Miss Universe 2016 Q&A: Which Candidate Gave The Best Answer During The Pageant’s Coronation Amid France’s Victory?

It’s the time of the year again when the world’s most beautiful women converge for the annual Miss Universe competition. This year, the coronation took place at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. The event was broadcasted live via FOX on Sunday night.

One of the most crucial, most awkward, most anticipated and most dreaded part of the 65^th Miss Universe pageant was its Q&A portion, where the candidates were asked some political, social and personal questions. It ranged from issues on President Donald Trump to the global refugee crisis and personal questions on failure and the lessons learned from it.

The Miss Universe 2016 has two sets of Q&A, wherein the first part was participated by the Top 6 candidates, including the Philippines, France, Colombia, Thailand, Haiti and Kenya. The second part was for the final Top 3 ladies, who all answered the same question in the span of 30 seconds.

For a recap of the Miss Universe 2016 interview segment see below transcript as published by Rappler. Who among the women gave the best and the worst answer?

Question for Miss Philippines: “What is the most significant change you've seen in the world in the last 10 years?”

“The last 10 years of being here in the world is that I saw all the people being in one event like this in Miss Universe, and it’s something big to us that we are one, as one nation, we are all together,” Philippines’ Maxine Medina answered.

Kenya’s Mary Esther Were was asked about her concerns on Trump’s presidency. She answered, “Donald Trump, having been elected as president of the United States may not have been the choice of many people living in the United States because of the divided support system for the outgoing president Barack Obama, who was supporting an upcoming woman president, who was supposed to be a woman president, Hillary Clinton. So so many people oppose his position, but I feel that once he took up his position, he was able to unify the entire nation.”

As for Chalita Suansane of Thailand, she was asked to name a current or past world leader whom she admire and why. Suansane replied, “For me that would be the king of Thailand. His Majesty has been working tirelessly on behalf of the Thai people ever since I was born. For all the Thai people, His Majesty has been like a father to us. Thank you very much.”

Iris Mittenaere of France was asked about her take on the global refugee crisis and whether “countries have an obligation to accept refugees, or do they have a right to close their borders?” She said, “The country should have the right to open or close their borders. Throughout the world, people can choose to have the borders open or closed.”

“In Europe we have open borders,” Miss France added. “In France we want to have the most globalization that we can, we want to have the biggest exchange of people that we can. Maybe someday that will change, but now we have open borders. Having open borders allows us to travel more through the world, and to find out more about what's out there in the world.”

Haiti’s Raquel Pelissier, on the other hand, was questioned about the Women’s March on Jan. 21, “If you were able to participate, what would you have been marching for? Pelissier answered, “One of the women I admire in the world is Eleanor Roosevelt because she fought so much for human rights and I feel like that's what we need in the world. We are just one. A hundred thousand years ago, six species of human lived in the world. Now we are just one. And we all need each other, and we need to respect each other.”

Andrea Tovar of Colombia answered the question, “Why do we believe violence is so prevalent in today's society and what can we do about it?” She responded, “I come from a country that does have violence and this is my reference point. And although there are presidents who don't get along with others, we work together to be able to unite. Campaigns, respect, and inclusivity to be able to have a social transformation that will educate our children.”

Following the commercial, the finalists were narrowed down to the top 3 — Colombia, France and Haiti. For the final Miss Universe 2017 Q&A, they had to answer the same question: "Name something over the course of your life that you failed at, and tell us what you learned from that experience."

Miss Colombia: “I think that many times, one makes mistakes for many things. During moments when you may not accept someone due to their differences, to not accept them due to their sexual preferences, and to not be capable of accepting their error. I think any of those experiences gives you the opportunity to have strength and value and principles.”

Miss France: “I've failed several times in my life, so I thought that I failed the first time that I went out on a casting, because my name wasn't on the list. The very next day, I found that I was in a new book. So I think that when you fail, you have to be elevated, you have to try again, and keep going. If tonight, I'm not one of the winners, I will still have the great honor of being one of the 3 finalists, so I think that I have failed before, but I think this is a great first opportunity.”

Miss Haiti: “About seven years ago, I survived the earthquake. I feel I was failing myself because I was not living my dreams, I was living day by day in that earthquake, it was a bad event, but I choose to be a very positive person and learn a great lesson from it. Because if I am here today, it's because I am living my dreams.”

After the two sets of Q&A portion, Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach of the Philippines crowned her successor, Mittenaere of France, USA Today reported. Pellisier of Haiti and Colombia’s Tovar were the pageant’s first runner-up and second runner-up, respectively.

Last year’s Miss Universe was plagued with controversies when host Steve Harvey announced the wrong name as the winner. But this year, Harvey returned on the Miss Universe stage and was very careful not to commit the same mistake again. He was joined by model Ashley Graham as the pageant’s backstage correspondent.

The 65^th Miss Universe panel of judges was composed of “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Cynthia Bailey, Miss Universe 1994 Sushmita Sen of India, PAPER magazine editorial director Mickey Boardman, Miss Universe 2011 Leila Lopes of Angola, Miss Universe 1993 Dayanara Torres of Puerto Rico and Same Sky jewelry founder Francine Lefrak, Heavy reported. The pageant also showcased performances from Flo Rida and Boyz II Men.

So, who do you think among the Miss Universe 2016 candidates gave the best answer? Share your thoughts below.