Miss Universe Philippines was stunning as she strutted the stage on her black and white Yamamay swimsuit with American singer Charlie Puth performing “Marvin Gaye.”
Wurtzbach was the ninth candidate to be called.
The top 10 candidates are:
USA—Olivia Jordan
Colombia—Ariadna Gutierrez
Japan—Ariana Miayomoto
Thailand—Aniporn Chalermburanawong
Australia—Monika Rudolovic
Dominican Republic—Clarissa Molina
France—Flora Coquerel
Curacao—Kanisha Sluis
Philippines—Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach
Venezuela—Mariana Jimenez
This year’s pageant rules have been drastically changed after IMG bought the Miss Universe franchise from American businessman Donald Trump.
Before the swimsuit competition, Miss Thailand Aniporn Chalermburanawong was adjudged by netizens for having the Best National Costume.
The names of the top 15 who shone in the preliminaries were earlier revealed, with Wurtzbach being the fifth candidate to be called.
READ: Pia Wurtzbach makes it to Miss Universe 2015 Top 15
From there, the girls competed in equal footing for a spot in the top 10 during the swimsuit competition. The same process will be repeated in picking the top 5 candidates during
This year’s edition will also feature a question-and-answer with the top three candidates answering the same question.
The judges of the competition are: entertainment host Perez Hilton, actress Neicy Nash, Miss Universe 2012 Olivia Culpo, football star Emmitt Smith, and the audience through real-time voting in the Miss Universe official website. AJH/IDL