‘I Ranked Shamcey Supsup Second’ – Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga became the fifth Filipino to sit as one of the judges in the Miss Universe pageant. In her Inquirer article today, the multi-awarded Broadway star and Disney Legend shared her two cents worth on how the pageant was being seen on the judges perspective!
Here are excerpts from her Inquirer article…
On the winner Miss Angola Leila Lopes:
“I think we were all unanimous in our decision. She radiated grace and elegance from the moment she stepped on stage, and gave a great answer to her final question (which I happened to ask her; she picked my name out of the fishbowl. And that is all, lest anyone think that I made luto that process. No way.)”
How she ranked our representative Miss Shamcey Supsup:
“I ranked Shamcey Supsup second, if I’m being honest. What the TV audience saw could have been different from what we saw. And although Miss Philippines ranked highly up until the final question, we had to consider every single part of the competition. I really liked her answer as she displayed conviction and honesty. But there are nine of us judging.”
On how Shamcey represented herself:
I thought Shamcey represented our country very well. Smart, spirited, gorgeous. I wasn’t at all disappointed because she displayed what is so great about Filipino women: strength, beauty, intelligence. She should be very happy.
On the other hand, Lea Salonga clarified on Tuesday that she did not write the question for Miss Angola Leila Lopes in the question-and-answer portion of the Miss Universe 2011 competition.
In her Twitter account, Salonga revealed that the winning question that she happened to asked was actually written by the Miss Universe organizers which was assigned to her.
“Just so you all know, I did not write my question. All our questions are pre-written and each judge is assigned one. Luck of the draw.”
Salonga’s question was: “Good evening. If you could change one of your personal characteristics, which one would it be and why?#8221;
Lopes replied: “Thank God, I’m very well satisfied with the way God created me and I would not change a thing. I consider myself a woman with inner beauty. I have my principles. I have acquired many wonderful principles from my family and I plan to follow this through the rest of my life.”