The announcement of the winner and TV personality Olivia Culpo‘s facial expressions during her hosting were among the most celebrated scenes during the Miss Universe coronation night on May 17.
Mexico’s Andrea Meza was crowned as the 69th Miss Universe. The rest of the winners are:
- First runner-up: Brazil’s Julia Gama
- Second runner-up: Peru’s Janick Maceta
- Third runner-up: India’s Adline Castelino
- Fourth runner-up: Dominic Republic’s Kimberly Jimenez
Philippine bet Rabiya Mateo, meanwhile, ended her journey early after she finished at the top 21 of the competition.
The tense proclamation of winner
Amid the cheers that erupted after, the scene between Andrea and Julia where they face each other during the tense final announcement of winners stole the show among social media users, particularly Filipinos.
Normally, the top two remaining candidates hold hands as they wait for the hosts to declare who among them will be crowned the next Miss Universe.
However, in light of the coronavirus pandemic, Andrea and Julia face each other at a distance. Rather than holding hands, they had their arms outstretched to one another.
Former beauty queen Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa, meanwhile, stood between them as she held the much-coveted crown.
The new Miss Universe is Mexico!!!! #MISSUNIVERSE pic.twitter.com/Mmb6l7tK8I
— Miss Universe (@MissUniverse) May 17, 2021
Filipinos found this scene amusing and turned photos of it into hilarious memes. They range from both candidates seemingly doing construction, cooking or playing in a game show.
“Ang intense ng laban,” one user wrote.
“Wait lang girls malapit nang maluto,” another user said.
Mark Averilla or Macoy Dubs also joined in the fun and captioned his version with: “At ang isang kaldero ng kanin ay mapupunta kay….”
On Olivia Culpo’s hosting stint
Aside from Rabiya, Andrea and the rest of the candidates, Culpo, who also happened to be Miss Universe 2012, also became an instant favorite on Philippine Facebook and Twitter due to her perceived lack of energy during her hosting stint.
Culpo and Emmy-award winner Mario Lopez were the hosts of the prestigious coronation night.
Her facial reaction, or lack thereof, during the start of the competition became the initial target of funny memes online.
Hours after the event ended, what caught internet attention was Culpo’s confused look while reading the final winners of the competition.
“And the winner is…Olivia Culpo for her legendary meme performance,” one Twitter user said.
Filipinos captioned their memes with witty remarks about daily lives in the Philippines.
Yung binigay sayo yung exam tapos number one pa lang di mo na alam yung sagot. pic.twitter.com/TMUtnmqtCv
— Jai Cabajar (@jaicabajar) May 17, 2021
Some users and Facebook pages shared more political takes on the photo. They cited quarantine classifications, President Duterte’s “jet ski” joke and other promises were the materials she was supposedly reading.
IATF quarantine classification announcements pic.twitter.com/on5KRJxJj7
— Jeff Canoy (@jeffcanoy) May 17, 2021
Mood pic.twitter.com/nTNbAOzAgG
— Malacañang Events and Catering Services (@MalacananEvents) May 17, 2021
Other social media users aired how much they missed Emmy-award winning comedian Steve Harvey and his lively hosting.
READ: ‘Never the same’: Netizens miss Steve Harvey’s Miss Universe pageant hosting
In 2015, Steve made news after he mistakenly announced Colombia’s Ariadna Gutierrez over Philippines’ Pia Wurtzbach.
Some Filipinos also expressed hope in jest that Janine Tugonon, who was an attendee and also happened to be the runner-up when Culpo was crowned in 2012, would take over the latter’s hosting duties.