Picture this: I drag myself out of bed after barely four hours of sleep, all in the name of pageantry. Coffee in hand, smart TV glowing, I’m ready to witness the glitz and glamour of the 74th Miss Universe Final Competition before I start working. But instead of queens and crowns, what do I get? Copyright blocks, broken livestreams, and a crash course in digital disappointment.
YouTube was my first battlefield. The livestream started fine, then, boom, interrupted. Copyright strikes everywhere. I hopped from one channel to another like a desperate fan, but every stream was either blocked, muted, or plastered with boxes telling me to “check the live chat for the full link.” Spoiler alert: those links were about as useful as a broken tiara.
So I ditched the smart TV and ran to Facebook. There, I found “livestreams” — except they weren’t showing the competition. Nope. Just random people watching the show, with Miss Universe playing only as audio in the background. I guess that was their clever trick to dodge restrictions, but for viewers like me, it was just another slap in the face.
In the end, I had to settle for recorded clips uploaded by different profiles and pages. From those, I managed to piece together the Top 5: Thailand, Philippines, Venezuela, Mexico, and Côte d’Ivoire.
Here’s how it all wrapped up:
4th Runner Up: Côte d’Ivoire
3rd Runner Up: Philippines
2nd Runner Up: Venezuela
1st Runner Up: Thailand
Miss Universe 2025: Mexico
Despite the livestream chaos, I’m still proud of Miss Philippines. Out of so many queens across the universe, she shined her way into the Top 5; proof of her beauty, intelligence, and sincerity.
So yes, I sacrificed sleep for Miss Universe, but instead of glamour, I got copyright blocks and frustration. Maybe next year, the real competition should be between streaming platforms, because clearly, they’re the ones winning crowns for chaos.
NOTE: All the photos shared here are mine, originally captured using my mobile phone via posts of random profiles and pages in FB; lead photo enhanced using the user-friendly CollageArt.