In a few hours, a new Miss Universe will be crowned and will wear the DIC crown worn beautifully by Colombia's Paulina Vega who won earlier this year, after Miss Universe 2014 was moved to January 2015.  All pageant fans will have its eyes set on the stage of Planet Hollywood as 80 stunning contenders will face the ultimate decision.

Before the coronation night, the ladies conquered the stage for the Preliminary Competition where fifteen delegates' fate, and not ten (this was confirmed by pageant blogger Norman Tinio in his prediction blog post), were ultimately sealed.  Although the prelims was not just the ultimate consideration, since there was that closed-door interview and of course, their overall impression since the day they arrived in Vegas, the preliminary allowed the candidates to strut their stuff on stage with their eyes set on the crown.  Those who stood out will definitely be the ones who will potentially battle it for the crown.

Now, after watching the Preliminary Competition, and judging each girl in both swimsuit and evening gowns, I came with the following fifteen delegates who I think will make it one step ahead later. Before that though, allow me to give you six ladies who I think will be potential spoilers to my Top 15. They are: Miss Australia Monika Radulovic; Miss Finland Rosa-Maria Ryyti; Miss Georgia Janet Kerdikoshvili; Miss India Urvashi Rautela; Miss Mexico Wendy Esparza; and Miss Thailand Aniporn Chalermburanawong.


Now here is my top 15 for Miss Universe 2015.

Philippines - Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach
USA - Olivia Jordan
Venezuela - Mariana Jimenez
Dominican Republic - Clarissa Molina
Spain - Carla Barber Garcia
Colombia - Ariadna Gutierrez
Peru - Laura Spoya
Kosovo - Mirjeta Shala
Brazil - Marthina Brandt
Haiti - Lisa Elizabeth Drouillard
Vietnam - Huong Phan
France - Flora Coquerel
Paraguay - Myriam Arevalos
Russia - Vladislava Evtushenko
Myanmar - May Thaw

While the usual names are there, I believe that Myanmar and Spain can really pull an upset against all other delegates despite going unnoticed before the preliminaries. Spain, for once, is a regal beauty and can deliver both in swimsuit and in evening gown.
Narrowing the field of fifteen to ten, I came to consider their performance in the preliminaries and their overall look in the swimsuit parade.  This would mean that I have to eliminate Misses Russia, Myanmar, Haiti, Kosovo, and one of this year's favorites, Miss Vietnam.  This leaves me with my top 10, in order of preference, as following: Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Philippines, USA, Colombia, France, Spain, Paraguay, Peru, and Brazil.

With the top 10 competing in the evening gown segment, I looked into the elegance and performance of the girls as well as the overall styling.  It is because of this that Mariana Jimenez of Venezuela failed my cut, not unless she wears another gown and with a better styling.

Considering the ladies' showmanship, I am betting that this year's top 5 could possibly be comprised of Laura Spoya of Peru, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach of the Philippines, Olivia Jordan of the USA, Ariadna Gutierrez of Colombia, and Clarissa Molina of Dominican Republic.  I would not be surprised though if Paraguay, Brazil, and Spain clinches one of my predicted top 5's spot.


I do agree with Sir Norman that the Q and A round will determine the fates of our ladies.  All of those I predicted to be in the top 5 are all heavy favorites for the crown and so there is much more pressure and so much more at stake come the final question. One slip and it's gone.

Ultimately, I think Pia's consistency and her elegance and sass will bring the country's much coveted third Miss Universe crown.  Her sheer determination will hopefully shine through despite the tough competition of Miss Dominican Republic and Colombia who is stumping to death to end of being the last girl standing, especially the latter who is there to claim a back-to-back win for her country.  Below is my predicted result.

Miss Universe 2015 - Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach
First Runner up - Dominican Republic, Clarissa Molina
Second Runner up - Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez
Third Runner up - USA, Olivia Jordan
Fourth Runner up - Peru, Laura Spoya

The new ownership of Miss Universe may leave all of us in surprise.  We still don't know what IMG is looking for. Whatever the results may be, though, I wish all the delegates, especially our very own Pia, the very best.