Lea Salonga Talks About Shamcey Supsup and the Miss Universe 2011 Pageant

Lea Salonga, who was a telecast judge of Miss Universe 2011, talks about Shamcey Supsup and the pageant itself in her recent article for Inquirer.

Lea wrote the article in journal style, relating how she finished two concerts before heading for Brazil on the same night, how the Monique Lhuillier gown and Gabriel Barredo purse that she used was transported from the Philippines, how concerts on two venues had been moved to make way for the judging stint, where that quite "controversial" question she asked Miss Angola really came from, and much more.

Below are some excerpts from Lea Salonga's Inquirer article titled "Shamcey smart, spirited, gorgeous" published earlier today at 2:39 AM:

Look for that ‘it’

We were told to be objective, to look for that “it” factor and physical health (the young woman chosen would have a whirlwind of a life following her win, so she needed to be strong). We were then shown a video of the 16 semi-finalists who were chosen during the preliminary competition.

Many of us kept this group in mind as we headed downstairs to the theater to learn how to use the computers. A representative from Ernst and Young gave us another briefing on how to score and use the consoles.

Final 5

My stomach started to turn when the Final 5 were called, as this would mean it was time for the final question. Contrary to popular belief, we as judges don’t come up with the questions; they are assigned to us. Although I got some amazing suggestions on Facebook and Twitter (thank you all, by the way), I couldn’t use them.

As far as the runners-up were concerned, I think each judge had a different ranking, depending on how each girl came across to which judge. I had no idea how anyone else scored. I might have ranked one girl high while someone else ranked that same girl low.

Unanimous

Except of course for the eventual winner, Miss Angola Leila Lopes. I think we were all unanimous in our decision. She radiated grace and elegance from the moment she stepped on stage, and gave a great answer to her final question (which I happened to ask her; she picked my name out of the fishbowl. And that is all, lest anyone think that I made luto that process. No way.)

I ranked Shamcey Supsup second, if I’m being honest. What the TV audience saw could have been different from what we saw. And although Miss Philippines ranked highly up until the final question, we had to consider every single part of the competition. I really liked her answer as she displayed conviction and honesty. But there are nine of us judging.

Gorgeous Shamcey

I thought Shamcey represented our country very well. Smart, spirited, gorgeous. I wasn’t at all disappointed because she displayed what is so great about Filipino women: strength, beauty, intelligence. She should be very happy.

First thing I said to her was congratulations! I then asked if I could have a photo taken with her.

I don’t know what others thought of Shamcey, all our moves were being monitored and any sort of serious discussion might be misconstrued.

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