Miss Universe Philippines Ahtisa Manalo. Manalo/Facebook
BANGKOK -- Enthusiastic pageant fans have trooped to Bangkok to support the Miss Universe pageant, chanting non-stop as the contestants arrived from rehearsals.
Miss Universe Philippines Ahtisa Manalo was among the many cheered by fans, even receiving a bouquet of flowers and little gifts. "I always tell her every morning I’m very proud of you," said Miss Universe Philippines executive vice president Voltaire Tayag.
Rehearsals for the preliminaries and finals lasted all day until evening.
"Everyone was so excited," Manalo said of the "fun" rehearsals. "Parang hindi na ako nananaginip sa pagod... [but still] very, very exciting."
For India's Manika Vishwakarma, being on their feet for the rehearsals and learning new choreography wasn't as tiring. When asked, she replied that it's "always a pleasure" for her.
Miss Universe Puerto Rico Zashely Nicole Alicea Rivera shared that the overwhelming support has left her speechless. "I don't have words to describe all of this thing that is happening... it's beautiful and I'm so grateful," she said.
"Everyone's energy is super high and all the girls have been super excited so it's really good," said Miss Universe Pakistan Roma Riaz ,who got emotional seeing her family.
"I'm so endlessly grateful for all the love and support. I don't think I could ever forget all these [words] of kindness," Riaz added.
Miss Universe Cayman Islands Tahiti Seymour, who wore a Filipino-designed suit, said, "it's long days but everybody is good vibes right now. Because we know we worked hard for this and we know good things take hard work, so we're excited to finish strong and show everything that we prepared."
Despite the intensity ahead of the preliminary competition, Miss Universe Nicaragua Itza Castillo isn't bothered by her nerves. "I'm so ready for it," she said, "to see the biggest stage, and I'm so excited about that."
Spain's Andrea Valero also got emotional as her family came to see her. "I'm excited but also a bit nervous, I'm really looking forward to it because we've been here for nearly a month," she said. "Today was a very intense day of rehearsals from morning 'til like midnight, but looking forward for you guys to see what [we] prepared."