Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach is crowned Miss Universe 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 20, 2015. (Getty)
Miss Universe 2017 will be broadcast live from the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena in Manila on Sunday, January 29, starting at 7pm ET on FOX. The event will, once again, be hosted by Steve Harvey, who famously announced the wrong person at least year’s ceremony.
86 contestants from across the globe will participate in the Miss Universe pageant this year. Miss USA 2017 is Deshuana Barber of the District of Columbia, and the first active military member to be crowned Miss USA. This year’s judges include 1993 Miss Universe Dayanara Torres, 1994 Miss Universe Sushmita Sen, Miss Universe 2011 Leila Lopes, “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Cynthia Bailey, Paper Magazine editor director Mickey Boardman, and TV/film producer Francine LeFrak.
The Mall of Asia Arena has a full house capacity of 20,000, and officially opened in June 2012. It’s used as an alternate venue when the Philippine Basketball Association cannot play at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The Mall of Asia Arena has hosted performers like Lady Gaga, Mariah Carey, Avicii, James Bay, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lopez, and more.
According to Inquirer.net, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines released a notice declaring the Mall of Asia Arena a “no-fly zone” on Friday. Drones and helicopters won’t be allowed within a 1-km radius of the arena from Sunday morning until Monday afternoon.
The preliminary competition started on Thursday, and their performances in the preliminaries (as well as their preliminary interviews) will determine the Top 12. This marks the first time that only 12 finalists have been chosen for the preliminary elimination round as opposed to 15. According to ET, the favorites to look out for are Miss Thailand (Chalita Suansane), Miss Colombia (Andrea Taylor), Miss Philippines (Maxine Medina), Miss Brazil (Raissa Santana), Miss Venezuela (Mariam Habach) and Miss USA.
The grand coronation will take place on January 30 at 8am Philippine time. Tonight’s event will start with the top 12, and then will be narrowed to nine, six, and to a final three.