© Provided by InterAksyon
Pia Wurtzbach waves during a press conference at the Novotel Hotel on Thursday. (Photo by Yummie Dingding/InterAksyon)
If it were up to her, Miss Universe 2015 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach would love the next Miss Universe pageant to be held right here in the Philippines.
“I am actively campaigning [for it] and we all want to pageant to happen here. [But] it hasn’t been confirmed yet. I don’t know how far along we are in making it happen. The possibility is always there but is it a done deal? I don’t know,” Pia told InterAksyon and other media during her press conference Thursday at the Novotel Manila at Araneta Center
The country has hosted Miss Universe twice in the pageant’s history, in 1974 and 1994. Both times, it was held in Manila. If selected, this would be the third time for the Philippines to host what is considered the most prestigious beauty pageant of them all.
This Sunday, Pia will crown her successor as Miss Universe Philippines during the grand coronation night of the 2016 Binibining Pilipinas beauty pageant at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Asked if there were Binibining Pilipinas candidates that had caught her eye during her recent visits here, Pia answered in the affirmative.
“Many of them are really beautiful and Filipinas are really competitive. Those that caught my eye look like they were having fun. When I see a girl like that, I want us to be friends. I like that feeling.”
What she found particularly amusing is that a good number of the candidates look like her or are at least made up to physically resemble her.
“I also noticed a lot of them look like me. And many are also doing my glance,” she said partly in Filipino. “Nothing wrong with that. It’s very good. It’s just interesting to see that what I used to do in my living room, now everybody’s doing it onstage. It’s so funny.”
As for eventually mentoring her successor who would compete in this year’s Miss Universe pageant, Pia said that given her very tight schedule, she may not have time to do so.
“I won with the training that I got with my other Miss Universe Philippines. The advice they gave me was really good and it worked. Do they still need me? I will definitely be there but I don’t think my presence or absence would make a difference,” she pointed out.
She does have one advice for her successor: Don’t rely on the global fan votes. As much as public voting was a huge factor in her victory, it’s not a guarantee that the next Miss Universe Philippines will coast to victory in the Miss Universe pageant.
“We do have a very big fan base and we have one of the biggest fans in Miss Universe but I don’t think that’s a reason for the girl to feel that it’s an automatic win or an automatic placement for her in the Top 15, the 10, the 5 and the 3. Because that’s just one part of the judging. There are other judges and there was even a surprise judge in the end that we only learned during pageant night so who knows what’s going to happen in the next Miss Universe?” she noted.
As for the country’s prospects of having back-to-back wins in Miss Universe, Pia said that while it’s always possible, it would still depend who’s going to succeed her and how determined she would be to become Miss Universe. She has to love “the job” the way she loves every minute of it.
“I love my job. If you love what you do, you don’t get tired of doing it. I don’t feel like it’s a job that they have to force me to wake up in the morning and force me to put on a dress, put on a make-up and answer all these questions. No, I love to talk to people, answer questions and it just comes naturally for me. I guess I was trained well and I guess I was really meant for the job.”
Looking ahead in the future, she said there are many beautiful Filipinas who have what it takes to become Miss Universe, citing young actress Liza Soberano as an example.
“Beautiful face,” she exclaimed. “She is a commercial beauty that will easily pass as a Filipina. Also, she’s young and she can be trained.”