Mrs Philippines 2010 Maria Muriel (Lala) Moral displays a drawing in the Charity event where they auctioned off the artwork of talented but orphaned children. All proceeds go to the child's needs and education.
While the Philippines was abuzz over the Major Major 4th Runner-up victory of Venus Raj in Miss Universe 2010 in Las Vegas, another Bicolana beauty contestant was also winning recognition half way around the world in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Maria Muriel “Lala” Moral, our representative to the MRS Universe 2010 had managed to snag the MRS Intelegence award after competing against 21 contestants mostly from Europe. She won the award after judges deemed her comprehensive report on Human Trafficking to be the best one among all the other candidates’ reports.
Unlike the standard beauty contest where a candidates brains are picked by judges, the MRS Universe contestants had to discuss the issue of Human Trafficking in a long round table conference with Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Lala Moral turned out to be the most prepared candidate, citing statistics and studies on the Trafficking of Filipina Women and Children. Her comprehensive report amazed all those at the table. Iba talaga ang Pinay!!!
You might be wondering, though, about the spelling of MRS Intelegence – one ABQ commenter who saw Lala Moral being interviewed on TV was curious about the spelling on her sash and joked that maybe spelling wasn’t included in the award.
As for me, I thought that maybe the Lithuanians misspelled the word but Maria Muriel “Lala” Moral clarified that THAT is how the word is spelled in Lithuanian. I learned a big lesson – to not just make assumptions about other cultures!!!
Maria Muriel (Lala) Moral with children in a foster home
Another big highlight in the MRS Universe 2010 beauty pageant for Maria Muriel “Lala” Moral was a party called “Let’s Be Friends with Embassies” where all the contestants were required to either cook a dish or create a drink featuring ingredients from their nation. In that event, Lala discovered that mixing drinks for a huge party is not easy; thank God
the Hon. Maria Zeneida Angara Collinson, our Ambassador to Stockholm in Sweden (the nearest embassy to Lithuania) brought along some of her staffers (who were Bicolano too) to help Lala Moral create glasses and glasses of “Mango Mojito”, a rum-based tropical drink. Lala says her Mango Mojito booth was the most popular because they had the longest line.
Of course, it had the longest line. And I don’t think it was because of the mangoes. LOLOL!
MRS Philippines Universe 2010 Maria Muriel (Lala) Moral (left) enjoying a meal with other contestants
The winner of the beauty contest turned out to be MRS Finland, a 24-year old contestant.
Hmmm… I asked Maria Muriel “Lala” Moral who is 46, what she thought about competing against contestants half her age. She said that it’s not really a problem for her but said that some of the other older contestants were very upset and wanted to file a protest.
But last year’s winner, Vaida Ragenaite is 36 years old and competed against several in their 20s. It might be harder for an older woman to win but not impossible. Speaking of Vaida, last year’s MRS Universe offered to play tour-guide for a few days to Lala Moral, MRS Cyprus and MRS Dominican Republic. The 3 beauty queens couldn’t fly home right after the pageant so Vaida took them around the old town of Vilnius and gave them a ton of history lessons!
Maria Muriel “Lala” Moral says it the experience of joining Mrs Universe 2010 was worth it and broke the monotony of her life in Bicol. She says joining a MRS pageant is no joke – you have to be prepared and you need a lot of experience because the contestants are VERY competitive. Don’t ever underestimate married women!!!
Mrs Armenia Alla Grigoryan , Mrs Philippines Maria Muriel (Lala) Moral, Mrs Dominican Republic Nilenny Dippton and Mrs Cyprus Maria Zouvana
Lala Moral thanks designers Arles Obnamia for her evening gown and Ato Samarista for her National Costume.
Here is the list of winners in the MRS Universe 2010:
MRS Universe 2010 Winner – Jennika Hannussari ( Finland),
1st runner-up – Nileny Dippton (Dominican Republic),
2nd runner -up – Diana Pothitou (Greece),
3rd runner-up – Yesenia Rodriquez (Venezuela),
4th runner-up – Alla Grigoryan (Armenia),
Special title of Mrs European Union 2010 – Elena Karakoleva (Bulgaria)
Mrs EU Elena Karakoleva (special award), 4th RU Alya Grigoryan, 2nd RU Diana Pothitou, MRS Universe 2010 Jennika Hannusaari, 1st RU Nilenny Dippton, 3rd RU Yesenia Rodriguez
The awards ceremony was held in the courtyard of Vilnius University. There was no swimsuit competition.
Other winners:
Best in Evening Gown – Renata Voitechovskaja of The Baltic Coast, Lithuania
MRS Friendship – Elvira Figaroa of The Netherlands
MRS Body Beautiful – Natalia Stepanec of Russia
MRS Intelligence – Maria Muriel “Moral” of the Philippines
Congratulations 1988 BINIBINING PILIPINAS-MAJA INTERNATIONAL MARIA MURIEL MORAL now MRS. UNIVERSE-PHILIPPINES 2010 for winning the first-ever MRS. INTELLIGENCE TITLE AND AWARD in the world!
We are so happy and proud of you for bringing and giving honors to our country too!!!
We love u!!!
From your fans, friends and supporters
THE FIRST-EVER WOMAN IN THE WORLD AWARDED WITH THE INTELLIGENCE TITLE!
With all the buzz that the Ms Universe Runner-Up Victory of Venus Raj gets nationwide, it’s understandable. Mrs. Universe started only in 2007 while Miss Universe started in 1952 (so looong ago!) when I was nowhere on this planet yet! In that “long, long” span of time, what can we expect? Of course, Miss Universe already have “great, great” media mileage / exposure with its 59 years of existence compared to Mrs. Universe which is only on its 4th year.
You know what, in the history of ALL the beauty competitions / pageants in this world (Miss and Mrs. Universe, World, Earth, Globe, International Pageants, etc.), MARIA MURIEL MORAL is the very first Filipino and Asian beauty queen and the First Woman in the world who was conferred with the “INTELLIGENCE” Title! No any beauty competition / pageant in world history has ever given this title and award. It’s the very first time!
The Philippines Press and Media is not that competent in news reporting that they did not notice this “first time” fact and the misspelled MRS. “INTELEGENCE” TITLE of MARIA MURIEL MORAL. They should also highlight this “amusing error or mistake” in spelling done in “Lithuanian English” just like the “major, major answer” of MARIA VENUS RAJ at the Miss Universe Contest.
MEDIA PEOPLE SHOULD ALSO SUPPORT MARIA MURIEL MORAL THRU MUCH PUBLICITY OR HYPING BECAUSE, JUST LIKE VENUS, MURIEL, BEING AN INTERNATIONAL WINNER AND AWARDEE, ALSO BROUGHT AND GAVE HONORS TO OUR COUNTRY!
That’s for sure!!!
Donald Trump filed a suit against the organizers of Mrs. Universe for trademark and copyright infringement. I guess Mr. Trump thinks he owns the trademark to the word “Universe”… I know he’s excessively rich, BUT REALLY!
http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/tv/101389654.html
Oh, and get this. Trump is demanding financial “compensation” from the Lithuanian pageant organizers for alleged “losses”. Well, it will be interesting to see who prevails.
And my 2 cents about the age of the contestants. Since it is a “Mrs.” title, I think the pageant should have an age bracket of 35 to 50 years old. Having candidates in their early 20s competing with candidates in their 40s in a “beauty” pageant sounds silly.
Maybe they can have a MRS Young Universe and a MRS Universe? Because it would be good to have a wide age range of contestants. They can push it further and have a GrandMa of the Universe?
Thanks for the article on Trump suing MRS Universe. Maybe he’s out to start a MRS Universe franchise… but it’s bad of him to demand financial compensation. i think that’s mean. But if he’s going to launch a MRS Universe then the fight is worth it. And I think Trump would be able to make the MRS Universe more universal. The Lithuanian group hasn’t been able to grow the MRS Universe pageant. There were only two latinas and one asian in the 2010 competition if I remember correctly. And they also gave a special award to every candidate – its a nice gesture but I can think of many arguments against giving everyone awards.
[...] Read about Philippines’ Representative Muriel Moral’s experience here. [...]
The versions of news articles intended to defame MRS. UNIVERSE:
DONAL TRUMP FILED SUIT AGAINST MRS. UNIVERSE 2010 TRADEMARK
U.S. businessman Donald Trump’s company has filed an illegal trademark use motion against Mrs. Universe 2010 beauty contest which was held in Lithuania last week. The suit against Lithuanian company Pramogu Akademija was filed a week ago.
The Lithuanian company denies the accusation of usage of an illegal trademark. The law company will insist on banning the trademark Mrs. Universe 2010. ”We filed a motion with the Vilnius County Court over illegal use of Mrs. Universe trademark and its Lithuanian version Misis Visata. We filed the lawsuit on behalf of US Company Miss Universe,” Erikas Saukalas of the law office Metida told Baltic News Service.
The contestants of Mrs Universe 2010 participated in a discussion organised by the Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the fight with different forms of violence against women and human trafficking. The contestants also signed a joint declaration confirming their intention to combat this problem. According to some media reports the Lithuanian Government had supported the event with some 63 thousand Litas from the emergency fund.
Source: The Lithuania Tribune
Vilnius, Lithuania Aug. 24, 2010
LITHUANIAN FIRM SUED FOR HOLDING BEAUTY PAGEANT
By Associated Press (AP)
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
VILNIUS, Lithuania — Move over Miss Universe — make way for Mrs. Universe.
It might sound like a nifty promotional idea for a small East European country like Lithuania, but owners of the Miss Universe trademark — entrepreneur Donald Trump and NBC Universal — aren’t amused.
The U.S.-based Miss Universe Organization L.P. filed suit Tuesday in a Lithuanian court claiming copyright violation by the organizers of the Mrs. Universe pageant that was held Saturday in the Baltic state.
“Our claim is very simple. The title was used illegally because all rights belong to the U.S.-based company,” Erikas Saukalas, a lawyer representing Miss Universe Organization L.P., told reporters in Vilnius.
“We will also demand compensation for losses. I believe the court will evaluate the damage done to this trademark,” Saukalas said, adding that the size of losses was still being calculated.
The organizer of the Mrs. Universe pageant, which was shown live on TV3, a regional cable TV channel, denied any wrongdoing.
“Universe is a generic word, so the U.S. company’s claims are ungrounded,” said Evelina Gruzdiene, director of pageant organizer Pramogu Akademija.
Jennika Hannusaari of Finland won the Mrs. Universe pageant, which featured competitors from 22 countries such as Venezuela and Armenia. As the name suggests, all contestants had to be married.
On Monday a 22-year-old Mexico woman, Jimena Navarrete, was crowned Miss Universe in a Las Vegas show that boasted 83 contestants.
One of the main thrusts of the Lithuanian pageant was awareness of human trafficking, which continues to plague many East European countries. Participants held a discussion on the topic in Lithuania’s government, which helped sponsor the pageant, and presented a project, “Beauty Against Human Trafficking,” as a possible idea to combat the problem.
Gruzdiene did not rule out that it was the trafficking aspect that triggered a lot of the criticism of the pageant.
“Huge amounts of money is involved in that business, so we can only guess that someone disliked this idea,” Gruzdiene said.
Source: Boston Herald.com
My response to the suit filed by Miss Universe Organization against Mrs. Universe Organizer, the ‘Pramugo Akademija’ (being circulated worldwide in dailies and online) to defame the globally-socially relevant and significant MRS. UNIVERSE:
DONALD TRUMP AND THE MISS UNIVERSE ORGANIZATION ARE INSECURE ABOUT THE GLOBAL PRESENCE OF MRS. UNIVERSE!
Hey, Mr. DONALD TRUMP, you and your company DO NOT OWN the word “universe” and you have NO exclusive right to use the word “universe.” The trademark Miss Universe (which is a phrase)–yes! You own it! But the generic word UNIVERSE–NEVER!
You and your lawyer’s claim that the company or organizers of MRS. UNIVERSE Pageant and Competition in Europe is using a trademark illegally is very ILLOGICAL, BASELESS and UNREASONABLE!!! They DO NOT commit any copyright or trademark infringement!
Miss Universe (beauty contest for young adult, SINGLE women) is VERY DIFFERENT from Mrs. Universe (beauty contest for mature, MARRIED women)!
You should know the VERY SIMPLE and CLEAR DIFFERENCE and DISTINCTION between MISS and MRS.!!!
Today, there are MISS WORLD and MRS. WORLD, MISS EARTH and MRS. EARTH, MISS GLOBE and MRS. GLOBE, MISS INTERNATIONAL and MRS. INTERNATIONAL, MISS AMERICA and MRS. AMERICA contests/pageants being staged annually on this planet. The MISS pageants organizers never complain; it’s just okay with them if there are MRS. pageants, while you, you went to the extent of suing the Mrs. Universe organizers! You and your company SHOULD NOT BE INSECURE if there is MRS. UNIVERSE!!!
MR. DONALD TRAMP, if there is any company in Europe or anywhere in the world that would also organize and stage another pageant with the name MISS UNIVERSE, then that’s the time that you should complain…
but with MRS. UNIVERSE? YOU SHOULD NOT! Yes, they are both beauty competitions but MRS. UNIVERSE is entirely different from MISS UNIVERSE! MRS. is spelled and sounds differently from MISS! You sound unreasonable…
There is an air of galactic STUPIDITY in this universe!!!
The two are VERY different from each other! MISS UNIVERSE IS A SINGLE OR UNMARRIED WOMAN! MRS. UNIVERSE IS A MARRIED WOMAN. PERIOD!