# Miss Grand International 2022

Miss Grand International 2022 was the 10th Miss Grand International pageant, held at the Sentul International Convention Center in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, on 25 October 2022.
At the end of the event, Nguyễn Thúc Thùy Tiên of Vietnam crowned Isabella Menin of Brazil as Miss Grand International 2022. It is the first victory of Brazil in the pageant.
Contestants from sixty-eight countries and territories competed in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Thai television personality Matthew Deane. Indonesian singer Rossa performed in this year's pageant.

## Background
### Location and date

At the Miss Grand International 2021 pageant, Matthew Deane, the host of the event announced that the 10th edition of the pageant will happen in Indonesia on 25 October 2022, with pre-pageant activities in Bali, and the coronation night in Jakarta. The event was supported by the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia, Sandiaga Uno.
After a venue selection survey conducted by the Dunia Mega Bintang Foundation, licensee of Miss Grand Indonesia in mid-May, the organization announced that the coronation night of Miss Grand International 2022 pageant will take place at Sentul International Convention Center. Furthermore, the SICC also served as the location for the national costume parade and the preliminary competition. The organization later disclosed that Le Méridien Jakarta and Seminyak Beach Resort & Spa will serve as accommodation for the delegates during the pageant activities in Jakarta and Bali, respectively. Gianyar's Bali Safari and Marine Park was also announced as the venue of the Balinese costume presentation.

### Selection of participants

Contestants from sixty-eight countries and territories have been selected to compete in the competition. Thirty-seven of these delegates were appointed to the position after being a runner-up of their national pageant or being selected through a casting process.

#### Replacements

Chiara Vanderveeren, a contestant of the Miss Grand Belgium 2022 pageant, was appointed as the replacement for Miss Grand Belgium 2022 Alyssa Gilliaert, who resigned due to medical conditions. Camila Sanabria, Miss Supranational Bolivia 2023, was appointed as Miss Grand Bolivia 2022 due to Alondra Mercado's renouncement of the title. Fabien Laurencio, first runner-up at Nuestra Belleza Latina 2021, was appointed as Miss Grand Cuba 2022, as Daniela Espinosa renounced her title due to undisclosed reasons. Lisseth Naranjo, a former Miss Grand Ecuador who resigned from the title in 2020, was designated as the replacement for Emilia Vásquez, Miss Grand Ecuador 2022, who withdrew due to undisclosed reasons. Laura de Sanctis, Miss Universe Panamá 2017 was designated Miss Grand Panamá 2022 by a new Miss Grand Panama licensee. Originally, Katheryn Yejas was named Miss Grand Panamá 2022 but was later ostracized due to the change of license holder. Luiseth Materán, Miss Universe Venezuela 2021, was appointed to the position after the original representative, Sabrina Deraneck, resigned from the title within a month after being crowned.
An internal conflict in the licensee team between Orlando Ruiz, a founder of the Concurso Nacional de Belleza México (CNB México) who also served as the general director of Miss Grand México, and Flavio Falsiroli, Miss Grand México national director, caused Orlando Ruiz to depart from the team and his affiliated candidate, Jessica Farjat, who was previously set to represent the country at Miss Grand International 2022, also resigned from the title. Laysha Salazar was then elected as the replacement.

#### Debuts, returns, and withdrawals

In this 2022 edition, three countries were expected to make their debuts, but two withdrew for unspecified reasons even though their representatives had already been determined; six countries that competed in the 2021 edition withdrew due to a lack of a national licensee, and 15 countries returned to the competition after being absent in the previous editions. Initially, seventy-two countries and territories franchises confirmed that they would send their candidates to Indonesia; however, representatives from Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, withdrew before the pageant started, while the representative from Kosovo withdrew due to health problems at the fourth day of the pre-final activities.

### Controversies

On 3 October, the pageant organizer revealed all the roommate pairing lists of Miss Grand International 2022 candidates in a live video streamed on the pageant's official Facebook page, in which the Russian and Ukrainian candidates were paired as roommates amid the ongoing war between the two countries. The issue has sparked an overwrought discussion on many social media sites because of the tense political situation between the two countries over the past few months, Some accused the organizer of attempting to profit from the conflict by pairing the two contestants on purpose to make the contest viral and demanded the organizer adjust the room sharing situation, while others advised thinking optimistically and that the beauty competition had nothing to do with the war.
However, even though the representative from Russia, Ekaterina Astashenkova, has stated through social media that there is no problem staying together with the Ukrainian representatives during the contest, the Ukrainian representative, Olga Vasyliv, denied doing so and also called for removing Russia from the competition.

## Results
### Placements

| Placement | Contestant |
| Miss Grand International 2022 | Brazil – Isabella Menin |
| 1st runner-up | Thailand – Engfa Waraha |
| 2nd runner-up | Indonesia – Andina Julie |
| 3rd runner-up | Venezuela – Luiseth Materán |
| 4th runner-up | Czech Republic – Mariana Bečková |
| Top 10 (5th runners-up) | Cambodia – Pich Votey Saravody  Colombia – Priscilla Londoño  Mauritius – Yuvna Rinishta  Philippines – Roberta Tamondong  Puerto Rico – Oxana Rivera  Spain – Hirisley Jimenez |
| Top 20 | Curaçao – Kanisha Sluis  Denmark – Victoria Kjær Theilvig  Dominican Republic – Jearmanda Ramos  Honduras – Saira Cacho  Mexico – Laysha Salazar  Nigeria – Damilola Bolarinde  Paraguay – Agatha Leon  Peru – Janet Leyva  United Kingdom – Sofia Mayers  Vietnam – Đoàn Thiên Ân |
Note:
^∆ Automatically qualified for the top 10 finalists after winning the fast track "Miss Popular vote", and also named the 5th runner-up, but was later dethroned due to her inability to sign the contract and complete her duties.
^‡ Automatically qualified for the top 20 finalists after winning the "Country's Power of the Year" award
^§ Originally placed among the top 20 finalists, but was later assigned 5th runner-up, as the replacement for Miss Mauritius who resigned the title

### Special awards

| Award | Contestant |
| Best National Costume | Peru – Janet Leyva  Thailand – Engfa Waraha  United Kingdom – Sofia Mayers  Vietnam – Đoàn Thiên Ân |
| Best in Evening Gown | Mexico – Laysha Salazar |
| Miss Popular Vote | Mauritius – Yuvna Rinishta |
| Country's Power of the Year | Vietnam – Đoàn Thiên Ân |
| Grand Voice Award | Thailand – Engfa Waraha |
| Miss Social Media by MS Glow | Czech Republic – Mariana Bečková |

## Pre-pageant events
### Pre-arrival voting

As previously done since 2018, pre-arrival voting on the organizer's Facebook and Instagram pages was launched a week before the advent of the candidates. Ten contestants with the most scores calculated by the number of likes and shares on their portrait photos acquired the authority to be present at the exclusive dinner with the pageant president, Nawat Itsaragrisil, which happened after the welcome ceremony at the Seminyak Beach Resort & Spa on 5 October.
| Placement | Contestant |
| Winners | Brazil – Isabella Menin  Colombia – Priscilla Londoño  Guatemala – Andrea Radford  India – Praachi Nagpal  Indonesia – Andina Julie  Malaysia – Charissa Chong  Mexico – Laysha Salazar  Paraguay – Agatha Leon  Thailand – Engfa Waraha Vietnam – Đoàn Thiên Ân |

### Country's Power of the Year challenge

The Country's Power of the Year award returned after being introduced for the first time in 2020, with fans able to vote for delegates to advance to the Top 20 through Instagram. All candidates were divided into ten groups for the challenge. The voting took place on the pageant's Instagram account, where the photos to vote for was presented for one group per day. The winner of each group advanced to the second round where all ten qualified contestants were randomly grouped into two groups of five. Then, the voting took place to elect the two winners of each group to advance into the final round. The winner of the Country's Power of the Year challenge will automatically be part of the Top 20.
| Placement | Contestant |
| Winner | Vietnam – Đoàn Thiên Ân |
| Runner-up | Thailand – Engfa Waraha |
| Top 4 | Colombia – Priscilla Londoño  Indonesia – Andina Julie |
| Top 10 | Costa Rica – Brenda Muñoz  Guatemala – Andrea Radford  India – Praachi Nagpal  Malaysia – Charissa Chong  Mexico – Laysha Salazar  Paraguay – Agatha Leon |

### Sportswear and swimsuit competition

Since Indonesia is a Muslim country, appearing in a swimsuit in public violates religious tenets requiring women to dress modestly. Because of this, the swimsuit event was held as a private event at the Seminyak Beach Resort & Spa, where no physical audience was allowed but was broadcast online except for the host country. Indonesian swimwear label called Niconico was used in this event. The swimsuit competition was replaced by the sportswear competition at the preliminary and final competitions. The sportswear competition took place on 9 October at the Bebek Tepi Sawah Restaurant and Villas in Ubud, Bali, in which 68 aspirants wore sportswear designed by Indonesian designers, Didiet Maulana and the Iwan Tirta Batik team.
For the Best in Swimsuit award, ten candidates were chosen by the public vote on the pageant's Facebook page, and the other ten were chosen by the panel of judges; the number of each group was then minimized to five. The winner was expected to be announced at the final competition, but was not elected.
| Placement | Contestant |
| Top 10 | Brazil – Isabella Menin Cambodia – Pich Votey Saravody  Colombia – Priscilla Londoño Czech Republic – Mariana Bečková  Indonesia – Andina Julie Myanmar – Ei Ei Aung Htunt Puerto Rico – Oxana Rivera Spain – Hirisley Jimenez  Thailand – Engfa Waraha Vietnam – Đoàn Thiên Ân |
| Top 20 | Argentina – Camila Barraza Costa Rica – Brenda Muñoz Curaçao – Kanisha Sluis Dominican Republic – Jearmanda Ramos Ghana – Zahara-Imani Bossman  Guatemala – Andrea Radford Nigeria – Damilola Bolarinde Paraguay – Agatha Leon Peru – Janet Leyva Philippines – Roberta Tamondong |

## Pageant
### Format

From twenty-one on the previous edition, twenty semi-finalists were selected to continue in the competition. The results of the preliminary competition — which consisted of the swimsuit competition, the evening gown competition, the closed-door interviews, and other pageant activities determine the nineteen semifinalists who will advance for the first cut. The Country of the Year award, determined through public voting, was reinstated after being introduced in 2020; the winner of which will complete the twenty semi-finalists. The twenty semi-finalists competed at the sportswear competition.
Eventually, nine semi-finalists, including the winner of the Miss Popular vote which was determined through public voting, completed the ten semi-finalists that will compete at the long gown, and speech competitions. Afterward, the five finalists were chosen. The remainder of the top ten were enthroned as fifth runners-up on the occasion of celebrating the tenth anniversary of the pageant.

### Selection committee

Preliminary competition
* Atalarik Syach [id] – Indonesian actor
* Syarifah Rahma – Indonesian economic and business anchor
* Devya Lina – Indonesian dentist
* Dessy Ruhati – Director of National and International Events, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia
* Janelee Chaparro – Miss Grand International 2013 from Puerto Rico
* Nguyễn Thúc Thùy Tiên – Miss Grand International 2021 from Vietnam
* Ivan Gunawan [id] – Founder of Dunia Mega Bintang Foundation [id]
* Teresa Chaivisut – Vice president of Miss Grand International Organization
* Nawat Itsaragrisil – President of Miss Grand International Organization

## Contestants

Sixty-eight contestants competed for the title.
| Country/Territory | Delegate | Age | Hometown |
| Angola | Teresa Sara | 25 | Luanda |
| Argentina | Camila Barraza | 29 | Buenos Aires |
| Australia | Amber Sidney | 25 | Melbourne |
| Bangladesh | Towhida Tusnim Tifa | 24 | Gazipur |
| Belarus | Marina Viazankova | 28 | Minsk |
| Belgium | Chiara Vanderveeren | 27 | Brussels |
| Bolivia | Camila Sanabria | 27 | Santa Cruz |
| Brazil | Isabella Menin | 26 | Marília |
| Cambodia | Pich Votey Saravody | 23 | Preah Sihanouk |
| Canada | Mildred Rincon | 26 | Calgary |
| Chile | Karina Perez Gres | 24 | Santiago |
| China | Shirley Yu | 27 | Shanghai |
| Colombia | Priscilla Londoño | 28 | Houston |
| Costa Rica | Brenda Muñoz | 28 | Guanacaste |
| Crimea | Yulia Pavlikova | 29 | Kerch |
| Cuba | Fabien Laurencio | 28 | Miami |
| Curaçao | Kanisha Sluis | 26 | Willemstad |
| Czech Republic | Mariana Bečková | 23 | Prague |
| Denmark | Victoria Kjær Theilvig | 19 | Herlev |
| Dominican Republic | Jearmanda Ramos | 22 | Puerto Plata |
| Ecuador | Lisseth Naranjo | 24 | Guayaquil |
| El Salvador | Noor Mohamed | 21 | San Salvador |
| France | Lucie Carbone | 24 | Cote d'Azur |
| Germany | Kim Kelly Braun | 27 | Mannheim |
| Ghana | Zahara-Imani Bossman | 20 | Accra |
| Guatemala | Andrea Radford | 27 | Guatemala City |
| Haiti | Paul Anne Estima | 21 | Port-au-Prince |
| Honduras | Saira Cacho | 21 | Tegucigalpa |
| Hong Kong | Chan Mei To | 27 | Hong Kong City |
| India | Praachi Nagpal | 24 | Hyderabad |
| Indonesia | Andina Julie | 21 | Muara Enim |
| Ireland | Peace Olaniyi | 28 | Dublin |
| Italy | Miriam Malerba | 18 | Puglia |
| Jamaica | Kim-Marie Spence | 23 | Saint Elizabeth |
| Japan | Seira Inoue | 26 | Tokyo |
| Laos | Phoutsavanh Vongkhamxao | 25 | Vientiane |
| Malaysia | Charissa Chong | 27 | Subang Jaya |
| Mauritius | Yuvna Rinishta | 22 | Grand Port |
| Mexico | Laysha Salazar | 20 | Hermosillo |
| Mongolia | Elena Egorova | 25 | Yakutia |
| Mozambique | Suema Abdul Rachid | 25 | Montepuez |
| Myanmar | Ei Ei Aung Htunt | 24 | Tak |
| Nepal | Aishworya Shrestha | 25 | Kathmandu |
| Netherlands | Marit Beets | 22 | Volendam |
| Nicaragua | Maycrin Juliette Jáenz | 23 | Granada |
| Nigeria | Damilola Bolarinde | 25 | Lagos |
| Pakistan | Aneesa Sheikh | 19 | Bloomfield Hill |
| Panama | Laura de Sanctis | 26 | Panama City |
| Paraguay | Agatha Leon | 21 | Ciudad Del Este |
| Peru | Janet Leyva | 25 | Callao |
| Philippines | Roberta Tamondong | 20 | San Pablo |
| Poland | Natalia Gryglewska | 24 | Częstochowa |
| Portugal | Sabrina Gladio | 27 | Lisbon |
| Puerto Rico | Oxana Rivera | 27 | Dorado |
| Russia | Ekaterina Astashenkova | 24 | Vladivostok |
| Singapore | Emilbiany Nenggal Intong | 24 | Singapore |
| South Africa | LuJuan Mzyk | 22 | Pretoria |
| South Korea | Juyeon Lee | 25 | Seoul |
| Spain | Hirisley Jimenez | 20 | Caibarién |
| Sri Lanka | Nihari Perera | 22 | Colombo |
| Thailand | Engfa Waraha | 27 | Bangkok |
| Turkey | Deria Koc | 28 | Schwabach |
| Uganda | Oliver Nakakande | 27 | Bombo |
| Ukraine | Olga Vasyliv | 22 | Ivano-Frankivsk |
| United Kingdom | Sofia Mayers | 22 | Kent |
| United States | Emily Rose DeMure | 24 | Boulder |
| Venezuela | Luiseth Materán | 26 | Los Teques |
| Vietnam | Đoàn Thiên Ân | 22 | Long An |

### Notes

* ↑ Ages at the time of the pageant

### Participants by continents

Continent
Number (%)
Africa
7 (10.29%)
Asia
19 (27.94%)
Europe
17 (25.00%)
North America
14 (20.59%)
South America
10 (14.71%)
Oceania
1 (1.47%) :