There's no obvious shoo-in for the Miss Universe 2010 title, if Fort Lauderdale's mixed forecasts are anything to go by -- and they are; Floridians are fervent pageant enthusiasts. Here are their best bets:
Sarodj Bertin, Miss Haiti 2010, has been getting quite a bit of publicity, on the road to tonight's coronation. Should we then say she's a shoo-in? Fort Lauderdale's Haitian immigrants seem to think so, but somehow they don't seem quite as gung-ho about their girl, as other immigrant communities are about their own. Sarodj says she wants "to give the people of Haiti a voice," and Haitian immigrants certainly respect her for that, even if they do seem to have been awed into comparative silence.
"Trini to the bone," says a native Trinidadian of Plantation, when asked where her favor rests. Miss Trinidad & Tobago, LaToya Woods was poised and eloquent, as she participated in the controversial body-paint shoot, and if her beauty and assurance sail her past the interview, she's definitely a contender.
But wait! Miss USA 2010, exotic beauty of Lebanese nativity who won Miss Michigan 2010, Rima Fakih was just as poised and eloquent at the photo shoot, and every Miss USA has a way of exuding so much confidence and "swag" that rivals sometimes pale in comparison, seem rather intimidated, and/or are just generally outshone. All of America cheers on the local entrant, and home court advantage does count.
"Not so fast," says South Florida's Jamaican immigrant community. No one is as poised with a devastating mix of confidence and humility as Miss Jamaica Universe 2010, Yendi Phillips. She knows pageants, she finished quite well in the Miss World 2007 pageant after winning the Miss Jamaica World 2007 pageant. All of Jamaica loves her, especially her beau, famous sprinter, Asafa Powell. Big on morals and family values, her physical resemblance is nonetheless a hot hybrid of Beyonce and Kim Kardashian, but her personality is Jamaican warmth with a charming dash of old British monarchical reserve!
But will it be a triple trick? Will Stefania Fernandez, Miss Universe 2009, crown her compatriot, Marelisa Gibson Villegas, just like Stefania herself was crowned by her prior compatriot in a record-breaking Miss Universe coronation night last year? In a pageant this hot, everyone's a favorite and everyone's a dark horse. There are so many gorgeous entrants, including Italy's Jessica Cecchini, Ireland's Rozanna Purcell, Belgium's Cilou Annys, Indonesia's Qory Sandioriva, New Zealand's gorgeous Ria van Dyke, and Russia's gorgeous Irina Antonenko!
But you don't have to guess where almost all your friends will be tonight; they'll either be at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, or tuned in to NBC at 9 pm (Eastern) to see the grand coronation of Miss Universe 2010.
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