Three major crowns and titles await the winners in the first-ever Miss Bacolod MassKara grand coronation Wednesday night at the University of St. La Salle coliseum.
The Miss Bacolod MassKara Universe will take home P150,000, the Miss Bacolod MassKara World to get P120,000, while the Miss Bacolod MassKara International will receive P100,000. The first runner-up will bring home P80,000 while the second runner-up will get P50,000.
The star-studded beauty pageant, starting at 7 p.m., will be hosted by two former national beauty titlists, Billie Hakenson and Pauline Amelinckx , while high profile personalities in the world of pageantry and entertainment have been invited to judge the event.
Hakenson was Miss Universe Philippines 2020 fourth runner-up while Amelinckx was most recently crowned as Miss Universe Philippines Charity 2022.
Rodney Ascalon, pageant director, said the winners will automatically represent the highly-urbanized Bacolod City in national beauty pageants.
As such, most of the judges are known in the pageant circles, including this year’s Miss Universe Philippines 2022, Celeste Cortesi.
Joining her are other former pageant title holders, like Erik Lennart Visser, the grand winner of Ginoong Pilipinas 2019; Michael Ver Comaling, currently the Mr. National Universe 2022; Hannah Arnold, Binibing Pilipinas International 2021; and Trace Maureen Perez, Miss World Philippines 2021.
To complete the roster of judges are Cary Santiago, a known national costume designer who created the costume of Miss Universe Philippines Gazini Ganados, and Jim Ryan Ros, the business development manager and lead makeup mentor of Aces and Queens, a press release from the organizers said.
Rising heartthrob Kyle Echarri and OPM sensation Zack Tabudlo were invited to entertain and serenade the 15 lovely candidates.
Local artists, Nimrod Villamarzo, Hannah Puller, the Kagayon Dance Troupe, the MassKara Dancers, and the Artians will also be part of the production.
Ascalon said the contestants went through rigorous training and mentoring “and for that alone, they are all winners already.”
He added that this is the first time that winners of the pageant will be given a chance to vie for national titles “and we are confident that one, if not all of them, will actually have a chance to bring home a national crown and make Bacolod proud.”
While admission is free, tickets were handed out on a first-come, first-serve basis at the Bacolod Yuhum Foundation Inc. office due to the coliseum’s limited seating capacity. This is also in compliance with the health protocols since COVID-19 is still around, the organizers said.
At 4:26 p.m. Oct. 18, the organizer said tickets were no longer available, but there will be a live-stream of the coronation night at the Bacolod City Government Center main stage, the organizer added. ||
