Maxine Formosa Gruppetta wins Miss Congeniality at Miss Universe Final

Jan 15 2023

On Saturday, Malta’s representative at the Miss Universe final in the USA Maxine Formosa Gruppetta won the Congeniality Award together with Miss Universe Chile.

The 22-year-old took home the first ever title for Malta, winning an award which is voted on by the delegates and given to the contestants which inspired others with their energy and kindness.

In her post-show interview, Formosa Gruppetta stated: “most people think that in beauty pageants, a lot of girls would be jealous and against each other, but the amount of kindness that we’ve shown each other, and that’s something my other always taught me, always be true to yourself and be kind.

The Miss Universe competition was won by R’Bonney Gabriel of the USA.

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What does the WC sign on toilets even mean?

Jan 14 2023

Some acronyms just slide into our everyday life without us even questioning what they even stand for. And many of us are also ready to throw them around all too comfortable despite not knowing what they are supposed to refer to.

We last had a look at the time acronyms of AM and PM (we won’t spoil that one for you). This time around, we’re looking at toilets. Yep, the acronym of WC has gone under our radar for too long.

So what does it actually mean? It turns out that WC refer to ‘water closet’, and there’s a perfectly good reason as to why it’s called so.

The acronym stems from a time when indoor plumbing became a thing after centuries of having to do one’s business elsewhere. Bathtubs were already an added fixture in homes, but people needed somewhere for their toilet to go.

Before indoor plumbing, people had a room for a bathtub – the bathroom. But the spout was outside so one had to carry water in a bucket, heat it up and pour it in the tub.

When indoor plumbing became a thing, the toilet was thrown into a closet a.k.a WC. It was the one room which had running water.

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Marisa Abela stars as Amy Winehouse in new biopic

Jan 14 2023

Marisa Abela, a performer with Maltese-Libyan descent, has just shared the first look at her portrayal of Amy Winehouse in the new ‘Back to Black’ biopic.

Abela is an English actress who has had television roles in the BBC Two and HBO series Industry as well as the Sky One series COBRA.

She was born in Brighton to Caroline Gruber and director Angelo Abela. Her father is of Maltese-Libyan and English descent, whilst her mother is of Polish Jewish and Russian Jewish ancestry.

Having attended Roedean School and taking drama classes with the Theatre Workshop, she pursued acting after changing her mind about following a human rights lawyer career.

Abela has also joined the cast of Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’, which is currently in post-production. The Amy Winehouse biopic is set to begin filming on January 16th in London.

Mitch Winehouse had been adamant about casting a relatively unknown actress to play is daughter. “What we want is somebody to portray Amy in the way that she was…the funny, brilliant, charming and horrible person that she was” he said.

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Miss Thailand honours garbage collector parents with soda tab dress

Jan 14 2023

Miss Thailand Anna Sueangam-iam wowed the crowd with a dress made of soda tabs as the Miss Universe pageant kicked off this week with the preliminary competition.

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A post shared by Anna Sueangam-iam (@annasnga_1o)

Sueangam-iam has already made headlines with her evening-gown round, rocking up well over 160,000 likes on Instagram.

However, it was her caption that caught the attention of both audience and jury as the model wrote how the gown was inspired by her childhood.

‘Growing up with garbage collector parents, my life as a child was among piles of garbage and recyclables. This unique gown was purposefully tailored-made with discarded and recycled materials, namely the ‘Can Tab’ to present to the UNIVERSE that what’s considered worthless by many actually possesses its own value and beauty.’

The dress was designed by the brand Manirat and is known as the ‘Hidden Precious Diamond Dress’, combining the aluminium pull-tabs of soda cans with Swarovski crystals.

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A post shared by Miss Universe Thailand (@missuniverse.in.th)

The 24-year-old model was born and raised in a slum in Bangkok, with her family later sending her to a temple to protect her from an unsafe environment. She reportedly grew up among Buddhist nuns, eating mostly leftovers for years.

She now aims to use the beauty pageant to give a platform to underprivileged children.

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A post shared by Miss Universe Thailand (@missuniverse.in.th)

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