Miss Grand Int´l 2020: GB´s final show review

Delivering a good or a bad show, Miss Grand International 2021 would have made history in the same way, after all, it was the first Grand Slam contest to take place during the difficult times of the coronavirus pandemic. And in the end, it was not a good show ... It was excellent, having exceeded all expectations !!

The opening number left us breathless! The costumes, the music (Rain on Me, Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga), the lighting, the choreography, the stage, everything was perfect. Add a Thai magic touch to it and a great performance by Valentina Figuera dancing, and, voilá! The way the candidates were presented was also incredible, giving each one more air time and culminating with the explosion of the flag of her country, remembering the great openings of Eurovision!

The 20 quarterfinalists were called without major surprises. All of them were mentioned in the Global Beauties candidates´ final review as favorites or with possibilities. No big favorites were left out, giving credibility to the contest.

Soon after, the 20 quarter-finalists literally melted large blocks of ice in the MGI swimsuit parade, to the sound of Tropkillaz, J. Balvin, and Anitta - Bola Rebola, ft. MC Zaac. A great novelty brought more excitement to fans of beauty contests: the marks from 1 to 10 awarded by the judges to each candidate, as was the case in good times of the Miss Universe and Miss World contests, were displayed after each delegate presented herself in swimwear. Again without surprising anyone, Miss Grand Brasil received the highest grade (9.77) and the title of Best in Swimsuit.

In the announcement of the Top 10, perhaps the only surprise was the non-inclusion of Miss Grand Peru and Miss Grand Kenya. Miss Grand Malaysia placed thanks to the popular vote. Anyway, all the other 9 semi-finalists were expected and the mega favorites were still in the running!

The peace speech, as it could not be otherwise, had the coronavirus pandemic as its central theme. Most semi-finalists spoke very well, however, Miss Grand USA rocked it by also speaking in Thai, drawing fervent applause from the audience! After a longer and more elaborate evening gown parade than in previous years, another positive point of this year´s pageant, with the marks from 1 to 10 appearing once again on the screen, the semi-final phase was concluded in great style.

The 5 finalists were Indonesia, Philippines, Brazil, USA, and Guatemala. The latter grew a lot in the final show, earning her place in the Top 5 with merit. One of the great favorites, Miss Grand Czech Republic, was left out, from whom a little more was expected in the peace speech.

After the same question for all and great answers, Brazil was ranked fifth, Indonesia fourth. Surprise and more excitement: Philippines, USA, and Guatemala tied! New question and answers and, in a very emotional moment, the representative of the United States, Abena Akuaba, became the first black woman to be crowned Miss Grand International, with the Philippines in second place and Guatemala in third.

Valentina Figuera´s ended her year of reign with a great farewell speech. Other former beauty queens served as judges from a distance, which was another creative touch by MGI. The host did a very good job. Miss Grand Myanmar got the opportunity to protest against the political situation of her country after a recent military coup. MGI´s motto is Stop the War and Violence, which means that this was very courageous and relevant.

What could have been better? After all, nothing is perfect… Well, we would remove the body statistics from the candidates displayed during their swimsuit presentations. Body statistics have been long gone in other Grand Slam pageants, such as Miss World (eliminated in the early 1980´s) and Miss Universe. For many, they objectify women and it´s something irrelevant these days. In addition, this year´s show might have been too long, over 3.5 hours (though it was so good that we´ve barely noticed that it was so long!). Finally, the coronavirus appearing on the stage led at some points of the production was a bit odd.

Other than that, we can easily say that it was one of the best beauty pageant shows of the new millennium!

The next edition of Miss Grand International will take place in November and December, probably in Thailand. We can barely wait for it!

Missed the show? Watch it here: