nothing against these girls but they just don't match the beauty level of the other semifinalists.
• The exclusion of Cuba, Czech Republic, Italy, USA, Turks & Caicos, & Jamaica from Top 16. If life is really fair, these beautiful and sparkling girls should have made the cut. But for some reasons (we suspect attitude or communication skill factors), they were left out in the cold.
• The "not-so-final" final walk. A final walk, as its name states, should have done as a penultimate ceremony before the crowning of a new Queen. But Miss Earth 2009 begs to differ and let Karla Henry did her final walk during the Top 16 round. It's certainly a twist to the tradition, but not a good one in our opinion.
• The discontinuity of Top 4 round. The crowning of Miss Earth and her courts should have been done with only 4 remaining girls. This year, without a Top 4 round, the crowning is done with 8 remaining girls and it makes the ceremony seems less focus (split attention among 8 girls compared to the usual 4 girls only) and the stage too crowded (too many girls standing in the front row). Top 4 is the perfect format for Miss Earth crowning and we really hope it will return next year.
• The new crown. Following the trends of Miss Universe, Miss Earth also feature a new crown this year. The new crown, said to be adorned with precious stones from over 80 different participating countries, sounds good in concept but seems poor in execution. We dislike the overall design and love the old Swarovski crown better.
So that's it ... our final say of Miss Earth 2009. See you next year at Miss Earth 2010!
