The 70th edition of Miss World pageant, Miss World 2021, is set to be held on 16th December 2021 at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico where Toni-Ann Singh of Jamaica will crown her successor at the end of the event finale. There was no pageant held in 2020 due to the rampant spread of Covid-19 across the world.
While almost all the delegates have finally arrived in the host country and have begun with the registration process for the competition, the Miss World organization has officially drawn groups for the Head to Head challenge of the 70th edition of the pageant.
The organization has recently begun with the group interviews for the challenge and the first interview that has been uploaded by the organization is of Group 1 including Peru, Nepal, USA, Malaysia Portugal and Bahamas. The round was hosted by Vanessa Ponce de Leon Miss World 2018 and Jack Heslewood Miss World 2019.
The stunning hosts introduced the challenge as they introduced the contestants, shared their presentation videos and asked questions and finally the contestants were asked questions at the end of the round. The round began with Paula Montes representing Peru as she shared about her country, her family and introduced herself professionally. She also shared how she reflected about her life and purpose. She also mentioned that her Beauty With A Purpose project is dedicated to creation of sport centers in underprivileged areas of her city.
After the video presentation, Vanessa asked Peru on her decision to become a health coach, to which she answered, that she decided to take a new path in life and start to honor her body, herself and wanted to share everything she knew to other people in a professional way.
Next in line, was Namrata Shrestha representing Nepal, who in her presentation video talked about destiny, emotions and dreams. She shared about her dream of being Miss World and her journey towards brining Nepal to the Miss World platform. She mentioned that awakening her inner child as a kindergarten teacher she became inspired and ready to reclaim her dreams. On being asked about what next dreams she wants to achieve, she beautifully replied that, “Now another dream of leaving an impact on the world through Miss World.”
Next to meet the world was Shree Saini of United States, who talked about her country and being the first Indian-American Miss World America she proudly represented the country’s inclusivity. The diva also shared her journey with heart blockage and her engagement with surgeries for life. She asked what she has learned by having a pacemaker, she said that, “I have learned that life is very precious and fragile. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life. But my parents taught myself to have a solution and possibility mindset. I have learned to always face problems by providing and thinking about solutions.”
Malaysia’s Lavanya Sivaji was next in line, who shared about her country, journey, milestones and her life story. She also shared that medicine is her true calling as she feels that it is both an honour and duty to help people when they are at their most vulnerable. The diva also mentioned about her Beauty With A Purpose project which revolves around the nutrition and health of the marginalized and vulnerable communities.
Coming up next was Portugal represented by Lidy Alves, who also shared about her values and described herself as strong, determined, motivated and a fighter, who never gives up on her dreams. She also mentioned how she feels like a fulfilled woman. Concluding the presentation videos, Sienna Evans of Bahamas took the audience through the magical lands of the most surreal islands of the world. She also shared her dream of becoming a neuro-surgeon and wants to combine her passion with her mission to ensure access of quality healthcare for all.
Towards the end of the round, the six divas were all randomly questioned by the hosts. Peru was asked, “What do you think the world needs to hear right now? Paula answered, “I would like to give an advice to the world, from my experience I learned that you don’t need to be motivated all the time. We all have good days and bad days and it is completely normal but you must remain disciplined because you need to stay disciplined when yu are tired worth the extra hour. You are the only responsible to achieve your dreams. Dreams don’t work unless you do, so I think its really important to believe in your capacities and overcome against the difficulties.”
Second question was asked to Nepal on how she would address a climate change conference, to which Namrata answered, “If I were to be in the conference not only as an individual but as a title holder as well, I would urge everybody to be aware of our actions regarding pollution. We as individuals can leave an impact on the communities, and the communities leading to nation and eventually the world. It is our responsibility to take care of our planet for which we have no replacement. If we respect nature, the nature will respect us back.”
USA’s Shree Saini was asked how she uses her social media to make an impact. The diva who has been raising awareness and charities through her social media shared that she has been a part of non-profit works and major issues that she has been spreading awareness around. She also shared of being proud fund-raiser on social media with half a million followers. “Even if you can impact one person through your posts,I think that is enough,” she shared.
An interesting question put forward to Malaysia’s Lavanya Sivaji was that what she would look for if she was a judge at Miss World. Lavanya shared how she would feel honored to be a judge at the prestigious competition. She added, “I am looking for quality that would be social responsibility. The girl should be committed, emotionally invested and should be true to her advocacy and connected to the people she stands for. If she stands for those who are oppressed, underprivileged and discriminated against and remain true to her intension, then she is the Miss World that I am looking for.”
Portugal’s Lidy Alves was asked, “Have you learned more from your successes or your failures?” She beautifully answered, “Like everyone, I have moments of success and failures, although I learn from both. The moments of success give me motivation and determination to go all the way and believe in my dreams. The failures have taught me to get up again and give my best always because everyone can fail but we learn that we have to stand up and believe that if today is bad, tomorrow will be better.”
Last but now the least, Bahamas was asked about what was something about the world that she could change. Sienna Evans shared that she wanted the world to be a kinder place. “Humans are incredibly social creatures and thrive off of positive interactions and so when you’re kind, you allow yourself and everyone around yourself to truly experience the joy and abundance that life has to offer,” she said. She also implored people to make one single act of kindness and experience its affects.
The divas from all over the world will move forward in these 15 groups, where each group will have a winner and then two by two winners will compete with one another until one ultimate winner is determined through voting on the Miss World website, who will then get an automatic spot in the top for the final night. In this challenge, each of the ladies will be given the chance to speak about their passions and Beauty with a Purpose projects.