For over a decade now, Filipino pageant fans have taken so much pride in our standing at international beauty contests that our exclusion as one of the top 16 semifinalists at the recent Miss Universe came as a total shock. It was particularly painful, since that put an end to our country’s impressive 12-year Miss Universe semifinal streak dating back to 2010 when Venus Raj represented us. Yes, all good things come to an end, but many of us did not think that such fate would befall our candidate, the stunningly beautiful Celeste Cortesi. Her performance in the preliminary round of the pageant was generally commendable. But then, we don’t know how she fared in the all-important closed-door interview.
At any rate, I, too, was disappointed that Celeste was not called as a semifinalist, but I am now more concerned for her overall well-being. Considering how intensely fanatical and vocal Filipino netizens can be, I hope that she has the emotional and mental fortitude, and even sense of humor, to withstand cruel and unsavory online comments directed at her, and will have the common sense to shun social media for the time being. May she also have a strong support system with her if she’s deeply hurting.
I write this to express my appreciation of our gal for how she beautifully represented us at the Miss Universe pageant. Keep your head held high, Celeste. Do capitalize on this experience so you can do other wonderful worthwhile things as you continue to grow and carve your path in this world.
To Filipino pageant fans and followers, don’t be toxic. Instead, be kind and compassionate to our candidate, and be cool about the result, because a winning (or losing) streak is bound to end, which finally did happen to us last Sunday. So get over it and move on, and shift our passion and energies from the Miss Universe pageant to the more important things in life.
Linper L. Lee,
linperlee09@gmail.com