From three exotic locations, the Miss Earth 2006 Preliminary Competition made waves as the candidates took center stage in their best forms and figures to vie for a spot for the Best in Swimsuit Special Award. With the candidates divided into three groups, the preliminaries were held simultaneously in Trace Aquatic Sports Complex in Los Baños, Laguna; Golden Sunset Resort in Calatagan, Batangas; and in Coron, Palawan.

In Laguna, the five candidates who emerged on top of their group were Bolivia, Jessica Anne Jordan; Poland, Francys Sudnicka; Thailand, Patra Rungratansunthorn; USA, Amanda Pennekamp; and Venezuela, Marianne Puglia.

That same evening, another group wowed the crowd in the breathtaking Golden Sunset Resort in Batangas. Another five finalists were fielded from their batch who will advance to the Swimsuit Finals. They are Brazil, Ana Paula Quinot; Canada, Riza Raquel Santos; France, Anne Charlotte Triplet; Paraguay, Paloma Navarro; and Tanzania, Richa Adhia.

Rounding off the top 15 finalists were the candidates who impressed the special panel of judges in Coron, Palawan – Guatemala, Amalia Lorena Aros Alvarado; Philippines, Catherine Untalan; St. Lucia, Cathy Daniel; Tahiti, Raimata Agnieray; and Ukraine, Karina Kharchynska.

The 15 finalists will be competing the in the Final Swimsuit Competition, which will be held on November 18 at the Fontana Leisure Park in Clark Field, Pampanga. From the 15 finalists, one candidate will emerge as this year’s Best in Swimsuit. The winner will be announced during the grand coronation night on Sunday, November 26 at the National Museum, telecast live on ABS-CBN 2 at 9:30 P.M. and around the world via the The Filipino Channel and a delayed telecast on Star World.

This is a Press Release by Nash Torres of Carousel Productions, Inc., the creator of Miss Earth Pageant.

Visit Beauty World Cup for more Miss Earth updates and Miss Earth Gallery for more photos of this year’s contestants.