After a one-year absence, Panama is back in the competition with the “Golden Chant of the Great Cacique,” designed by Daniel Cortina Gómez. This piece is an evocation of the splendor, wealth, and complex cosmovision of the Isthmus, paying tribute to the legendary cultures of Gran Coclé and Veraguas. At 2:00 a.m. (Panama time), Mirna Caballini made her appearance on stage. Amid applause and cheers, she walked the runway in the imposing and majestic design. According to a press release from the Miss Panama Organization, “The Golden Chant of the Great Cacique” is “an armor of history and light, an ancestral cry of Panama that resonates with the force of its gold, its rites, and its greatest leaders.” The national costume is a “majestic and dazzling portal to the golden age of pre-Columbian Panama,” evidenced by artifacts found at ceremonial sites like El Caño and Sitio Conte, where leaders were buried with regalia that marked their divine and earthly status. It is worth mentioning that this competition served as a prelude to the preliminary event, which is taking place at the time of this publication's writing. Mirna Caballini, Miss Universe Panama, projected confidence, strength, and charisma during her runway walk in the national costume competition for the 74th Miss Universe pageant. The visual richness of the costume is anchored in the earth through pre-Columbian pottery, featuring polychrome patterns and geometric designs (replicas of ritual vessel and sarcophagus art), all framed in the color red, which was exclusively reserved for figures of supreme authority.
Competition
The event started on time at 1:00 p.m. at the Impact Arena in Pak Kret, Bangkok, Thailand (1:00 a.m. Panama time), and Miss Universe Albania, Flavia Harizaj, was in charge of opening the runway.
