Miss Philippines Catriona Gray finished ___ in the Miss Universe 2018 beauty pageant in Bangkok, Thailand Monday.
Miss Philippines Catriona Gray, second from left, walks on the stage during the final of 67th Miss Universe competition in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Dec. 17, 2018.(AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
Miss Philippines Catriona Gray, second from left, walks on the stage during the final of 67th Miss Universe competition in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Dec. 17, 2018.(AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
* of
* was crowned Miss Universe 2018 and
** named as 2nd runner-up; Romania, 3rd runner-up; and Colombia, 4th runner-up. In her speech, Gray said: "I've worked a lot in the slums of Tondo, Manila and the life there is very.. it's poor and it's very sad, and I've always taught myself to look for the beauty in it, to look in the beauty in the faces of the children and to be grateful and I would bring this aspect as a Miss Universe to see situations with a silver lining and to assess where I could give something, where I could provide something as a spokesperson and this, I think, if i could teach also people to be grateful, we could have an amazing world, where negatively could not grow and foster and children will have a smile on their faces." A total of 93 candidates competed in this year’s Miss Universe pageant. Other semi-finalists from Africa and the Asia Pacific are South Africa, Vietnam, Nepal, and Thailand. The five from Europe who made it to the Top 20 are Poland, Belgium, Great Britain, Hungary, and Ireland. From the Americas,the five who were chosen were Curacao, Costa Rica, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica. The wildcard choices were candidates from the USA, Venezuela, Indonesia, Brazil, and Australia. Composing this year’s all-women panel of judges are former Miss Universe Pornthip Bui Simon, Michelle McLean, Iman Oubou, Janaye Ingram, Richelle Singson-Michael, Monique Lhuillier, and Lili Valletta.