While many pageant enthusiasts blame the gown worn by Bianca Guidotti for not making the Top 10 of Miss International 2014, her mentor and manager Jonas Gaffud think it's something else.
On Facebook last Thursday, Jonas posted a lengthy message taking the blame for Bianca's fate. It's because he didn't trust his gut feeling enough to change her look, for fear of being bashed by pageant fans.
Here's his full post:
It was not the gown. IT WAS MY FAULT.
A lot of people blame the gown for Miss Philippines' failure to be in the finals of Miss International. But looking at her live in Tokyo, I remember how she performed. Vibrant aura, elegant, classy and superb catwalk, not over the top.
People don't know what girls are going through representing our country in prestigious pageants. Some, if not all, have been bashed, including national organizers and mentors (Sometimes with no mercy).
I was able to speak with Marian the night before the pageant. She said she was nervous. There were three factors in Miss International this year that put more pressure on her. 1. An impossible back to back win; 2. The most number of delegates in the history of the pageant; and 3. After many years this is the first time they will only get the Top 10, not the usual Top 15.
Marian is a good speaker. She could have delivered a wonderful speech, part of it in fluent Nihonggo. Imagine the people could have gone wild after that.
So what went wrong? No one could explain. I don't think it's the gown.
I really blame myself for not asserting what I wanted. I would have loved a different look, different hairstyle and make up. But I got scared. I feared that if I changed her look and lost, people will bash me or condemn me. I feared that if I touched her hair and did something I really wanted, will it get the approval of many fans? So I thought to just stick with the look we achieved in BbPilipinas. A lot of fans expressed it was her best look. But I really wanted something different.
I remember when I was training Venus in Vegas. I told her to get that clean ponytail look and a bun for the evening gown. And to my disbelief in the audience some fans were cursing me, I got a lot of hate tweets and mails. They were blaming me for everything. But that was my gut feel. So she placed and imagine how extremely happy I was.
It's the same thing with Janine. We already decided on how she should look prior to leaving the country for Miss Universe. The day after preliminaries people were coming up to me and suggesting a lot of things. Of course many would have loved the big hair and curls look. I was pressured so I told Janine about it. Good thing, Janine didn't bother and told me: 'Let's stick to our original plan because that's what you wanted'. How happy I was.
And so on and so forth with all the beauty queens we have mentored.
The thing is I became complacent with Marian because I thought it was really easy for her, and I was scared to be bashed or blamed if I changed her styling.
I listen to people. I love fans giving tips. But there's more to that than training girls for national and international competitions. My gut feel with people I trust should be my priority.
If only I could spare Marian and the many supporters the disappointment in Miss International, I would. So here, let me take the blame for the girl I really knew, could do well in any international pageant. She embodies a modern Filipina with class, sophistication intelligence and compassion to serve.
Coming up are two pageants that would seem impossible for our team to achieve much success for back to back win: Miss Supranational and Miss World in December (o diba samin talaga ang pressure ng lahat ng back to back pangarap!!! Hahahaha) . We will try to do what is best for our representatives. I believe in Yvethe and Valerie. Praying you will support all of them.
Many many thanks for all the love and support. FOR THE PHILIPPINES.
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Photo: Instagram (jonasofmercator)
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