Aside from Binibining Pilipinas Anna Theresa Licaros, who will represent the Philippines, reigning Mutya ng Pilipinas Kirby Ann Basken will also join the international beauty contest.
But the 21-year-old Basken will represent her "other" country, Norway, following her coronation as Fröken Norge-Miss Universe last Monday. Her victory in the European nation was confirmed in Internet reports.
Lisa-Marie Moen Jünge was proclaimed Fröken Norge-World and will represent Norway in the Miss World pageant in Poland. Anna-Marie Augustin from Fredrikstad was first runner up. The winners were determined using judges' scores and public votes via SMS and the Internet.
This year's competition spanned four months and had about 100 contestants in the beginning. The roster was gradually trimmed to 40, then down to just 20 semifinalists from which the final 10 contestants were selected for the final competition on April 9.
Basken was born in Oslo to a Norwegian father and a Filipino mother. She first joined the Miss Norway search in January last year where she finished as first runner up. Last June, she flew back to the Philippines to represent Europe's Filipino community in the Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant. She bagged the title.
She later represented the Philippines in the Miss Intercontinental pageant in the Bahamas where she cracked the Top 12.
Sources from the Miss Asia Pacific Quest Inc. (MAPQI), owner of the Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant, had earlier confirmed Basken's desire to try her luck anew in the Miss Norway pageant, saying she had been "bitten by the pageant bug" after her string of competitions in 2006.
Upon hearing the news about Basken's victory, MAPQI director and founder Leandro Enriquez said, "We are elated by the news. We are proud that she is a Mutya ng Pilipinas winner and it only proves that Mutya ng Pilipinas deserves international recognition."
He also confirmed that the local organization is not stripping Basken of her local title despite her coronation in Norway.
But Basken will not be able to personally hand over her crown to her Mutya ng Pilipinas successor next month because the Miss Universe pageant requires her to be in Mexico City for three weeks in May.
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