The Miss Universe 2016 preliminary competition will be held on Jan. 26, Thursday, at the Mall of Asia Arena in the Philippines. Those who cannot make it to the venue can still watch the event live online.
Fans can watch the Miss Universe 2016 preliminary competition livestream in the official website of the beauty pageant. They may also visit the official Facebook page of the beauty pageant or download the Miss U app.
Serving as hosts of the Miss Universe 2016 preliminary competition are Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach and Filipino actor Derek Ramsay. The former will pass her crown to her success on Jan. 30. Prior to this, the top 12 candidates will be chosen during the preliminary competition.
Miss Universe 1993 Dayanara Torres from Puerto Rico and Miss Universe 2007 Riyo Mori from Japan will serve as judges during the preliminary competition. They will be joined by People's Choice Awards president and executive producer Fred Nelson, former journalist, publicist and international marketing director Rob Goldstone, theatrical, television, and film producer Francine LeFrak and "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" star Cynthia Bailey.
Upon Torres's arrival in the Philippines, she was interviewed by the press. It was in Wurtzbach's home country, where Torres passed her crown to Miss Universe 19994 Sushmita Sen from India.
"It's great to be a judge," Inquirer quoted Torres as saying. "It's definitely less nerve-wracking because you're not the one onstage. You're only judging but hopefully, we'll find the right girl for the job."
Torres, LeFrak and Bailey will return as judges on the coronation night. Sen will join them as a new judge along with Miss Universe 2011 Leila Lopes from Angola and Paper Magazine editorial director Mickey Boardman.
Miss Universe has a new format after it was bought from Donald Trump in 2015 along with Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. Top 15 candidates were selected at the Miss Universe pageant between 2003 and 2015 and from 2011 to 2013, the 16th spot is given to the Fan Vote winner.
In the new Miss Universe format, only 12 semifinalists will be determined during the preliminary competition instead of 15. The top 12 candidates will be announced at the start of the coronation night.
After the swimsuit segment, the scores of the judges and the fans' votes will be averaged to determine the top 9 candidates. The evening gown segment will follow and the top 6 candidates will be determined after averaging the judges' and fans' votes.
Unlike the previous installments, Miss Universe 2016 will only have one Q&A round, which will be participated by the top 6 candidates. The selected top 3 candidates from the Q&A portion will get a Final Look from the judges and fans before the announcement of the winners.
A Miss Universe 2016 preliminary competition livestream is also available here: