Here’s how to get your favorite Miss Universe PH

2021 candidate into the semifinals

Published September 21, 2021, 7:04 PM
by Jane Kingsu-Cheng

Shamcey Supsup invites everyone to give your candidate the chance she deserves

From last year’s successful first run of the collaboration between Miss Universe Philippines
Organization and E-commerce platform Lazada, they’re hosting another year of online voting for fans
to get a chance to take their favorite candidates into the next stage of the competition stage.

“Yes, it’s our second year and they’ve been with us since the beginning, so we’re very happy that we’re
continuing this partnership together, especially now with the pandemic, talagang  very timely yun
partnership with Lazada,” Miss Universe Philippines national director Shamcey Supsup tells Manila
Bulletin Lifestyle in an exclusive interview.

Miss Universe Philippines national director Shamcey Supsup

Ongoing until September 29, anyone can just go online to the Lazada site or app and vote. The
candidate who will get the top vote will be part of the pageant’s top 16. “It’s a great way to have our
countrymen rally behind our finalists. We saw a lot of engagement and support. A lot of Pinoy pride.
So this year, we are continuing our Fan Vote feature, but aside from being able to vote with five free
votes everyday , now our Filipino countrymen can vote as many times as they want. You can buy
voting packaging from P50 to P500. And it’s one peso equals one vote. We now give consumers the
option to buy these packages to give more support. it’s unlimited. you can buy as many voting
packages,” says Lazada Philippines chief marketing officer Neil Trinidad.

Lazada chief marketing officer Neil Trinidad

Being a former pageant queen, Shamcey knows all too well how it’s like to be on stage, competing with
so many beautiful women. “Based on history, there are a lot of candidates who got in because of the
votes and, eventually, they placed in the top five or a higher spot,” she explains, stressing the
importance of helping your favorite girl get into the semis. “With your votes, you ensure that your
favorite girl will have a chance to showcase who she truly is.”

Neil also adds that the voting period is longer this time. And to add to the excitement, there is no
leaderboard now. “It levels the playing field,” says Neil, to which Shamcey adds, “The fans will have to
wait for pageant night to know who will be in the top 16, so that there will be a surprise factor.”

Aside from the fan vote, people can get to know more about the candidates through content such as
videos filmed and uploaded by these contestants. “Through this partnership and the videos, fans get to
know them better,” says Neil. “We have to capitalize on social media. Because of the pandemic, we’re
still able to build a community between the candidates and their fans,” adds Shamcey.

“One of our commitments as an e-commerce platform, we really want to create more enriching
experiences for our users. They come to watch content, play games, and learn. It’s become a really rich
platform with so many features. Last year, we were able to generate two million votes. The
outpouring/manifestation is different. Fans are really rallying for them,” ends Neil.