Miss Universe Philippines candidate Ayn Bernos shared the backstory to her “extra energy” in the National Costume video of the beauty pageant released on Thursday.
The representative of San Juan City shared some pictures of her national costume designed by award-winning fashion designer Edwin Uy which is a tribute to the Carnival Queens of the pre-war Manila Carnival.
The Manila Carnival is the precursor of the various national pageants in the country. It was annually held during the early American colonial period up to the time before the Second World War.
“Zooming into my National Costume, designed by the one and only @edwinfuy! This piece is a tribute to Carnival Queens, inspired by the diversity of Filipino design and culture,” Ayn wrote on social media.
The TikTok content creator was among those who appeared in a national costume presentation of the Miss Universe Philippines 2021 delegates released as a music video with P-pop group BGYO’s new song “Kulay.”
The video gave a glimpse of the beauty contestants’ modern take on the Manila Carnival.
They were divided into four groups: Those representing from the National Capital Region, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Each candidate was presented and then featured as a group.
Ayn, who is part of the NCR group, was seen dancing energetically when their group was featured in the video.
“If you’ve seen the Youtube video on the Empire PH channel, here’s a little backstory to my extra energy. They chanted happy birthday to me and I enjoyed it HAHAHAHAH panoorin niyo and see if you can catch it!” Ayn said with a series of laughing-with-tears emojis.
Ayn, a longtime beauty queen hopeful, immediately joined the pageant after the organizers scrapped off its minimum height requirement for its candidates.
She has also been vocal about breaking barriers in beauty competitions.
Last month, Ayn clapped back at naysayers who questioned her decision to join the Miss Universe Philippines since she does not supposedly fit the usual standards expected of candidates.
The entrepreneur said that she joined the pageant to represent girls who see themselves in her, a fellow beauty queen aspirant.
Music video shoot
Voltair Tayag, the pageant’s director of communications, told ABS-CBN News that they wanted “a fresher and younger vibe” of the national costume presentation which resulted in a fashion music video.
“We featured modernized forms of the Manila Carnival Queen theme that all the ladies were required to have,” he said.
“Having a mix of old traditions presented in a new way makes for a more interesting experience. You can watch it repeatedly like a music fashion video,” Voltair added.
The coronation of Miss Universe Philippines 2021 will be held at the Henann Resort Convention Center in Panglao, Bohol on September 30.
The winner of the beauty pageant will represent the country in the 70th Miss Universe to be held in Israel.
