THAILAND TAKES NATIONAL COSTUME AWARD
May 26, 2005

Dressed as a traditional Thai dancer Miss Thailand took home the first official award at this year's pageant, Best in National Costume. Miss Czech Republic was second and Miss Mexico third. (Details and photos very soon)

UPDATES ON MISS UNIVERSE 2005
May 25, 2005

Things are heating up in Bangkok. The two fashion shows last Monday and Tuesday proved that this competition will really be a tough one to predict. After viewing photos from both events my favorites list got a major scramble. Some have slipped from my list of favorites others have been reinforced while some others whom I doubted have moved up.

They are now as follows in alphabetical order, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Greece, Latvia, Puerto Rico, Serbia & Montenegro, South Africa.

I¹m still undecided about the following: Albania, Antigua & Barbuda, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Thailand, USA, and Venezuela.

Also you can now vote for Miss Photogenic by visiting the NBC Miss Universe site and submitting your three top picks. For those who are interested I voted in this order, Miss Puerto Rico, South Africa and Canada.

It is interesting to note that last year's Ms. Ukraine, Alexandra
Nikolayenko (who was my top pick for the Miss Universe title but didn't even make the finals) was chosen as a judge for this year's pageant final. This move can have many different interpretations but I think it¹s Donald Trump's way of saying you deserved more than what you got so here's a little
something instead. Also note that on the NBC site she is incorrectly referred to as a former Miss Universe.

The National Costume competition is tonight. Pictures and a review coming tomorrow.

PRE-THOUGHTS ON MISS UNIVERSE 2005
May 24, 2005

Though I'm very much looking forward to this year's competition I must say that outright there are no clear favorites for the crown. I don't think this batch is as competitive as last year where about five ladies all could have been Miss Universe.

Nonetheless being a pageant enthusiast myself I have decided to make this year's coverage a bit more exciting by providing a special podcast (which is a pre-recorded internet radio program distributed through downloadable files for use on a computer or portable music device) which will cover the highlights as we count down to the big day.

So much is lined up for this week, tomorrow and Wednesday the girls will meet up with the judges for some interviews, Wednesday is also the day for the National Costume competition, while the all-important pre-pageant is Thursday.

Till then it is hard to release my regular predictions as anything can happen on that night, some will deliver some will fall short. Right now some of my early favorites are, South Africa, Canada, Puerto Rico, Chile, Venezuela, and Dominican Republic. I'm also looking at Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Curacao, Greece, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Peru, Serbia & Montenegro, Thailand and USA.

There are a lot of tall girls in this year's pageant most ranging from 5"10-6"1. I wouldn't be surprised if this year's winner will end up to be a six footer like last year's winner, Jennifer Hawkins of Australia. I really think the era of beauty queen clones is over, I think and hope that this year's winner will be pretty much like last's, very simple yet amazingly attractive and smart.

Watch our for more coverage on this site including my yearly predictions, the podcast, the blow-by-blow show review and the post pageant review all coming very soon.