GB Awards 2011 - The winners
Stage Presence
WINNER – Ivian Sarcos (Venezuela / World)
2nd place – Amanda Vilanova (Puerto Rico / World)
3rd place – Zhanna Zhumaliyeva (Kazakhstan / World)
Best Catwalk (Evelina Award)
WINNER – Iliana Papageorgiou (Greece / Universe)
2nd place – Alyssa Campanella (USA / Universe)
3rd place – Jeanine Castro (Fernando de Noronha / Tourism Queen)
Radiance & Personality
WINNER – Amanda Vilanova (Puerto Rico / World)
2nd place – Jennifer Reoch (Scotland / World)
3rd place – Livia Nepomuceno (Brazil / Tourism Queen)
Best in Evening Gown
WINNER – Shamcey Supsup (Philippines / Universe)
2nd place – Drielly Bennettone (Brazil / Earth)
3rd place – Ivian Sarcos (Venezuela / World)
Most Beautiful Evening Gown
WINNER – Viviana Ortiz (Puerto Rico / Universe)
2nd place – Olesya Stefanko (Ukraine / Universe)
3rd place – Shamcey Supsup (Philippines / Universe)
Face of the Year
WINNER – Fernanda Cornejo (Ecuador / International)
2nd place – Monika Lewczuk (Poland / Supranational)
3rd place – Leila Lopes (Angola / Universe)
Most Photogenic
WINNER – Monika Lewczuk (Poland / Supranational)
2nd place – Alyssa Campanella (USA / Universe)
3rd place – Iliana Papageorgiou (Greece / Universe)
Sexiest Woman Alive
WINNER – Iliana Papageorgiou (Greece / Universe)
2nd place – Carola Duran (Dominican Rep. / Tourism Queen)
3rd place – Zhanna Zhumaliyeva (Kazakhstan / World)
Beauty With Substance
WINNER – Stephanie Karikari (Ghana / World)
2nd place – Astrid Ellena (Indonesia / World)
3rd place – Mianette Broekman (New Zealand / World)
Best in Swimsuit
WINNER – Keity Mendieta Britton (Panama / International)
2nd place – Vanessa Ceruti (Chile / Universe)
3rd place – Jeanine Castro (Fernando de Noronha / Tourism Queen)
Supermodel Looks
WINNER – Zhanna Zhumaliyeva (Kazakhstan / World)
2nd place – Iliana Papageorgiou (Greece / Universe)
3rd place – Monika Lewczuk (Poland / Supranational)
Best Non-Finalist
WINNER – Deborah Henry (Malaysia / Universe)
2nd place – Iliana Papageorgiou (Greece / Universe)
3rd place – Carola Duran (Dominican Rep. / Tourism Queen)
Best in Africa
WINNER – Leila Lopes (Angola / Universe)
2nd place – Antonia Shinana (Namibia / Tourism Queen)
3rd place – Bokang Montjane (South Africa / World)
Best in the Americas
WINNER – Ivian Sarcos (Venezuela / World)
2nd place – Jeanine Castro (Fernando de Noronha / Tourism Queen)
3rd place – Livia Nepomuceno (Brazil / Tourism Queen)
Best in Asia
WINNER – Luo Zilin (China / Universe)
2nd place – Zhanna Zhumaliyeva (Kazakhstan / World)
3rd place – Cherry Liu (Taiwan / Earth)
Best in the Caribbean
WINNER – Amanda Vilanova (Puerto Rico / World)
2nd place – Esonica Veira (U.S. Virgin Islands / World)
3rd place – Valery Vélez Cuevas (Puerto Rico / Supranational)
Best in Europe
WINNER – Monika Lewczuk (Poland / Supranational)
2nd place – Carla García (Spain / World)
3rd place – Olesya Stefanko (Ukraine / Universe)
Best from Oceania
WINNER – Scherri-Lee Biggs (Australia / Universe)
2nd place – Mihilani Teixeira (French Polynesia / Supranational)
3rd place – Mianette Broekman (New Zealand / World)
BEST OVERALL CANDIDATE OF THE YEAR
WINNER – Ivian Sarcos (Venezuela / World)
2nd place – Scherri-Lee Biggs (Australia / Universe)
3rd place – Luo Zilin (China / Universe)
Best 2011 WINNER
WINNER – Ivian Sarcos (Venezuela / World)
2nd place – Monika Lewczuk (Poland / Supranational)
3rd place – Leila Lopes (Angola / Universe)
Best Host City
WINNER: Xi’an, China (Miss Tourism Queen)
2nd place: São Paulo, Brazil (Miss Universe)
3rd place: London, England (Miss World)
GB comment: No other city got so involved and sponsored so many activities to promote the city and the pageant as Xi’an (Miss Tourism Queen International). It was so to a point, that there were totems of all participating beauties spread throughout the city! São Paulo (Universe), London (England), and Chengdu (International), fought hard for the silver and bronze Yulias, with São Paulo (Universe) ending in 2nd, and London (World) in 3rd place.
Best Official Website
WINNER: Miss Universe
2nd place: Miss International
3rd place: Miss World
GB comment: Hands down and by unanimity, missuniverse.com gets the big prize in the Best Website category. It’s well-designed, informative, interactive, fast, constantly updated and has made photos and information available to the press like no other, making it easier for the pageant to be promoted worldwide (an example to be followed). Miss International, Miss World, and Miss Earth, have ‘ok’ websites, with much room for improvement. However, Miss Tourism Queen, and especially Miss Supranational, are very weak and truly need to work on their websites in order to deliver something up to the caliber of both pageants.
Best Pre-Pageant Activities
WINNER: Miss Tourism Queen
2nd place: Miss World
3rd place: Miss Universe
GB comment: From day one to the very end, Miss Tourism Queen candidates really got to experience Xi’an in a series of cultural and tourism activities. They’ve spent time with locals, learned about and tasted the local food, visited the world-famous Xi’an Warriors, and had the most amazing experience on Christmas Eve, being taken on train to a giant Christmas tree located in the city’s main square right before midnight, and then enjoyed themselves in a very special and fun Christmas party. Miss World came in 2nd thanks to its point-system events (former fast-track), which always get media and pageant fans’ attention, and Miss Universe was 3rd thanks to its Presentation Show and activities in São Paulo. Miss International and Miss Earth also had lots of pre-pageant activities and placed 4th and 5th, respectively. Miss Supranational has improved, but still needs to make the pageant more attractive in the weeks preceding the final show.
Best Stage Production
WINNER – Miss Supranational
2nd place – Miss International
3rd place – Miss Tourism Queen
GB comment: For the 2nd consecutive year, Miss Supranational tops the stage production award, but this time nearly tied with Miss International, which surprised us all with a huge and very unique stage. Miss Tourism Queen came in 3rd place with the amazing special effects created during the telecast (although the flowers on the tip of it were completely uncalled for). The two ‘big ones’, Miss Universe and Miss World, had nice stages, but nothing outstanding (and yes, we expect OUTSTANDING when we talk about these two…). Miss Earth had the weakest one by far, which was dark, and was no even close to some of the stages it presented few years ago.
Best Television Pageant Production
WINNER: Miss International
2nd place: Miss Supranational
3rd place: Miss Universe
GB comment: Just like it happened in the stage production category, Miss International and Miss Supranational fought for the best television production prize vote-by-vote, and this time Miss International got the extra edge. It was a huge come-back for Miss International, the pageant with, by far, the weakest production a few years back. It was entertaining, had great music, showed all the delegates and finalists in details. Miss Supranational has great camera and light work, good music, and an exciting competition for the most part of it (it needs improvement on the winner’s and continental queens announcements, who by the way are not really continental queens – same goes for MTQI – something that truly should go). Miss Universe showed some primary mistakes, like in the parade of nations, when one contestant spoke, and the cameras were on another (something we did not see happening in Miss Universe since the 1980’s. Plus, MUO did not dare to innovate, like it did in the great Miss USA pageant. Miss World has improved and became more exciting with its new leaderboard, however, it still misses on-stage competition, the element which makes pageants really exciting. Miss Tourism Queen has improved but still needs to work on its parade of nations. Miss Earth was entertaining, but in terms of tv image quality and innovation, it scored really low. It insists on copying Miss Universe elements from the past, which is a huge mistake, since in its beginning, 10 years ago, it was much more creative and unique (reason why GB included it in the Grand Slam).
Best Group of Candidates
WINNER: Miss World
2nd place: Miss International
3rd place: Miss Universe
Miss World, once again and not surprisingly, takes the award for the best overall group of candidates. Miss International was the surprise of the year, outdoing Miss Universe, 3rd place, by little and finishing 2nd. Miss Supranational ranked in 4th place, Miss Tourism Queen in 5th, and Miss Earth in 6th.
Best Presenter
WINNER: Jason Cook (Miss World)
2nd place: Andy Cohen (Miss Universe)
3rd place: Angela Chow (Miss World)
GB comment: Miss World truly got it right bringing American actor Jason Cook to the scene. He took the spotlight (and this award) from Angela Chow, after several years as the winner. As a matter of fact, the chemistry among Jason Cook, Angela Chow, and anchorman Steve Douglas, was perfect, adding tremendous quality to the show. Andy Cohen came 2nd, having done an excellent job in Miss Universe, and Angela Chow was 3rd, very close to Natalie Morales (4th). Miss Earth also had good presenters, like Jason Godfrey (5th place). Miss Supranational’s weak script did not help its presenters, and Miss Tourism Queen needs more life and excitement in its hosts.
Best Media and Press Promotion
WINNER – Miss Universe
2nd place – Miss World
3rd place – Miss Earth
GB comment: In terms of media promotion, Miss Universe remains unbeatable. Not only it knows how to use its website, Facebook page and twitter like no other pageant, but it also organizes a series of press conferences in the weeks preceding the pageant’s final event, and makes photos and press releases available to the general media. Miss World is more protective of its press information, however, being the most popular pageant in over 70% of the countries in the world, it naturally attracts press attention. Miss Earth has an army of Filipino pageant fans promoting it on the internet, and it hires international news agencies to promote the pageant, which is a positive thing. Miss International comes next, followed by Miss Tourism Queen and Miss Supranational, which are growing fast, but need a hand from international news agencies to make them better known in most countries.
Most watched show on television
WINNER – Miss World
2nd place – Miss Universe
3rd place – Miss Supranational
GB comment: Miss World is watched live in over 120 countries, in all continents, followed by Miss Universe, watched live in the whole of the Americas, but not in most other continents (with exceptions like the Philippines and a couple of other countries in Asia and Europe). Speaking of delayed broadcasts, Miss World may reach over 170 countries and territories, Miss Universe 100, and Miss Supranational 74 (a great number for the youngest Grand Slam pageant around). Thanks to Star TV, Miss Earth comes in 4th place in number of countries, but it’s outnumbered by Miss Tourism Queen and International in total audience, thanks to the millions of Chinese who watch both pageants on tv.
Best Candidates’ Official Photos
WINNER – Miss Tourism Queen
2nd place – Miss Universe
3rd place – Miss International
GB comment: Miss TQI photographer May Chai (from Supermodels Studio) did a hell of a job capturing the beauty of the 92 candidates with the greatest sightseeings of Xi’an as background, beating Miss Universe’s great Fadil Berisha, who once again did a very good job, but could’ve been more creative having Brazil and its rich culture as theme (we are still trying to figure why the girls were photographed wearing belly dancing fantasies!). All others came much behind (Miss World did not have official photos).
Most Outstanding Social Work
WINNER – Miss World
2nd place – Miss Universe
3rd place – Miss Earth
Julia Morley’s Beauty With a Purpose keeps on raising millions of dollars for needy children and people in general worldwide. Miss World encourages young ladies in all of its 120 participating countries to do voluntary work and embrace important social causes. In this category, it won the trophy by unanimity. Miss Universe comes next, supporting noble causes like the fight against breast cancer and others. Miss Earth could do much more for environment protection than it does, but yet, the Miss Earth winners work more for its chosen cause than Miss International, Miss Tourism Queen and Miss Supranational titleholders (who we barely hear of during their reigns).
Best Pageant of the Year
WINNER – Miss World
2nd place – Miss Universe
3rd place – Miss International
In overall terms, two pageants actually fight for the biggest award of the year: Miss World and Miss Universe. Miss World remains by far the most watched beauty pageant on global television, it had the strongest group of competitors, dared to innovate, with its new leaderboard, and had the best winner of 2011, therefore, it deserves to top this category once again. However, it must improve its tv production even further, bringing back on stage competitions to the final show, especially for the top 15 (most pageant fans wonder how the judges narrow down the group of 15 semi-finalists to the 7 finalists). Although Miss Universe has the most exciting on-stage competitions, in 2011 it committed some primary broadcast mistakes (like in the parade of nations) and was involved with scandals, such as the participation and placement of Miss Brazil – the hometown girl – who appeared topless on photos released all over the media, breaking its own rules. After an amazing Miss USA production, perhaps the best produced pageant of the year, people’s expectations on Miss Universe were high, but unfortunately Miss Universe did not bring any new or exciting elements to its production (only the ‘fans’ scores’, criticized by most and very confusing for the home audience). Miss International did an extraordinary comeback, with a greatly produced pageant, finishing in 3rd place, which, in this case, tastes like gold, after all, it left behind Miss Tourism Queen (4th), Miss Supranational (5th) and Miss Earth (6th).
NATIONAL PAGEANTS
And the Yulia goes to…
Best National Director
WINNER – Osmel Souza (Miss Venezuela)
2nd place – Stela Marquez (Binibining Pilipinas)
3rd place – María del Carmen de Aguayo (Miss Ecuador)
Best National Pageant Website
WINNER – Miss France
2nd place – Miss USA
3rd place – Ceska Miss
Country of the Year
WINNER – Venezuela
2nd place – Philippines
3rd place – Brazil
Best National Pageant
WINNER – target=”_blank”>Miss USA
2nd place – Miss France
3rd place – Miss Bulgaria
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WINNERS!!!