It was a close call, but Miss Vietnam Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien managed to bring home the crown to become Miss Grand International 2021.
The 23-year-old beat 60 other candidates en route to the title during last Saturday’s pageant in Bangkok, Thailand, which saw Vietnam’s Thuy Tien and Miss Ecuador Andrea Aguilera at par and battling it out in a tie-breaker question. Responding to why they should be Miss Grand International 2021, Thuy Tien fiercely said both in the vernacular and in English: “I’m ready to win. I’m ready to be in Thailand for a year.”
Aguilera finished first runner-up, followed by Brazil’s Lorena Goncalves Rodriguez, Puerto Rico’s Viviane Diaz Arroyo, and South Africa’s Jeane Van Dam, who secure the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th runner-up spots, respectively.
Already a pageant veteran prior to joining Miss Grand International, Thuy Tien also represented Vietnam in the 2018 Miss International contest. During Saturday’s affair, she earned the judges’ approval with her answer to the question on which person they would like to speak with to spark change in the world today.
“If I have a chance to choose the one I would speak to, I would like to thank the woman who invented the Astrazeneca vaccine as she doesn’t need the money form the invention license,” the beauty queen said. “And I will spread the thanks to her and to all the people to know that I feel so grateful because of her. Sometimes you need to do the good things but don’t need the credit for it.”
Thuy Tien succeeded last year’s winner, Ghanaian-American Abbena Appiah, to become the tenth beauty queen to win the title.
Meanwhile, the Philippines’ bet Samantha Panlilio bowed out of the competition early after what seemed to many pageant enthusiasts as a spectacular showing during the preliminary competition. Although she didn’t make it to the Top 20, the super-popular “SamPan” on social media made it to the top 10 best in national costume and top 5 best in swimsuit through popular vote.
Throughout the competition, “SamPan,” “Nawat” and “#BoycottMGI” all trended on Twitter with Filipino fans voicing their disappointment over Panlilio’s poor reception by the judges.
Art Daniella Sison
