The Philippines’ bet, Samantha Ashley Lo of Cebu City, is leading in the online voting of the swimsuit and national costume competitions at the Miss Grand International (MGI) 2019.
The Bb. Pilipinas – Grand International candidate arrived in Venezuela later than other candidates due to passport and visa issues but came in time for the preliminary interview, then topped the online voting for both swimsuit and national costume competitions.
The 26-year-old Cebuana beauty shined in her yellow two-piece bikini in the swimsuit competition and topped the online poll garnering more than 440,000 votes.
Here are the top 10 countries who received the highest number of online votes in the Miss Grand International swimsuit competition:
- Philippines
- Myanmar
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- Thailand
- Vietnam
- Indonesia
- Latvia
- Brazil
- Venezuela
In the national costume competition the Pinay beauty queen, with a diverse lineage being born from a Filipino-Chinese father and a Cuban-Nicaraguan mother, showcased the Tausug-inspired attire designed by Edwin Uy that she wore in the Bb. Pilipinas pageant. The newly-created costume Lo was supposed to wear for the competition was left behind in Paris together with her other luggage.
Lo even performed a short traditional Tausug dance – the Pangalay – during the national costume competition.
The Philippines secured the top spot in the national costume online voting with more than 120,000 votes.
Here are the 10 representatives who topped the online voting in the national costume competition held on October 21:
- Philippines
- Thailand
- Mexico
- Vietnam
- Guatemala
- Indonesia
- Myanmar
- Ecuador
- Dominican Republic
- Malaysia
The voting scores will be combined with the scores from the judging panel to identify the winning candidate.
Samantha Ashley Lo’s predecessors have a good track record at the Miss Grand International competition, finishing in the Top 2 and Top 3:
- Parul Shah – Miss Grand International 2015 2nd Runner-up
- Nicole Cordoves – Miss Grand International 2016 1st Runner-up
- Elizabeth Clenci – Miss Grand International 2017 2nd Runner-up
Aside from Samantha Ashley Lo, beauty queen and actress Melanie Marquez’ daughter Michelle Dee is also preparing to compete and win the country’s second Miss World crown.
Bea Patricia Magtanong is also set to fly for Tokyo on October 25 for the upcoming Miss International 2019 pageant, where Kylie Versoza won the crown in 2016 and Ahtisa Manalo bagged the first runner-up title in 2018.
More Filipina beauty queens are raising the Philippine flag in pageants around the world, among them, Miss Philippines Leren Mae Bautista of Laguna who was crowned Tuesday as Miss Globe 2019 2nd Runner-up in Montenegro.
Puerto Princesa’s Anne Remojo Apas won the 2019 Miss Tourism Beauty of the World 1st Runner-up title in a pageant held in El Nido, while Valenzuela policeman Willy Quinto was crowned as the first-ever Mister Working Men International in Thailand.
SEND well wishes in the comments below and CATCH Miss Grand Philippines 2019 Samantha Ashley Lo as she competes to win the first golden crown for the Philippines during the finals on October 25 at the Poliedro de Caracas in Venezuela.
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