MISS Philippines made the cut ‘til the Top 6. There’s no shame in making it that far. Congratulations, Maxine Medina.
But I did notice Boyz II Men perform. I didn’t really watch the whole serenade, and honestly couldn’t recall what I was doing with my time then rather than watching the legendary RnB act perform live on stage. But it made me think—who’s the best Filipino performer that we have who would’ve also rocked the stage since the event was held here in the Philippines anyway?
The column entry from this point onward are filled with some light research done online. Who were the performers invited during past Miss Universe pageants? My time could only take me as far back as five years ago. Read on:
Miss Universe 2011 was held Sept. 12, 2011 in São Paulo, Brazil. Leila Lopes of Angola was crowned the winner. According to IMDb.com (Internet Movie Database), guest performers then were Bebel Gilberto and Claude Leitte. American-Brazilian Gilberto is the daughter of Bossa Nova singers João Gilberto and Miúcha. The Brazilian singer-songwriter Leitte rose to fame in 2002 as the lead vocalist of hit group Babado Novo.
Miss Universe 2012 was held Dec. 19 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Olivia Culpo of the USA was crowned the winner. According to IMDb, performers were American rock band Train (who just released hits like Hey, Soul Sister and Marry Me) and Timomatic (now carrying his real name Tim Omaji, a Nigerian-born Australian singer-songwriter and dancer.)
Miss Universe 2013 was held Nov. 9, 2013 in Krasnogorsk, a suburb of Moscow, Russia. Gabriela Isler of Venezuela won the crown that day. According to IMDb, Emin Agalarov, Panic! at the Disco and Steven Tyler (who was a pageant judge for the event) were the guest performers. Who exactly is Agalarov? According to Wikipedia, he is “an Azerbaijani singer-songwriter” who “writes and performs songs in English and Russian and is well known in Azerbaijan, Russia and Europe.”
Miss Universe 2014 was held Jan. 25, 2015 in Miami, Florida, USA. Paulina Vega of Colombia was crowned. According to IMDb, performers that night were Prince Royce, Nick Jonas, Gavin DeGraw and La Linea. With the exception of Jonas and DeGraw, the two other performers can deliver live songs in Spanish.
Miss Universe 2015 was held Dec. 20, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Our own Pia Wurtzbach was crowned. According to Wikipedia, guests performers were star crooner Charlie Puth, American country music group The Band Perry and English singer-songwriter Seal.
Miss Universe 2016 was held Jan. 30 in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. Iris Mittenaere of France was declared the winner. According to Wikipedia, guests performers were Flo Rida and Boyz II Men.
We have no idea what went on behind-the-scenes during the putting up of such a colossal, internationally renowned event. But don’t you think it would have been nice to have a guest performer on stage who represented the host country? Or was this something that didn’t really matter since the event’s focus was on the ladies on stage anyway?