MISS INFORMATION MIX-UP
FOLLOWING the heated controversy surrounding this year’s Miss Universe pageant competition, many people are taking sides as to who they really support for the prestigious crown.
After show host Steve Harvey mistakenly announced on live television that Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez Arévalo was the winner, only to backtrack moments later to proclaim Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach as the true Miss Universe, crowds including the beauty pageant contestants themselves were both shocked and enraged.
“I will take full responsibility for this. It was my mistake. It was on the card,” Harvey immediately said live on TV, flashing the card onscreen as the show’s credits began to roll. “Horrible mistake, but the right thing. I could show it to you right here. Please don’t hold it against the ladies…it was still a great night.”
Harvey has since apologized for the incident, but not without negative feedback.
“Harvey should pay a fine of $100,000, to Miss Colombia and to the Miss Universe [Wurtzbach],” said former Miss Universe Philippines, Gloria Diaz, in an interview with TV Patrol. Diaz won the title in 1969.
Entertainment Tonight reported that Harvey, 58, will likely be returning to the Miss Universe stage to host the pageant “for at least three years, possibly even as many as six or seven,” the source revealed, pending the finalized contract.
Media agency WME/IMG said that the crowning mix-up was a result of Harvey being unable to practice the ending of the show, when the voting results are announced, and did not attend the full dress rehearsal before the live taping. The agency has also said they “really love” Steve Harvey, and have no doubts about bringing him back to host.
“Again it was an honest mistake. I don’t want to take away from this amazing night and pageant. As well as the wonderful contestants. They were all amazing,” Harvey later tweeted.
But Pia Wurtzbach, the 26-year-old half Filipino, half German actress, model, and now Miss Universe titleholder handled the heat with style and grace.
“Wow, what an honor it is to represent our country in the most prestigious pageant ever,” she said on Instagram.
The day after her big win, the pageant queen posted a stunning photo with her crown and sash, with the caption: “42 years of drought and now it finally reigns. Mabuhay! Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat!”
She also took the time to apologize to Miss Colombia for the mix-up, saying she initially “had mixed emotions,” because “I really wanted to win, but felt sad for Miss Colombia.”
However, Wurtzbach knows everything happens for a reason. She later posted a picture of her prayer devotional with the caption, “Everything makes sense now. In God’s perfect timing.”
We’re trying to fix everything, and I’m trying to explain to everyone. I hope that I didn’t upset anybody, like the Latino community, and especially the fans of Miss Columbia,” Wurtzbach said in an post-show interview posted on TMZ.
Keeping the best interests of the Philippines in mind, she spoke out to viewers worldwide, “I’m the voice of Miss Universe now, and I’d like to send my apologies for any confusion that happened. I hope this doesn’t affect your relationship with Miss Universe, and of course your relationship with the Filipino community as well.”
“Pia brought her A-game, was competitive, and she deserved it”
Hollywood gossip blogger Perez Hilton, who served as one of the judges in the 2015 Miss Universe, broke his silence on the polemic pageant.
Perez said that he refused interviews so that he would be able to talk about the contest in his podcast hosted on his own website, reported Inquirer. In the podcast, he compared Wurtzbach with first runner-up Ariadna Gutierrez Arévalo, saying that the Filipina delegate truly deserved the title.
“Miss Colombia was the most beautiful contestant, but I don’t think she deserves to win the title, and she didn’t win the title for a variety of reasons,” Hilton told his co-host Chris Booker on the show.
“Here’s the difference between Miss Philippines and Miss Colombia. Miss Philippines came to win. Miss Colombia came to lose. Colombia came there as if she had already won. And that’s sexy also and intoxicating, that confidence. But I think that she came there thinking she would really win. Whereas Miss Philippines came with something to prove,” he further said.
Hilton explained that although Arévalo, who was stunning in the evening gown competition, was considered as among the frontrunners, it was Wurtzbach who surprised him during the competition.
“She really surprised me. I wasn’t expecting her to be fierce and fabulous,” the Hollywood-based entertainment blogger said.
The outspoken Hilton called out Gutierrez for her snarky attitude during the question and answer portion.
“I don’t know if the people at home could see this [on TV,] but Miss Colombia was being straight-out diva-bitch rude to her translator…she was giving the most awful side-eye, throwing major shade because Colombia was not happy with the pace or the way the translator was translating,” he said, of Gutierrez’s attitude. “It was a major turnoff.”
“It wasn’t just that [Arévalo] didn’t give the best answer. And it wasn’t just that she came across not just me, but several of the other judges as bitchy and arrogant. It was that Miss Philippines gave a better answer,” the judge added.
When asked by Harvey why she should win the competition, Wurtzbach answered, “To be a Miss Universe is both an honor and a responsibility. If I were to be Miss Universe, I will use my voice to influence the youth and I will raise awareness to certain causes like HIV awareness that is timely and relevant to my country, which is the Philippines. I want to show the world, the universe, rather, that I am confidently beautiful, with a heart.”
Hilton said he was impressed by Wurtzbach’s performance in both question and answer portions.
“It was the second time that Pia gave a great answer, actually a better answer, and by that point, I felt like wow, she really brought her A-game, was super competitive, but also, she deserved it. To me, there’s a real beauty, and grace, and elegance in Pia. She is Miss Universe.”
Hilton also compared Arévalo to her doppelgänger and fellow Colombian actress, Sofia Vergara.
“Miss Colombia, you’re Sofia Vergara. You’re not Miss Universe. You look so much like Sofia Vergara. It’s spooky how much she looks like Sofia Vergara,” he said, lightheartedly. “Miss Philippines is perfect for being a Miss Universe, but I think that Colombia can go on like Sofia Vergara and be a crossover success in the US, and be a Spanish-language personality or, if her language improves, an English-language personality.”
“Whereas this other girl [Pia], she was just being herself and not trying to emulate anybody else. I felt like she earned it and won it fair and square,” he said.
Aside from Hilton, the other judges in the pageant were former Miss Universe 2012 Olivia Culpo, actress-comedian Niecy Nash, and former American football player Emmitt Smith. The audience worldwide and the 77 eliminated contestants from other countries were also asked to vote during different segments of the competition.
Hilton said the judges’ votes were “unanimous.”
The media personality closed the podcast by saying that amid the gaffe and controvery it had caused, it was important to know that the Philippine delegate won the competition “fair and square.”
“It’s important to know that Miss Philippines won it fair and square. All of the judges thought so. She deserved to win. It’s not just a physical beauty contest,” he said.
After several reports that Arévalo, who was de-crowned on stage by last year’s winner (and fellow Colombian) Paulina Vega, has been unable to let go of the crown, the 21-year-old model posted an Instagram photo thanking her fans for their “support and strength.”
“I am the most fortunate and thankful for having the support not only from one country but from the whole entire world…I was able to bring happiness to my country after becoming Miss Universe for only a couple of minutes,” she wrote on Dec. 22. “Today because of that, Colombia and the LATIN COMMUNITY are being talked about in every corner of the world.”
Arévalo also acknowledged Wurtzbach and the Philippines for the win, saying “the happiness you must be feeling must be incredible.”
“Life continues and in the future we will find out why things happen the way they happen,” she finished.
