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| The Mr. World 2018 press conference was held on May 2, 2018, at the Marriott Grand Ballroom, attended by (from l-r), Miss World Philippines 2017 Laura Lehmann, Miss World Philippines National Director Arnold Vegafria, Miss World 2017 Manushi Chilar, Mr. World 2016 Rohit Khandelwal, Martin Paz Chief Integrated Marketing Officer of Resorts World Manila (RWM), and MWP's Bessie Besana. |
The Philippines marks another milestone in pageant history as it hosts the Mr. World 2018 pageant for the very first time.
Miss World Organization (MWO) founder and CEO Julia Morley made the official announcement through a Facebook post last April 3, sending Pinoy pageant fans in a fit of excitement and jubilation. Since its inception in 1996, the biennial pageant has been held predominantly in Europe, and only twice in Asia (China, 2007 and Korea, 2010).
To announce this important event, a press conference was held on May 2, 2018, at the Marriott Grand Ballroom, which was attended by Miss World 2017 Manushi Chilar, Mr. World 2016 Rohit Khandelwal, Miss World Director Steve Douglas Morley, Miss World Philippines National Director Arnold Vegafria, MWP's Bessie Besana, Miss World Philippines 2017 Laura Lehmann, and Martin Paz Chief Integrated Marketing Officer of Resorts World Manila (RWM), where "the world's most desirable man" pageant will be staged.
Watch Mr. World 2018 press conference on Fb Live here.
The Philippines has joined Mr. World only thrice, and past Filipino representatives include 2013 2nd placer Andrew Wolff, John Spainhour (2014 ), and Sam Ajdani (2016).
"On my many visits to the Philippines, I have always felt that Filipinos would really love to see one of the most exciting international shows in the world. It's allowing our young men to not just be super fashion conscious, but to be fit, fearless, swim an ocean, climb a mountain, and most of all to be compassionate and caring. These qualities, I think, Filipinos would love to witness live," said Morley, through her husband/representative, Steve Douglas Morley.
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| Steve Douglas Morley, Miss World Organization Director. |
"Of course, we also want to show the world your country's beautiful scenic spots and for them to experience first-hand the warmth and hospitality of the Filipino people, which I have witnessed and felt on several occasions," Morley added.
Unlike conventional male beauty pageants, Mr. World is a two to three week competition designed to test the candidates in a variety of ways through a series of challenge events, interviews and a final stage show. These challenges test every aspect deemed necessary to be "The World's Most Desirable Man."
Five challenge events take place: Fashion & Style, the Extreme Challenge, the Multi-Media Award, the Sports Challenge & the Talent Competition. Each one of these challenges has a winner, who takes his place in the Final TOP TEN of the competition. There are also collective points earned through the team based elements of the challenges, with the contestants split into four teams throughout the event.
Miss World Philippines National Director Arnold Vegafria welcomes the challenge of staging the Mr. World 2018 pageant in Manila. "This is the right time to harness the collective strength of a united brotherhood of men; a time to take pride in our cultural diversity; to build bridges of cooperation and mutual understanding regardless of race, creed or political persuasion," Vegafria said.
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| Arnold Vegafria, Miss World Philippines National Director. |
"This year, as we attempt to mount another pageant spectacle of epic proportion, we shall never lose sight of our main objective: the spirit of charity and compassion. This is the legacy that the Mr. World pageant seeks to perpetuate, as we call on a new breed of young men to look beyond their vanity and pride, and channel all their energies to more meaningful and purposeful action," added Vegafria.
Under his stewardship, the organization has produced three major titleholders: Reina Hispanoamericana 2017 Teresita Ssen Marquez, Miss Multinational 2018 Sophia Senoron and recently-crowned Miss Eco International 2018 Cynthia Thomalla.
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| Martin Paz, Chief Integrated Marketing Officer of Resorts World Manila. |
The Mr. World 2018 pageant will be held on January 27, 2019 at Resorts World Manila.
For more information on the Mr. World pageant, log on to www.mrworld.tv
Photos and live video by Monch "Monchster" Henares.
About Arabelle Jimenez.
