Miss Grand International 2020

Miss Grand International 2020 was the eighth Miss Grand International pageant, held on 27 March 2021, at DC Hall in Bangkok, Thailand. It marked the first time in the pageant's history where a black woman won the crown. Twenty-seven-year-old Abena Appiah was the first United States representative to win the title. As was normal of the pageant, she was crowned by her immediate predecessor, Valentina Figuera of Venezuela, and spent a year working as the organization's spokesperson in the campaign against all forms of conflict.

Previously, the pageant was scheduled to be held in Venezuela on 25 October 2020, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization decided to postpone the event to 2021 and move the venue to Bangkok, Thailand. After arriving in Thailand, each contestant had to quarantine in the country for two weeks before taking part in the pageant, following Thailand's public health measures aiming to prevent and control the pandemic. The further examination found two contestants had tested positive for COVID-19 during the quarantine period. Both were subsequently treated in the hospital until testing negative and were permitted to participate in the remaining activities of the pageant.

The grand final of the pageant was hosted by Matthew Deane, and featured 63 contestants. In addition to crowning the winner, the representative of Myanmar, Han Lay, also took the stage during the final telecast to make a declaration against alleged atrocities committed by Myanmar's military in her home country and pleaded for urgent international aid amid the ongoing bloodshed. Her statement caused the Myanmar military government to issue an arrest warrant against her, leading her to apply for refugee asylum in Thailand with the support of the pageant organizer,   and she eventually immigrated to Canada for political asylum in late 2021.

Location and date
On 25 October 2019, during the final telecast of the 8th edition of the Miss Grand International pageant in Caracas, Venezuela, the host of the event announced that the 9th edition of the contest would be held in Venezuela again on the same date next year. Later, on 17 March 2021, Nawat Itsaragrisil, the president of the organization, still insists on the original schedule, although the COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet. However, the venue might be going to change if the pandemic was further exacerbated. After the surge of COVID-19 infection from mid-2020 to early 2021 worldwide, including in Venezuela; therefore, the organization decided to postpone the pageant to 2021 and move the venue to Bangkok, Thailand instead. The official statement was released via their social media platforms on January 14, 2021, citing the grand final of the event will be held on 27 March 2021.

Originally, the organization was recommended by the Phuket Communicable Diseases Committee (CDC) to arrange the preliminary activities in Phuket, then shift to Bangkok for the main events afterward. However, the travel restrictions between the region in Thailand during the pandemic causes such an option were inconvenient for the management; after the internal investigation, the organization finally determined in favor of Bangkok to hold all the events.

The Press Conference for the pageant was taken place on 15 February 2021, in Bangkok at Show DC Hall, which was the venue for the preliminary and the final rounds. In the event, the president asserted that all candidates must arrive in Bangkok before 1 March 2021, and will be then quarantined for 14 days in the official hotel of the pageant. The aforementioned regulatory was additionally implemented for whoever wishes to attend the events, intending to prevent and control the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Thailand Coronavirus Disease 2019 Management Center (CDMC), the number of allowed attendance in each pageant indoor activity must not be more than 30 percent of the venue capacity.

The pageant was supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, aiming to promote the tourism industries in gBangkok under pandemic conditions. The pageant was officially commenced on 15 March after the 14-day-quarantined period, and consisted of four main events namely the national costume parade, the preliminary competition, and the grand final round, which was held on 24, 25, and 27 March, respectively.

Selection of participants
Of all sixty-three participating candidates, only eleven were determined through the Miss Grand national pageants, including the representatives of Albania, Brazil, Cambodia, France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, South Korea, and Thailand, while another candidates who was also elected through the Miss Grand national contest, Pamela Clement of Ghana, did not enter the international tournament for undisclosed reasons. Some countries send their other pageant's main winners to participate, namely Gabriela Jara of Costa Rica from the Finalists 2020 contest, Denisa Spergerová from Miss Czech Republic, Arlinda Prenaj from Miss From Germany, Chikaodili Nna-Udosen from The Nigerian Queen, and Ayda Mirahmadi from Miss Iran. The remaining candidates were either appointed or won Miss Grand as the supplemental title at other national pageants, such as Sara Winter of Canada who obtained the title after participating in the Miss World Canada 2020 pageant.

The original representatives from Bolivia, Cambodia, Cuba, the Czech Republic, and Peru were replaced by their runners-up or other appointed delegates due to the resignation or dethronement.

Initially, sixty-seven candidates confirmed their participation, but four of them did not enter the pageant for undisclosed reasons, including Pamela Clement of Ghana, Amber Walsh of Northern Ireland, Pearl Lazaro of Cook Islands, and Kimberly Mayoyo of Zimbabwe.

Placements
§ – Voted into the Top 10 via moblie application.

‡ – Voted into the Top 20 on Facebook page.

In-room activities and ancillary events
After arriving in Thailand, each candidate has separately started a 14-day quarantine period at the hotel serving as an alternative quarantine facility in Bangkok, aiming to be the precautionary measure amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. All contestants took swab tests three times during the state quarantine; on the arrival day, day 5, and day 13. In addition, self-body temperature measurement was required twice a day. Online activities were also taken place during that period; including taking an online Thai-cooking class course with the ingredients provided by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Thai food challenging, recording a self-induction video, as well as a live streaming chat via the official Facebook page of the pageant. Following the quarantine completed, the representatives of Ecuador, Indonesia, Mexico, Myanmar, as well as the Philippines, having a special meeting with the president of the contest on 16 March, as the honor for being on the leaderboard of the in-room online challenge.

Unfortunately, during the state quarantine with a routine COVID-19 swab test, two contestants had tested positive for COVID-19 on March 4, namely Miss Nigeria and Kenya, who were subsequently admitted to Piyavej Hospital in Bangkok for further treatment; nevertheless, the organizer has not stripped their right in the contest, while the remaining contestants all tested negative. The infected candidates were treated until testing negative on 18 March and were consequently permitted to engage in the rest activities of the contest. After the completion of the 14-day mandatory quarantine, the preliminary activities were officially inaugurated with a welcoming ceremony which took place on 16 March at the Tourism Authority of Thailand head office. The candidates also visit the Thailand Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Wat Phra Kaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha on 18 March.

On 21 March, the closed-door interview was performed in the official hotel, which all the candidates went through in batches of four, with the president, Vice-president Teresa Chaivisut, and reigning Miss Grand International Valentina Figuera as jurors. The score of this interview round, together with the swimsuit competition as well as the preliminary night ratings, will determine the Top 20 finalists in the grand final telecast on 27 March.

Swimsuit competition
The swimsuits competition was organized on 20 March 2021, at Lebua Hotels and Resorts at State Tower Hotel, Bangkok. After the show was completed, ten contestants were selected by public vote on the Facebook page while the other ten were chosen by the contest organizers, then narrowed down to top 10; five by voting and the rest by the panel of judges. The score for this event, together with the swimsuit round on the preliminary stage, determined the “Best in Swimsuit” recipient, which was later announced on the final telecast stage. Alaise Guedes of Brazil won the championship with the highest score of 9.77. Other finalist countries were listed below.

National Costume Parade
The national costume show was done on 24 March 2021, hosted by Arthit Mekakard, Mister National Thailand 2016, and was beamed live to a virtual audience via the official YouTube channel, named GrandTV, and its Facebook Live coverage from the Show DC Hall in Bangkok. The event had no bearing on the preliminary scores. After the show, the 10 finalist costumes were classified; five by public vote and the other five by the organization. The result was announced during the final telecast on 27 March, Filipino-made Miss Japan costume, alongside the costumes of Miss Thailand and Guatemala, won the Best National Costume awards. Other finalist countries were listed below.

Preliminary Competition
The preliminary round of the Miss Grand International 2020 pageant was held on March 25, 2021, at Show DC Hall, Bangkok, hosted by Arthit Mekakard. The event was beamed live stream via the official Facebook page and YouTube channel of the organizer. All 63 contestants competed in swimwear and evening gowns in front of a panel of preliminary judges. The scores from the night's event, together with a closed-door interview portion and the swimsuit competition on March 20, determine the Top 20 during the grand final telecast on 27 March.
 * Preliminary Selection Committee
 * Nawat Itsaragrisil – President of Miss Grand International Organization
 * Teresa Chaivisut – Vice president of Miss Grand International Organization
 * Valentina Figuera – Miss Grand International 2019 from Venezuela
 * Paul Vorapongse Dibbayawan – Chief operation officer and CEO representative of Show DC
 * Komnate Nateprapai – Executive vice president TQM insurance broker Co., Ltd.
 * Pichaya Pornchokborvorn – CEO representative of Nature care Co., Ltd.

Grand Final Competition
The program was scheduled to run from 7:00 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. on 27 March 2021, at Show DC Hall, Bangkok. Hosted by a Thai actor and TV host, Matthew Paul Deane, and broadcast coverage of the competition worldwide via the official social media platforms of the contest namely the GrandTV YouTube channel, and also the Miss Grand International's Facebook page. Abena Appiah of the United States was announced as the winner at the end of the event.

As the tradition of the pageant, twenty semifinalists were chosen from the initial pool of 63 delegates through a closed-door interview, swimsuit round as well as a preliminary competition, which featured contestants competing in swimsuits and evening gowns. However, the "Country of the year" was first introduced in this edition, which was selected by the audience on social networks. The challenge winner was Miss Cambodia, who automatically entered the twenty finalists regardless of all previous scores. The top 20 were then competed in a swimsuit competition, with 9 of them advancing to the Top 10 – the last spot for Top 10 candidate, Jasebel Robert of Malaysia, was determined through mobile application voting results, who then all Top 10 finalists competed in an evening gown and gave their speeches on ‘Stop the War and Violence theme’. After the speech round and evening gown competitions, the judges then selected the top five to compete in the question-and-answer portion, where all entrants were asked the same question about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; "'With the current COVID-19 situation, what would you choose between shutting down the country for the safety of the people knowing that the country and its economy will be deeply affected, or would you open up the country to keep the economy running taking the risk of COVID-19 infections and the consequences?'"

All Top 5 finalists preferred to protect the people's life by shutting down the country, after the answer portion, the host consequently announced the fourth and third runners-up which were Miss Brazil and Indonesia, respectively. Later, The special question to determine the winner was performed for the remainings, namely Miss Guatemala, Philippines, and the USA; "'There’s only one dose of COVID-19 vaccine left. And you have to choose who to give it to either between a 15-year-old or a senior citizen of 70 years old. Who would you choose to give it to and why?'"

The Guatemala, as well as the US representatives, chose the 15-year-old to receive the vaccine while Miss Philippines chose the elderly patient, all with their support reasons. Finally, the United States representative, Abena Appiah, was later announced as the winner while Miss Philippines and Guatemala were named as the first and second runners-up, respectively. The panel of judges included five former titleholders, as follows.
 * Final Selection Committee
 * Janelee Chaparro – Miss Grand International 2013 from Puerto Rico
 * Daryanne Lees – Miss Grand International 2014 from Cuba
 * Ariska Pertiwi – Miss Grand International 2016 from Indonesia
 * María José Lora – Miss Grand International 2017 from Peru
 * Clara Sosa – Miss Grand International 2018 from Paraguay

Political-related issues
The pageant got attention after the representative of Myanmar, Han Lay, using the final event to speak up for the atrocities being committed by the state's military furthermore requested international awareness of the ongoing democratic struggle following the military coup on 1 February 2021. Han Lay additionally requested the United Nations to take action against the Myanmar regime and pleaded for urgent international aid for Myanmar citizens. On the live telecast of the contest which was transmitted worldwide, Han Lay stated: "'My beloved fellow citizens, it is very hard for me to be able to stand on this stage tonight. It is because of that, that you want me to speak about sadness and sorrow on behalf of them - who are currently suffering from the current situation in my beloved country, Myanmar. I am deeply sorry for the people who have lost their lives on the streets. Every citizen of the world wants prosperity in their country and a peaceful environment. In doing so, the leaders involved should not use their power and selfishness to uprise. I know some people - young women and children - risked their lives. If this situation happened somewhere, people from around the world will try to find a solution and help them.

Today, in my country Myanmar, while I'm standing on this stage, there are so many people died, more than a hundred people died today. I am deeply sorry for all the people who have lost their lives. The people from Myanmar, are working on the streets for democracy. I'm also another one who's working for democracy in the state right now. Thank you so much to the MGI Organization to give me such a great opportunity, to speak out my words, through this platform internationally. I want to say from here that, please save Myanmar! We need your urgent international help right now. Let's pray for a better world there's individual responsibility for the new generations. Make the world be at peace with Myanmar!'"

After her speech, she had been receiving life-threatening criticisms on her social media accounts; however, the vast majority of comments had been supporting her action. Furthermore, the Myanmar military government allegedly issued an arrest warrant against her under a law against all material intended to cause a member of the armed forces to mutiny or disregard their duty, which caused her to apply for refugee status and a work permit in Thailand with the support of Myanmar people working in Thailand, as well as the pageant organizer, which supporting her expenses to stay in Thailand. Due to the aforementioned reason, she eventually immigrated to Canada for political asylum in late 2021. In the recent past, Han Lay always showing her political aspects against dictatorship and clearly supports democracy through her social media channels, including during the pageant boot camp of the Miss Grand International contest.

Contestants
63 contestants competed for the title.