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MANILA, Philippines – The Miss Universe Philippines (MUPH) Organization hailed Chelsea Manalo of Bulacan as its 2024 titleholder during the pageant’s coronation night held at the Mall of Asia Arena which began on Wednesday evening, May 22 and finished in the early hours of Thursday, May 23.
Editor’s Note: We earlier reported that “AMAKABOGERA” was performed at the event. This has been corrected.
The night’s festivities opened with a supercharged dance number from the 53 delegates and Miss Universe Philippines 2023 Michelle Dee. They performed with Drag Race UK vs the World season 2 finalist Marina Summers who sang her hit song AMAFILIPINA, a cover of Maymay Entrata’s AMAKABOGERA.
In an Instagram post, the drag queen said that she dedicated her performance to every gay kid who once dreamt of shouting “Philippines” on the pageant stage.
Wearing golden mini-dresses with fringes, each delegate also had lively introductions, wherein they mentioned their names and hometowns.
Filipino actor Alden Richards, Miss Universe R’Bonney Gabriel, and Emmy award-winning TV personality Jeannie Mai Jenkins served as the main hosts, with multimedia personality Tim Yap and actress Gabbi Garcia as the backstage hosts.
The selection committee for this year’s pageant were introduced, which included Miss Universe Philippines 2021 Beatrice Luigi Gomez and Miss Universe 2013 3rd runner-up Ariella Arida.
The hosts then went straight to announcing the Top 20. Nueva Ecija’s Maica Cabling Martinez, who was named Miss Bingo Plus; Iloilo City’s Alexie Brooks, who won the Up Close and Personal challenge; Leyte’s Angel Rose Tambal, who won the Runway challenge; Hawaii’s Patricia Bianca Tapia, who won the Swimsuit challenge; and Tacloban’s Tamara Ocier, who won the Casting Commercial challenge; were the first delegates to be called to advance to the next round.
Yap and Garcia also reminded pageant fans that they could help their favorite delegates advance to the competition by voting on the MUPH app. This marked the first time for the pageant to allow live voting during the pageant finals as fans were only allowed to vote during the preliminary online challenges in the previous editions. However, the pageant organizers failed to announce who were the candidates who had the highest number of fan votes throughout the crowning ceremony.
After a long commercial break, the program continued with OPM band Lola Amour performing their hits “Raining in Manila” and “Fallen” during the swimsuit competition as the Top 20 candidates showed off their physiques in bronze pieces.
It was already around 10:30 pm – three hours since the pageant began — when the Top 10 were about to be called. Across social media platforms, netizens started criticizing the pageant organizer for the long commercial breaks between segments.
The Top 10 were then named. The 2024 edition had a loaded lineup of delegates, with many pageant veterans and strong newbies being picked as frontrunners. This was because of the major developments in the pageant’s format, including the removal of age limit, as well as choosing the delegates through the Accredited Partners Program.
Interestingly, most of the picks of pageant pages and critics made it to the cut.
Dee also returned to the stage to have a chat with Gabriel and Jenkins. When asked for her advice to the next MUPH queen, the actress had this to say: “Hard work, dedication, passion, and most importantly, love for your country. I know this has been a long and tedious journey but it will be all worth it as long as you trust your training.”
Thai actor Win Metawin then serenaded the semi-finalists during the evening gown competition. The Top 10 ladies strutted the runway in customized pieces by their chosen designer. Notably, the pageant organizers didn’t name any Best in Swimsuit or Evening Gown awardee.
The Top 5 were then announced: Quezon Province’s Ahtisa Manalo, Baguio’s Tarah Valencia, Cainta’s Stacey Gabriel, Bulacan’s Chelsea Manalo, and Taguig’s Christi Lynn McGarry.
The remaining candidates went straight to the Question and Answer portion where they answered different questions from their respective judges.
As the deliberation on the winner was underway, Miss Universe Philippines 2023 Michelle Dee took her final walk. “The crown will always be a symbol of triumph. But win or lose, it’s the lives that you touched that really make a difference,” she said. “We have shown the true power of our bayanihan spirit.”
At the end of the night, Bulacan’s Chelsea Manalo took home the Miss Universe Philippines 2024 title. The rest of her court were:
- 1st runner-up: Stacey Gabriel (Cainta)
- 2nd runner-up: Ma. Ahtisa Manalo (Quezon Province)
- 3rd runner-up: Tarah Valencia (Baguio)
- 4th runner-up: Christi Lynn McGarry (Taguig)
But the announcement of winners didn’t stop during the coronation ceremony. Shortly after the live telecast was cut short, the MUPH organization named the representatives to four more international pageants.
Baguio’s Tarah Valencia was proclaimed Miss Supranational Philippines 2025 while Pampanga’s Cyrille Payumo was named Miss Charm Philippines 2025. Meanwhile, Iloilo’s Alexie Mae Brooks was hailed Miss Eco International Philippines 2024 and Quezon Province’s Ma. Ahtisa Manalo was crowned Miss Cosmo Philippines 2024.
Valencia and Manalo were both part of the Top 5 but Payumo and Brooks were only part of the Top 10.
Following the announcement, pageant fans took to social media to air their confusion on these appointments as many didn’t expect that the rest of the titles would also be awarded to those outside of the Top 5. Even Miss Universe Philippines 2022 Celeste Cortesi echoed the sentiment, asking how the crowns were distributed and why weren’t the runner-ups from Cainta and Taguig given titles.
As of writing, the MUPH Organization has yet to address this concern. They also have yet to post about the appointments on their social media pages. The pageant organizers also didn’t disclose why the other crowns weren’t handed out during the main ceremony.
Meanwhile, Chelsea Manalo will go on to represent the Philippines at the Miss Universe 2024 pageant in Mexico. She will compete in hopes of winning the country’s fifth Miss Universe crown.
Additional details about the other international pageants have yet to be announced, as of writing. – Rappler.com
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