'Predicting royalty': Pageant experts reveal their final top picks for Miss Universe 2023

MANILA, Philippines — With the anticipation building for tomorrow's coronation, Philstar.com sought the insights of three pageant experts to reveal their ultimate top picks for Miss Universe 2023.

In this exclusive feature, Philstar.com asked beauty queen Siera Bearchell (Miss Universe Canada 2016) alongside highly respected pageant experts Norman Tinio and Tita Lavinia. They shared their evaluations of Philippine bet Michelle Dee's preliminary performance and weighed in on her potential to secure the fifth Miss Universe crown for the Philippines.

Here are their final top picks, listed in no particular order:

Siera Bearchell

Norman Tinio

TIta Lavinia

When discussing potential dark horses (unexpected finalists) and the El Tocuyo (strong candidates who might miss the cut), here are their predictions:

Siera Bearchell

Dark horses: Pakistan, Venezuela
El Tocuyo: Peru 

Norman Tinio

Dark horses: Australia, Honduras, Cameroon and Nepal 
El Tocuyo: Dominican Republic or USA

TIta Lavinia

Dark horses: Pakistan and Nepal
El Tocuyo: France or Dominican Republic 

The trio of pageant experts unanimously rated Michelle Dee with a solid 9.

TIta Lavinia shared, “I would rate MMD as a solid 9. If she could slow down a bit and change her hair, she'd be perfect.”

Siera, who is a big fan of Michelle since her Miss World stint said: “I’ve always seen Michelle as woman of sophistication and confidence. I’ve always been a fan of her as you know. Love the confidence to have her short hair. You don’t see it as much in pageants. She can be confidently who she is. I personally loved her gown. I thought it was incredible. For me, it was very her, like the sophistication, the cut outs, the green (evening gown).. I thought it very regal, unique. I personally loved it. I like her gown performance better than her swim performance. I thought she gave a great performance. For me, it’s very regal and sophisticated."

For Norman, he gave Michelle an impressive 9.5 in swimwear and an outstanding 9.9 in evening gown.

For TIta Lavinia, Michelle is the “the perfect candidate this far since Catriona to take the fifth crown for the Philippines”

Siera perfectly summarized Michelle’s chances:

“I