MANILA -- Miss Universe 1969 Gloria Diaz believes that Michelle Marquez Dee, the country's representative to the 2023 Miss Universe pageant, has a strong chance to be part of the Top 5.
Diaz shared her forecast in TeleRadyo Serbisyo's Gising Pilipinas on Friday morning.
"Hindi ko pa talaga alam, the day itself will show. Hindi ko alam talaga honestly. Ako I always hope for our Miss Philippines to be in the Top 5. Top 5 'yan, Top 5 kasi they have to have a representative from Asia. Usually Miss USA comes in among the Top 15 or the Top 10. And 100% we get something from South America, Central America, may blonde siyempre mayroon ding itim, ganun 'yon. And China is a big population kung maganda siya, 100% papasok 'yan. This is business and luck to quote that. Hindi tayo kukuha ng kuwan na hindi mabili. Michelle is very popular," Diaz shared.
In the program, Diaz also shared that the chance of winning in the pageant will depend on various things including luck.
"Alam mo many things have changed during my time and now, many things, hindi ba? Of course Melanie is my favorite co-beauty queen and she is to me the most beautiful talaga. Michelle on a scale of 1 to 10 compared to Melanie she is a 7, 8 in spite of siguro her leanings or whatever they call it. She has a good chance. Kasi in a beauty contest hindi naman kuwan kagandahan, katalinuhan, 100%. It's luck," Diaz said.
"Hindi naman ako ang pinakamaganda roon, hindi ba? I mean we all know that and I must admit that but during my time it was an element of luck and I think even now. Kasi even in acceptance mayroong mahilig sa blonde, may mahilig sa maitim, maputi, lahat 'yan. She stands a good chance that's why she's our representative but I don't know especially that the whole Miss Universe is owned by a different person now. During my time, they were into sports, they were into wholesome, charity works, etc. etc. Pero ngayon I think a lot of sexiness ... and of course the controversial (inclusivity) all kinds and everything. I have to be careful with my words because I love all, lahat, di ba?"
"Let's talk about beauty, and I am talking as a mother with two beautiful daughters, hindi ba? In comparison to Melanie, Melanie was a true winner in my mind. In fact I fought for her because I was the chairman of the judges and everything hindi ba? Pero with Michelle Dee iba ang dating niya. Iba naman ang beauty niya. I've only seen her once and at that time parang the first thing that came to my mind, 'ang ganda ni Melanie.' Pero mabait siya (Michelle) she's not my perfect choice but like I told you... with luck, depending on the judges, depending on the situation, ang gown niya... but ang galing ng mga answer niya, ang talino niya. Depende kung 'yun ang gusto ng mga judges ngayon (na) somebody who will be a walking dictionary or whatever hindi ba? So on a scale of 1 to 10 ang chances niya is 8 sa akin ha, sa akin," Diaz stressed.
On Thursday morning (Manila time), Dee looked stunning in her green gown at the 2023 Miss Universe preliminaries in El Salvador.
Dee's stunning evening gown is a tribute to her mother. In 1979, Marquez was crowned Miss International wearing a green gown.
The Miss Universe 2023 pageant will be broadcast live from El Salvador on November 19, 9 a.m. on Kapamilya Channel, A2Z, Metro Channel, and iWantTFC.
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