The Miss Universe 2012 Pageant night was held on December 19 (December 20 in Manila) at the Planet Hollywod Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada and the home candidate, Miss USA Olivia Culpo was crowned the 61st Miss Universe (For the complete list of winners and related article, click here).
The Philippines' Janine Tugonon placed 1st runner-up, completing three-peat in the Top 5 of Miss Universe. She's just one question away from grabbing that Diamond Nexus crown and we knew she gave one of the best answers from among the Top 5 finalists. Anyhow, her feat elevated the Philippines to the elite club of top 5 three-peaters in the history of Miss Universe: USA, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.
Janine Tugonon was given a Twitter question from judge Nigel Barker: "As an international ambassador, do you believe that speaking English should be a prerequisite to being Miss Universe? Why or why not?"
She answered: "For me, being Miss Universe is not just about knowing how to speak a specific language. It's being able to influence and inspire other people. As long as your heart wants to serve and you have a strong mind to show people, then you can be Miss Universe."
Watch the video of Janine during the final question and answer portion of Miss Universe 2012 below. To watch the Q&A video of all the Top 5 candidates, click here.
With that alone, she could've won but the stars had already written Miss USA Olivia Culpo's fate. Janine Tugonon still made us Filipinos proud. Next year, hopefully will be the year for the Philippines to get its 3rd Miss Universe crown. It might be 'U' for the Miss Universe crown as we already had completed the quartet of Q-R-S-T placement in the said pageant.
Q - Quiambao, Miriam (1999 1st runner-up)
R - Raj, Maria Venus (2010 4th runner-up)
S - Supsup, Shamcey (2011 3rd runner-up)
T - Tugonon, Janine (2012 1st runner-up)
U - Miss Universe crown
Photo courtesy of normannorman.com