The Miss Universe pageant is happening again in less than two weeks and we’re already keeping our eyes peeled for announcements. The contestants have already arrived in Las Vegas and just today, the organization released the list of preliminary judges. This includes Filipino-American modeling agent Cecilio Asuncion.
Cecilio, better known as Cece, is the founder of Slay Model Management—the first transgender modeling agency in Los Angeles. He also appears in the Oxygen Network reality show Strut, which features Slay’s models. The show also won a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Reality Program earlier this year.
“It is such a great feeling to be chosen as a Miss Universe judge,” he tells Preen.ph. “For The Miss Universe Organization to choose someone who is a Filipino immigrant and an agent to trans models, it shows that the definition of CONFIDENTLY BEAUTIFUL is truly inclusive.”
When asked about the portion he’s most excited to deliberate on, Cece says it’s the Q&A. “All of the contestants, as we know, are already physically beautiful, I want to see who is memorable and can take the title of Miss Universe seriously, but not so much that she loses who she is intrinsically.”
The panel of judges will also include women’s rights activist Morgan Deane, model scout Isabelle Lindblom, IDT Corp CEO Bill Pereira, sports host Megan Olivi, and Miss Universe 1998 Wendy Fitzwilliam.
The Miss Universe 2017 pageant will happen on Nov. 26. We can’t wait to see who the judges will pick to succeed last year’s winner Iris Mittenaere.
Congratulations also to Cece for getting the chance to judge the pageant!
Photo by Irvin Rivera
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