Two days before the grand coronation, the 80 candidates of the 70th Miss Universe Pageant competed in swimsuits and evening gowns during the preliminaries in Eilat, Israel last Friday night (early Saturday morning in Manila).
Miss Philippines Beatrice Luigi Gomez wore a stunning red evening gown created by popular Filipino designer Francis Libiran.
In the national costume competition, Beatrice donned an outfit inspired by the Golden Lunar Dragon designed by Axel Que and Manny Halasan.
"The beautiful transitions and different faces of the moon are captured in this folklore-inspired headpiece. The charismatic hand accessories complementing to the masterfully curated and vivid imagination brought-to-life National Costume of the rich story of the goddess, Bakunawa," said Manny on Instagram.
Designer: Axel Que; Headpiece and Accesories: Manny Halasan; Shoes: Jan Montalban; Style & Curated: Edward James Castro; Photography: Jon Unson; and Video: Cliff Rigor.
In the swimsuit round, the 26-year-old Cebuana beauty queen was introduced as a proud bisexual.
The preliminaries will help select the top 16 semifinalists for the 70th Miss Universe Competition that will be announced during the finals on Dec. 12 (Dec 13 Manila time).
The all-female seven members of the selection committee are Kapuso star Marian Rivera, former Miss Universe Iris Mittinaere, Supermodel Adriana Lima, entertainment host Adamari Lopez, entrepeneur-model Lori Harvey, actress Rena Sofer; and Bollywood actress Urbashi Rautela.
Following the prelims, the top six candidates favored to win the coveted crown based on various betting sites abroad were delegates from India, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Paraguay, Spain, and Belgium, according to an article by Sam Profeta posted on usaonlinesportsbooks.com.
India last won the Miss Universe Competition in 1994 under Sushmita Sen that was held in the Philippines.