2 Pinays named as Miss U judges

December 12, 2018 

For the first time, seven female judges, including two Filipinas, will select the 67th Miss Universe during a three-hour televised pageant at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand on Monday morning.

Miss Universe Organization president Paula Shugart revealed that the seven female judges will sit both at the preliminary and final competitions of the prestigious beauty pageant.

Shugart said that the preliminary competition will be held Thursday morning. The event will select the Top 20 candidates and they will be announced during the broadcast finale.

The two Filipina judges are Monique Lhuillier, world-renowned bridal and fashion designer; and Richelle Louise Singson-Michael, an architect and vice chairperson of the LCS Group of Companies that successfully staged the 65th Miss Universe Pageant in Manila in January 2017.

The five other female judges are Bui Simon, Miss Universe 1988 from Thailand, also known as Porntip Nakhirunkanok, founder of Angel Wings Foundation; Janaye Ingram, founder of Women’s March Inc.; Michelle McLean-Bailey, from Namibia, founder of Michelle McLean Children Trust and Miss Universe 1992 in Bangkok; Iman Oubou, Moroccan-American entrepreneur and former beauty queen; and Lili Gil Valletta, co-founder and chief executive officer of CulturIntel and CIEN.

This is the first time that two Filipina judges will sit as members of the board of judges in the same year.

The first Filipino invited to judge the contest was the late Foreign Affairs Secretary Carlos P. Romulo when the pageant was first held in Asia and in the Philippines on July 21, 1974. The late Amparo Munoz of Spain won the contest, only to give up her crown after several months.

After 15 years, the next Filipino judge was fashion designer Josie Cruz Natori who served the panel during the contest held in Cancun, Mexico on May 23, 1989.

Natori was followed by singer-actress Kuh Ledesma who also became a judge for the Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on May 17, 1991.

http://tempo.com.ph/2018/12/12/244267/