All eyes on Manila for the 65th Miss Universe Competition

A full 23 years after it was last held here, all eyes will be on Manila again as the most confidently, beautiful women in the world will compete to be the next Miss Universe.

After flying to Cebu, Davao, Vigan, Baguio, and other stunning locations in the Philippines, the 86 candidates for the 65th Miss Universe pageant will be making their final efforts to convince the world—or universe— that they have what it takes to wear the crown.

Philippine pageant fans are fervently hoping for a back-to-back win, a feat that had only happened once in the history of the Miss Universe pageant.

The Philippines' representative Maxine Medina is already making history. She is the first Filipina beauty queen who will have the option of answering in Filipino, as an interpreter will be on standby for her in the event that she makes it to the Question and Answer portion.

The 65th Miss Universe grand coronation is made more beautiful by the presence of two of the most loved Miss Universe titlists, Miss Universe 1993 Dayanara Torres and Miss Universe 1994 Sushmita Sen. Both beauty queens will be serving as judges today, together with Miss Universe 2011 Leila Lopez, Mickey Boardman of PAPER Magazine, Francine LeFrak of Same Sky, and model Cynthia Bailey.

Torres also served as a preliminary competition judge along with Miss Universe 2007 Riyo Mori.

The Miss Universe Organization made a last minute decision on Saturday evening to pick a Top 13 instead of a Top 12 due to the high volume of votes sent by pageant fans from around the world—further proof that the whole world will be tuning in to see the grand event in Manila.

Tickets are sold out, but everyone is invited to watch the historic event live on GMA 7 at 8 a.m. —DVM, GMA News