A beauty contestant should have a little bit of everything but must be more beautiful than smart. And because she’s going to walk away with a crown at the end of the night and wear it in the course of her reign, I guess it’s self-explanatory that she should also be elegant and must possess regal poise and bearing.

Simply put, she has to be beautiful first before anything…which is why she’s in a beauty contest; otherwise, she might as well participate in World Schools Debating Championships and opt for the Best Individual Speaker award, or should’ve tagged along with Patricia Evangelista to the English Speaking Union’s International Public Speaking Competition in London, or make the grade in school and aspire for Summa Cum Laude. However, this is not to say that it’s okay for a beauty queen to be a dumbbell or vice versa, for that certainly won’t work in her reign where she becomes a spokesperson for her title.

Fourth runner-up Carole Monique “Blinky” de Leon looked like an international beauty queen that night. I loved the way she glided with her arms so graceful and stature very queenly. Her hairdo reminded me of Stefania Fernandez during the Evening Gown presentation night of the Miss Universe 2009 pageant in the Bahamas. While everyone was busy taking pictures following the coronation ceremonies, I went upstage and a closer look at third runner-up Rogelie Catacutan took me completely by surprise. Boy, she looked way, way more gorgeous up close than she did from my V.I.P. seat. I told her that, and I hope she knew it was more of a compliment.

The way this year’s Miss Cebu winner, Reena Elena Malinao, delivered her answer was not bad, in my opinion. If one were going to be singled out solely for one’s brains over beauty, then no one, to date, has ever come at par with Miss Universe 2000 Lara Dutta, whose face won’t even pale in comparison with her head. At the onset of the program, I found Reena super stunning with her hair coiffed straight and pulled down. As soon as the candidates were in evening gown, I couldn’t quite locate amongst the girls where the heck Reena was, let alone remember her number. But after she gave her answer to the final question, I was afraid she just nailed it or the judges were going to vote for her and would no longer consider the other criteria for judging.

Anyhow, I found Anna Fegi’s performance at the pageant spellbinding. She definitely brought the house down! Every Cebuano present in the room would’ve admitted to being so proud of their heritage as I am of the fact that Cebu is home to world-class singers. Kudos to the organizers of this year’s Miss Cebu for not making a mistake in inviting the homegrown talent.

In a nutshell, Anna Fegi was the most beautiful thing seen and heard that night on January 12 inside the Pacific Grand Ballroom of Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino.