Boxing icon Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao will join a diverse group of international celebrities who will sit as judges during the 63rd Miss Universe coronation night to be held in Doral, Miami, Florida on January 25 (morning of January 26 in Manila).
Pacquiao’s fellow judges include actress and television personality Kristin Cavallari, British restaurateur and philanthropist Lisa Vanderpump, fashion journalist Louise Roe, and Cuban actor and model William Levy.
The Philippines’ Miss Universe candidate, Mary Jean Lastimosa 27, of North Cotabato, said she believes that Pacquiao will be a fair and unbiased judge.
A third Filipino, 2013 Miss Universe third runner-up Ariella Arida will also make an appearance during the pageant as backstage host of the “on the Scene’ segment of the Miss Universe web site.
The Miss Universe Organization’s announcement ended speculations that Pacquiao, the first and only eight–division world boxing champion, would join the panel of judges of the most prestigious beauty contest.
The Miss Universe pageant is the second most watched event on television, second only to the FIFA soccer World Cup.
Elite cast
This will be Pacquiao’s first stint as a judge in an international beauty contest and will join the ranks of distinguished Filipinos who judged in the Miss Universe pageant.
The first Filipino invited to judge the contest was the late Foreign Affairs Secretary Gen. Carlos P. Romulo when the pageant was first held in Asia and in the Philippines on July 21, 1974.
The late Amparo Munoz of Spain won the pageant, only to give up her crown after several months.
After 15 years, the next Filipino judge was fashion designer was Josie Cruz Natori who served the panel during the contest held in Cancun, Mexico on May 23, 1989.
Singer-actress Kuh Ledesma was tapped to sit as judge during the Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on May 17, 1991.
Former Chairman of the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation and philanthropist Emilio T. Yap likewise joined the panel of judges in the 43rd edition of the contest held in Manila in 1994.
