Binibining Pilipinas 2015 Frontrunners - Christi Lynn McGarry

Having a contestant with a complete package in the Binibining Pilipinas seems too good to be true. More often than not, when a contestant has a complete package, it's either she has been a contestant in the past year, or if not, she would eventually be removed from the roster because of issues like citizenship or conflict with their prior endorsement engagements.

Who can forget Joey Mead (2001), Juliana Palermo (2003). Sandra Seifert (2009) and even Megan Young (2012). And in few instances wherein a strong contender goes through and snag a title, they get stripped of their title because of citizenship issues like what happened to Anjanette Abayari (1991), Tisha Silang (1998) and Janelle Bautsita (1999).

This year however, one strong contender made sure she got her bases covered. While Christi Lynn McGarry was born and raised in the US, she stayed in Nabua, Camarines Sur and immersed with the Bicolanos to solidify her Filipino-roots

Fast Facts:

Full Name: Christi Lynn McGarry
Hometown: Nabua, Camarines Sur
Height: 1.80 meters (5 ft 11 in)
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown


Previous Pageants:

Mutya ng Pilipinas Asia Pacific
Top Model of the World 2010 (Top 15)
Miss Intercontinental 2010 (Top 15 & Queen of Asia & the Pacific)



Here are some points to consider about Christi Lynn:

Pageantry. While she is not a Binibining Pilipinas veteran like Pia Wurtzbach, Christi Lynn has two international pageant appearance under her belt. She consistently placed on the semi-finals in both Top Model of the World 2010, and Miss Interncontinental 2010.

Communication Skills. Being born and raised in the US, the ability to converse in English with ease is a given. Not only that, she graduated Valedictorian from the grammar school Our Lady of Victories in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Foreign Sounding Last Name. While on a personal note I find her a potential contender for the Miss Universe 2015, history told that aside from Joyce Burton in 1985, no one else with a foreign sounding last name got to represent Philippines in the Miss Universe pageant. Normally, for a foreign-sounding-last-name-contender like McGarry, should be awarded a title, it would be Miss International. Take the case of Yedda Marie Mendoza Kittilstved (1996), Susan Jane Juan Ritter (1997), Colette Centeno Glazer (1998), Lalaine Bognot Edson (1999), Nadia Lee Cien dela Cruz Shami (2007), Melody Adelheid Manuel Gersbach (2009), Krista Eileen Arrieta Kleiner (2010), and Nicole Cassandra Maturan Schmitz (2012).

Hopefully the above-mentioned trend gets broken by Mcgarry and she be chosen to represent Philippines in the Miss Universe 2015 pageant. 

Binibining Pilipinas 2015 Frontrunners - Pia Wurtzbach

One thing that made Miss Universe Philippines Mary Jean "MJ" Lastimosa to stand out in the Bb. Pilipinas 2014 pageant was her maturity being a three-peater of the pageant. This is also the same strength that Pia Wurtzbach is enjoying in this year's pageant.




Fast Facts:



Full Name: Pia Alonso Wurtzbach
Hometown: Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental Philippines
Height: 1.73 meters (5 ft 8 in)
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown







Below are some points that puts Pia on the front row.


Showbiz Industry Background. Just like Megan Young, her exposure to limelight is an edge she gets to enjoy comes pageant night. When put under pressure, a showbiz insider like her can still maintain poise and grace without exerting an effort. She just needs to avoid staying on the safe side though, like what happened when she was asked by Senator Sonny Angara in Filipino during the Binibining Pilipinas 2014 pageant.

Being a Three-peater. Her third attempt is reminiscent of MJ Lastimosa's comeback in the Bb. Pilipinas 2014. They were both runners-up on their first attempt. Both failed to snag a major placement on their second. Subconsciously, their failure on their second attempt put them in a very good position in terms of awareness and strategizing.

In 2012, MJ Lastimosa was under the pressure to outwit Janine Tugunon, knowing that Janine's selling point was her eloquence and poetic approach in answering questions. Reason why MJ was prompted to use big words like "pheriperals" which apparently she wasn't able to substantiate.

Pia did the same thing in 2014. Being a repeater, she was under the pressure of taking her being articulate up a notch. It's a pity though that she succumbed to the displaced nationalism of Senator Sonny Angara asking her a question in Filipino when apparently, a big percentage of the judging panel was made up of foreign dignitaries.

Communication Skills. With or without talent-camp-prep on how to answer questions, Pia has achieved a certain level of wit that would leave her not buckling even when asked the most complex of questions. She reminds me of Janine Tugunon who consistently adhered to the global-standard in answering beauty-pageant-questions; 3 to 5 sentences.

Having said all that, I personally find her a good cut out for the Miss International title as opposed to being a Miss Universe. Hopefully she gets to replicate the same comeback as MJ did last year.

Mock Question and Answer - Miss Universe 2014

Even before the 68th Miss Universe pageant was over, there had been a lot of "what ifs" going on in every Filipino viewer's mind in relation to Philippines' bet Mary Jean Lastimosa not making it to the Top 5. 

Not only that the hope of getting the third crown for the Philippines was shattered but also the four-year-top five-placement streak was ended.

MJ, when interviewed by Kris Aquino on television, nonchalantly answered the questions asked to the eventual Top 5 candidates of the 68th Miss Universe pageant. On a personal note, as expected, I was impressed with how she would have answered the questions. That awoken the once-beauty-contestant-spirit in me and made to answer the Top 5 questions myself.

Manny Pacquiao asked to Miss USA: “If you were given 30 seconds to deliver a message to a global terrorist, what would you say?”

I would tell him that I would never be in the position to judge him as to what his circumstances are. But I would let him feel that regardless of what he's gone through to make him compelled spreading terrorism, he has this inherent goodness and wisdom to make every moment an opportunity to touch anybody's heart and make a positive difference. 

After all, at some point, he still goes to sleep at night or day to find peace in himself.

Emilio Estefan asked to Miss Jamaica: “One of every three women will experience violence in her lifetime. What can be done to get that number down?”

Charm. It may sound ideal, but regardless of culture and religion, it's apparent that men and women alike always regard women inferior to men. This is immortalized in the adage, "Behind every man's success or failure is a woman."

When a woman uses her charm, she knows how to position herself in a situation. Meaning, she knows when to submit, when to concur and when to maneuver. By doing this, a woman sends out a message of partnership and complementing a man and thereby eliminating conflict which often results to violence.

Lisa Vanderpump asked to Miss Ukraine: “If you could remove the swimsuit competition from the Miss Universe pageant, would you? Why or why not?”

Being beautiful is subjective. What is beautiful to me may not be beautiful to another. To define beauty we have to celebrate its form and its being. The swimsuit competition embodies its form, the gown showcases the grace, the interview its being.

We could remove the swimsuit competition but I wouldn't as removing it disproportionates the balance between the form and being. Again, these two elements are essential in celebrating beauty and its purpose.

Giancarlo Stanton asked to Miss Netherlands: “What’s the biggest change you’d like to see for young women in the next generation?”

Ï would like to see women (and men too) take time to improve their communication skills. By communication skills, I mean not just the grammar, the subject-verb-agreement, coherence among others. It's also not limited to English language either but also Filipino, Cebuano, Hiligaynon or what have you.

I believe that everybody has a good heart. But while we wanted to do or say something good, conflicts arise when what we intend to do or say gets lost in translation because the right words to use are not in our vocabulary. With an improved communication skills, we can eliminate negativity by showing humility and sincerity in what we say or do.

Rob Dyrdek asked to Miss Colombia: “Probably all the time, people have asked what men can learn from women. But I’d like to know what can women learn from men?”

For me it's the men's ability to strategize with ease. While women most of the times do things out of passion, men are more objective being able  to determine early what they really want to achieve in a situation. They are more gifted with this ability to maintain balance between what is ideal and what is practical.

Facebook question asked to all five finalists: “What is the greatest contribution of your country to the world?”

While there are a lot of good things the world can associate to a Filipino wherever he goes, it's being hospitable that we are being remembered the most. Our being hospitable goes beyond making our guests or visitors comfortable and by letting them enjoy what we have to offer. Our being hospitable is characterized by letting other nationalities blend into our culture without them losing their own.

So for me, the greatest contribution of the Philippines to the world is being able to redefine the concept of hospitality which brings about a smile in every other nationalities' face by just the mere mention of the word "Filipino