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 14 including Costa Rica, India, Hungary, Canada, Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea.
The round was hosted by Miss World 2019 Toni Ann Singh and Miss World 2015 Stephanie Del Valle. 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.
As the divas introduced themselves and took the audience through their beautiful countries, sharing about their cultures, people and beliefs. They also shared their passions and Beauty with a Purpose projects. Towards the end of the round, the six divas were all randomly questioned by the hosts.
The final questions began with Costa Rica who was asked how she would define success. Tamara Dal Maso replied, “Success is subjective, everybody has their own definition, it depends on the context but to me success is that smile you have at the end of the day, when it’s been a long day and you’re tired but you know that it’s worth it. It is when you are happy with what you are doing regardless of the results you’re getting.”
Next up India’s Manasa Varanasi was asked, “If you could give your younger self advice, what would it be?” She confidently answered, “I was a very shy child growing up, I had a small circle of friends and I totally remember that day when I froze in front of the school assembly, but if I had to give one piece of advice, then I would just like to say, talk. Step out of your shell and talk. When you have the gift of sound, the gift of voice, then it only makes sense to really exercise it to build new friendships, to speak up for what matters and exercise it in the best way possible.”
Hungary’s Lili Totpeti was asked about the one thing in her life that she is proudest of. She shared, “Definitely my family because my mom and my dad always helped me a lot to be there and be like me, like Lily. My stepfather also taught me a lot about how to appreciate animals, the whole ecosystem and I am so thankful to my hometown because they have always been behind me and I am so thankful to a lot of people around me who helped me.”
Next in line, Canada was asked, “How do you handle peer pressure?” Svetlana Mamaeva confidently answered, “Peer pressure is a huge subject especially when you are young, when your outlook on life is still shaping, when your personality is still developing and for me it is really important to speak about that and be an example because I am not only speaking for myself but as a sister of three younger boys and a little girl who is 21 years younger to me and for me to not just say those things but to lead by example is extremely important so when I do experience peer pressure, I always think to myself, do these people know me better than I know myself, likely not and then take a moment to really think it through and ask yourself, will this decision benefit my life or hire me in a certain way. Once you take the time to think it through to make a decision that’s right for you, that’s right for the situation, there’s no way you can be pressured into doing something impulsive, disturbing or harmful and I feel like if all of us had the courage to say no and set some boundaries, then other people will feel more comfortable doing that as well.”
Olivia Yace of Cote d’Ivoire was questioned next as the hosts asked, “What is the most important thing parents should tell their children?” She beautifully responded, “Parents are such a huge blessing in kid’s lives and trees of knowledge and I think the most important advice that parents could give to their kids is to embrace themselves, who they are and no matter what, never apologise fpor being who you are because when you know who you are, where you come from and when you know where you’re going, you are unstoppable.”
Last but not the least, Guinea was asked, “If you could break just one rule, what would that rule be?” Nene Bah answered, “Unfortunately we live in a society that tends to tell you who to be and how to be especially coming from a community with a strong patriarchy that tells women and young girls that their purpose in life is how to cook and clean and take care of the family, which is part of who we are, but we are so much more, so if I could break anything as a rule, I would break patriarchy. We are capable and every single human being whether a girl or a boy should know that you are worthy and you should be audacious to yourself and serve the purpose you have in life, because at the end of the day what matters is that you are fulfilled and are happy.”
The divas from all over the world will move forward in the 15 groups drawn by the organization, 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 are being given the chance to speak about their passions and Beauty with a Purpose projects.