Miss Philippines Megan Young Wins 2013 Miss World Title

After 63 years of participating in the Miss World beauty pageant, a candidate from the Philippines finally took home the crown. Ms. Philippines Megan Young now holds the2013 Miss World title. Young is an American born Filipino citizen. She dominated the pageant and gave Filipinos another reason to be proud of their heritage. She competed against 126 countries and proved to the world that she has the beauty and the wits to win the competition.

The 2013 Miss World Pageant was held Saturday, September 28, in Bali, Indonesia and was participated by 127 countries from around the globe.

First Miss World title

For Megan Young, being crowned Miss World 2013 is a huge accomplishment not just for her but also for the country she represents. The coveted title secured, Young goes down in Philippine history as the first Filipina to win the international pageant. Megan is intent on becoming the best Miss World title holder. When she was crowned, the emotional new Miss World, though not fluent in her mother tongue spoke a few sentences in Filipino: “Salamat sa mga kababayan ko.” (Thanks to my countrymen). “Mahal na mahal ko kayo.” (I love you all very much).

Young was crowned by 2012 Miss World winner Wenxia Yu of China. The second place was bestowed on Miss France, Marine Lorphelin while the third spot was secured by Carranzar Naa Okailey Shooter of Ghana. The competition was so intense and the outcome was really unpredictable since all of the contestants gave everything they had to win the title.

Earlier in the week the Top Ten Models were announced, namely candidates from Brazil, Cameroon, Cyprus, England, France, Italy, the Philippines, South Sudan, the United States, andUkraine.

Necessary modifications

Determining the winner of the 2013 Miss World Pageant was no easy job for the organizers and the judges. Before arriving at the finale and the crowning of the winner, contestants had to undergo a series of challenges to make them earn points. One of the challenges is the all new beach fashion round that was created as a substitute to the famous bikini round. This was done in order to avoid any offense to the Muslim populace of Indonesia. The usual question and answer portion was held with judges giving out questions for corresponding points.

The Miss World 2013 competition originally had 129 participants but with no clear and defined reason, two beauties pulled out at the last minute.

Miss World controversy

The recently held Miss World pageant had its own share of controversies in the preparatory stage of the event. Since the news broke out that the pageant was going to be held at Jakarta Indonesia, protests materialized denouncing the event with the contention that it was against the beliefs and teachings of Islam. One of the hardcore groups that led the protest was the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) that targets the pageants bikini round. The group wanted to totally strike out the bikini round with the reasoning that it would show too much skin, which to Muslims is very offensive. Indonesia has a Muslims majority. Protests and demonstrators continued and pleaded the Indonesian government to relocate the event from the main island to Bali, which is mostly Hindu. More than 700 law enforcement officers were deployed in Bali together with conventional Balinese defense personnel to ensure the safety of everyone participating in the pageant.

Photo Credit: Miss World 2013 Megan Young’s FB Page