Beauty pageants can be breeding ground for some of the most iconic moments to live long and prosper in Filipino pop culture. The recently-held Binibining Pilipinas 2024 coronation night, the 60th in history, saw many queens and queens-to-be take the stage, and a handful of women take their well-deserved titles and crowns.
From humorous moments (classic) to six decades worth of tributes and references, powerful performances to thoughtful answers at the Q&A portion, Binibining Pilipinas 2024 was chock-full of moments that’ll live rent-free in our minds for years to come. Here are some of them below.
IT’S A WOMAN’S WORLD
For the opening ceremony of Binibining Pilipinas 2024, previous queens, not just from Binibining Pilipinas, but across all Philippine pageants took the stage as a tribute to the beauty pageant on its 60th year, such as Pia Wurtzbach, Catriona Gray, Venus Raj, Shamcey Supsup, Andrea Rubio, Michelle Dee, Gloria Diaz, and many more.
This year’s pageant also went above and beyond by having an all-women panel of judges and hosting team. The judges all 40 contestants had to impress were Binibining Pilipinas 2024 executive committee member Conchitina Sevilla-Bernardo, entrepreneur Rhea Tan, Miss International 2013 Bea Santiago, volleyball player Fifi Sharma, Miss Universe 1969 Gloria Diaz, Miss Universe 1973 Margie Moran, Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, and Miss International 2023 (Venezuela) Andrea Rubio. Meanwhile, the show was hosted by Catriona Gray, Kylie Versoza, MJ Lastismosa, Nicole Cordovez, and Ruffa Gutierrez.
QUEENS ON QUEENS
FIVE…HUNDRED?
What’s a pageant without a few slip-ups here and there? It’s normal for a long live show, and it adds a little bit of humor and humanity—and it makes for a meme that’ll probably live forever. MJ Lastimosa misread a prize, and it led to some of the funniest comments that night. “Binulsa ni mare yung 499,500,” a user wrote.
— Kieran Tiu (@imkierantiu) July 7, 2024
Ten years ago, MJ Lastimosa’s national costume during the Miss Universe 2014 preliminaries drew ire for not meeting expectations and for being designed by a non-Filipino designer. This year, the model and pageant titleholder wore a structured corset top with floral accents designed by Bonita Penaranda, a reference to and redemption version of her previous national costume.
THE RETURN OF AN ICON
With the arrival of previous titleholders and queens, one iconic figure in pageantry also made waves with her appearance—Janina San Miguel, famous for her nerve-wracked Q&A moment at the Binibining Pilipinas coronation night 2008. The queen known for lines like “my pamilee…” and “tough ten” won Binibining Pilipinas World that year despite her stumbles, but resigned from the position later for personal reasons. She’s still an icon, regardless, and her return to the pageant stage after years gagged everyone watching.
SB19 SERENADE
P-pop group SB19 brought the music and the vibe, performing their Binibining Pilipinas theme song Win Your Heart and their new single Moonlight. The Kings of P-pop were captivating in their own right as they celebrated the young women vying for the pageant title, and lent their voices perfectly to the coronation night.
MORE STELLAR PERFORMANCES
The first artist whose song made it to the top of the Billboard Philippines’ Hot 100 and Top Philippine Songs charts, Maki, also performed, singing his hit song Dilaw. The show was also soundtracked with performances by TJ Monterde, Maki, Martin Nievera, and Gary Valenciano.
TWIST OF FATE
Sixty years ago, a woman by the name of Maria Myrna Panlilio was crowned as the first Binibining Pilipinas 1964. This year, a young woman with the same name, Myrna Esguerra, won the same title. A coincidence? Maybe. A sweet one? Yes.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH HEART
The question and answer portion of Binibining Pilipinas 2024 had a couple of pleasant surprises, some from contestants that didn’t earn a title themselves. Pampanga representative Jasmin Bungay, who won Binibining Pilipinas Globe 2024, was asked by Gloria Diaz “If you were given 30 minutes to talk to the public, what would you talk about?” and she displayed thoughtfulness, intellect, and allyship by talking about the passing of the anti-discrimination SOGIE Bill and how everyone should be treated equally.
When asked who she would bring to the 60th pageant and what unique perspective they would bring, Laguna rep Vienne Feucht answered Simone de Beauvoir, French philosopher, writer, and feminist known for her work The Second Sex (1949), which was revolutionary in the work of criticizing the oppression of women. The 22-year old Vienne was clearly influenced by the writer, citing herself as an advocate of anti-violence against women, making her a queen in her own right, too.
