PAGEANT Circle

Melissa Bottema, representing Groningen, was crowned Miss Grand Netherlands 2023 in a competition held on Sunday, June 4 at Claus Event Center in Hoofddorp. The 23-year-old gymnastics coach and a social work student at Hanze University edged out 10 other beauties to win the national title. Rounding out the Top 3 finalists were Amber Tamara of Flevoland and Merel Bakker of Gelderland. They were named the first and second runners-up, respectively. Esmee van der Meulen, Bo Grooten, Robin Danique Mulder, Chimène-Esmee Colijn, Tene Donzo, Merel van Roon, Carmen Kara, and Yarah Mookhram were the rest of the contestants. No stranger to pageantry, the new Miss Grand Netherlands participated in Miss Intercontinental 2022 where she placed in the Top 20 and bagged the Miss Sunrise award. Melissa succeeds last year's titleholder Marit Beets and will now represent the Netherlands at Miss Grand International 2023 in Vietnam this October. View this post on Instagram A post sha

Thaweeporn "Aoom"  Phingchamrat was crowned Miss Grand Thailand 2023 in a glittering final competition held on Saturday, April 29 at MGI Hall, Show DC Megacomplex in Bangkok. The 27-year-old model from the southern province of Chumphon bested 76 other contestants to win the national title. She succeeded last year's winner and Miss Grand International 2022 first runner-up Engfa Waraha. Tia Li Taveepanichpan of Phuket was named first runner-up while Pimjira Charoenluk of Bangkok, Ajcharee Srisuk of Loei, and Ketwalee Phlobdee of Phrae were the second, third, fourth runners-up, respectively. Rounding out the Top 11 finalists and were announced fifth runners-up include Pattaravadee Boonmesup of Chiang Rai, Tantawan Jitteelak of Lopburi, Kamonwarai Prajakrattanakul of Nakhon Phanom, Rina Chatamanchai of Nakhon Ratchasima, Kodchakorn Kontrakoon of Nong Bua Lamphu, and Vanessa Nattacha Wenk of Saraburi. The rest of the Top 20 were from Kalasin, Praifah Tongrae, Krabi, Pacharada

Véronique Michielsen Marcillo, representing Comunidad Europa, was crowned Miss Grand Ecuador 2023 in a national competition held on Saturday, April 15 in Guayaquil. The 21-year-old Belgian-Ecuadorian beauty bested 6 other finalists to win the national title. She is a model and a marketing and communication student from Antwerp, Belgium. Andrea Ojeda Fernandez of Guayaquil and Alyson Flores Lozano of Santo Domingo were named the first and second runners-up, respectively. Former Miss Grand International winner from Peru, María José Lora, attended the glittering event as a special guest. The new Miss Grand Ecuador succeeded last year's titleholder Lisseth Naranjo and will now prepare to represent her country at Miss Grand International 2023 in Vietnam this October. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Concurso Nacional de Belleza® (@cnbecuador) Photos: CNB Ecuador / Instagram

Maelia Carmen Salcines was named Miss Grand Paraguay 2023 in a glittering competition held on Sunday, April 2 at Paseo La Galeria in Asuncion. The 28-year-old author, model, and professional makeup artist represented the Paraguayan community in the USA and will now prepare for Miss Grand International 2023 in Vietnam this October. No stranger to pageantry, the new queen previously joined the Miss Texas USA state pageant where she placed third runner-up and won Miss Congeniality. She also competed in Reinas del Paraguay 2022 (Miss Universe Paraguay) where she bagged Mejor Piel (Best Skin) and Reina del Publico (Queen of the Public) awards. Another beauty, 23-year-old surgeon Sharon Capó Nara, was officially designated as Miss Grand Paraguay 2024. The former Miss Teen Americas will go to Miss Grand International 2024 on a date and venue yet to be announced. Last year's titleholder and Miss Grand International 2022 Top 20 semifinalist, Agatha Leon, relinquished her national crown at

Four months after making history by winning her country's first golden crown, Miss Grand International 2022 Isabella Menin of Brazil has officially returned home. The beauty queen touched down at São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport on Saturday, March 4 to a warm welcome from her fans and supporters. She was accompanied on her homecoming trip by the president of the Miss Grand International organization, Nawat Itsaragrisil. In case you missed it, here she was before departure from Bangkok, Thailand: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Isabella N. Menin (@isanmenin) Photos: Miss Grand International, Isabella Menin / Instagram

TV host, vlogger, artist and influencer Herlene Nicole Budol has confirmed in her latest interview that she will participate in Miss Grand Philippines 2023. The 23-year-old represented her birthplace Angono, Rizal during Binibining Pilipinas 2022 where apart from her first runner-up finish, she also bagged seven special awards. Last November, she went to Kampala, Uganda to compete in Miss Planet International but due to some unfortunate incidents with the organizers, she withdrew from the competition. The pageant was postponed and later moved to Cambodia. Miss Grand Philippines 2023 will be the first edition of a standalone national pageant for Miss Grand International since Binibining Pilipinas dropped the license late last year. Details for the upcoming competition are yet to be announced. Could Herlene be the next Miss Grand Philippines? View this post on Instagram A post shared by Herlene Nicole Budol (@herlene_budol) Photos: Herlene Nicole Budol / Instagram

Miss Grand Philippines, the first national competition exclusively for Miss Grand International after leaving Binibining Pilipinas, was officially launched in a press conference held on Thursday, November 24 at Hilton Manila. Attending the event were the MGI executives, reigning queen Isabella Menin of Brazil and her court of runners-up from Indonesia, Andina Julie, Venezuela, Luiseth Materán, Czech Republic, Mariana Bečková, Puerto Rico, Oxana Rivera, Spain, Hirisley Jimenez, Colombia, Priscilla Londoño, Cambodia, Pich Votey Saravody, and the Philippines, Roberta Tamondong. MGI President Nawat Itsaragrisil took the opportunity to apologize to Filipino fans for whatever happened in the past and encouraged them to leave the past behind and move forward together and whatever. He is looking forward to the first winner from the Philippines in the nearest future, someone who possesses the right qualities and is willing to work with the MGI organization. The new national director, entreprene

Ni Ni Lin Eain has been officially announced as Miss Grand Myanmar 2023 and will represent her country at Miss Grand International 2023 next October in Vietnam. The newly appointed beauty is a 23-year-old model hailing from Mudon. She was crowned by her predecessor Ei Ei Aung Htunt in a special ceremony held on Wednesday, November 23 at Ibis Styles Hotel Mandalay. "I'm so happy and I'm so excited right now, and I can't even find a word to describe how happy I am and how excited I am. I'm so shaking," she said after receiving the crown. When asked why she chose MGI, she mentioned the support from the organization and how they treat their contestants as part of the family and the team. She also pointed out the activities and the way they put up the stage, and how the organization let them interact with the international fans thus making it more interesting. In her last message before she walked off stage, she encouraged her Burmese fans to love and support her a

Miss Grand International 2022 Isabella Menin of Brazil arrived in Manila, Philippines from Bangkok, Thailand on Wednesday, November 23 for her first official visit to the country. Joining the arrival were MGI President Nawat Itsaragrisil, Vice President Teresa Chaivisut, runners-up from Indonesia, Andina Julie, Venezuela, Luiseth Materán, and Czech Republic, Mariana Bečková, and the rest of the Top 10 from Puerto Rico, Oxana Rivera, Spain, Hirisley Jimenez, Colombia, Priscilla Londoño, Cambodia, Pich Votey Saravody, and the Philippines, Roberta Tamondong. Arnold Vegafria, the new national director of Miss Grand Philippines, welcomed the team at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport airport with Filipino fans and members of the media. They will be in the country until November 26 and part of this trip is to attend the launching of the first-ever national pageant exclusively for Miss Grand Philippines. A press conference will be held this Thursday, November 24 at Hilton Manila.

After almost a decade, Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Inc. (BPCI) officially announced its withdrawal from the Miss Grand International Organization. In an official statement released on Monday, November 7, BPCI revealed it will no longer renew its contract with the Thailand-based international pageant. The announcement received a lot of jolly feedback from Filipino fans who have been begging the organizers for years to drop the franchise. Under BPCI, the Philippines managed to achieve two third runners-up placements with Annalie Forbes (2013) and Parul Shah (2015), one second runner-up with Elizabeth Clenci (2017), and two first runners-up with Nicole Cordoves (2016) and Samantha Mae Bernardo (2020). Miss Grand International 2020 Top 20 semi-finalist and appointed fifth runner-up Roberta Tamondong officially became the last representative from the most prestigious and longest-running national beauty pageant in the Philippines. Aside from MGI, BPCI previously held the national franchi

A week after the spectacular final show in Jakarta, Indonesia, the winners of the highly talked about Miss Grand International 2022 competition arrived in Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday, November 1. Accompanied by MGI organization executives Nawat Itsaragrisil and Teresa Chaivisut, the new queen Isabella Menin of Brazil together with her runners-up were warmly welcomed by the members of the media and a huge crowd of fans at the Suvarnabhumi Airport. They were also joined by the newly appointed fifth runner-up Roberta Tamondong who came on a separate flight from the Philippines. As previously announced, she replaced the Miss Popular Vote winner from Mauritius, Yuvna Rinishta, who refused to sign a contract with MGI. The Top 10 beauties during arrival also include first runner-up Engfa Waraha of Thailand, second runner-up Andina Julie of Indonesia, third runner-up Luiseth Materán of Venezuela, fourth runner-up Mariana Bečková of the Czech Republic, and fifth runners-up Oxana Rivera of Puer