5 things: Miss Universe 2020 in review

It was the end of her Miss Universe journey—the Philippines’ queen Rabiya Mateo made it to the Top 21 of this year’s instalment of the prestigious pageant but failed to advance to the later rounds.

However, the world remained in high spirits as the 69th edition of the competition proved to be a special one—the first one held since the coronavirus pandemic was officially declared on March 12, 2020.

Here are five interesting things from the event held May 17 (PH time) which will go down forever in Miss Universe history.

The show must go on

The 69th edition was postponed from 2020 to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The official announcement of the event date was made on March 3, 2021.

The pageant being held a calendar year later only happened thrice during its rich history: Miss Universe 2014, Miss Universe 2016 and the recently concluded Miss Universe 2020.

Change is constant

Mario Lopez and Miss Universe 2012 Olivia Culpo were the hosts of Miss Universe 2020. This was the first time Steve Harvey did not host the pageant since Miss Universe 2015. Also, less than two weeks before the event date, the organizers announced that rapper and singer Pitbull would be its guest performer. On May 15, the organization announced the Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi would be performing instead. Fonsi is the popular singer behind the 2017 hit “Despacito.”

First impressions last

Miss Universe 2020 marks the first time Cameroon sent a contestant to represent its country in the pageant. Miss Universe Cameroon Angele Kossinda looked every bit of a queen during the national costume and evening gown competitions, with the help of Filipinos: fashion design student Kennedy Gasper (national costume) and fashion designer Benj Leguiab (evening gown).

Girls run the world

Continuing on the trend that started in 2018, the 2020 edition of Miss Universe featured an all-women panel of judges to select semifinalists for the competition: businesswoman Christine Duffy, entrepreneur Deepica Mutyala, economist Tatyana Orozco, author and TV personality Keltie Knight, marketing executive Sheryl Adkins-Green, actress Arden Cho, and former Miss Universe titleholders Brook Lee (USA, 1997) and Zuleyka Rivera (Puerto Rico, 2006).

The winner takes it all

Miss Universe Mexico Andrea Meza was crowned Miss Universe 2020. Meza, 26, holds a degree in software engineering, and is also a beauty model crowned Miss Mexico 2017 and Mexicana Universal 2020. She is only the third Mexican to be crowned Miss Universe since Mexico’s taking of the crown in the years 2010 and 1991.