Miss Philippines Maxine Medina became one of the top 9 finalists in the Miss Universe 2016 pageant held at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena, Pasay City on Monday (Philippine time).
The top nine candidates were announced by American host Steve Harvey. These are: Miss USA, Miss Thailand, Miss France, Miss Mexico, Miss Kenya, Miss Colombia, Miss Canada, Miss Haiti, and Miss Philippines.
The top nine were selected from the top 13: Miss Kenya, Miss Indonesia, Miss USA, Miss Mexico, Miss Peru, Miss Panama, Miss Colombia, Miss Philippines, Miss Canada, Miss Brazil, Miss France, Miss Haiti, and Miss Thailand.
Miss Thailand won the online voting results.
This year’s pageant started with announcement of top 13 candidates who competed in the swimsuit segment. The top nine were selected based on the highest averaged scores from judges and home viewers.
The top 9 candidates will be competing in the evening gown segment. Eventually, top six will be chosen from scores given in the evening gown portion. They will get to advance in the final question round. All scores will be averaged to top three.
Finally, judges and audiences will get to make a ‘final look’ at the top three candidates until the winner is announced.
Judges include TV star and former model Cynthia Bailey, Emmy and Tony award-winning producer Francine LeFrak, and editorial director of fashion magazine PAPER Mickey Boardman.
Also included are Miss Universe 2011 Leila Lopes Leila Lopes, Miss Universe 1994 Sushmita Sen, and Miss Universe 1993 Dayanara Torres.