Miss Grand Ecuador is an Ecuadorian female national beauty pageant launched in 2021 by the Concurso Nacional de Belleza Ecuador (CNB Ecuador) organization, directed by Tahiz Panus and Miguel Panus,[1] with the aim of selecting a country representative to participate in its parent pageant, Miss Grand International.[1][2][3] Previously, the competition franchise belonged to Maria del Carmen Aguayo, who usually chose the runners-up or national finalists from her national pageant, Miss Ecuador, to partake in such an international competition.[4][5][6][7]
Ecuador has three Miss Grand International placements; the highest is first runner-up, achieved by Andrea Aguilera in 2021,[8] followed by Mara Topic's Top 10 finalists in 2019.[9]
History
Ecuador made its Miss Grand International debut in 2013, when Alexandra Zulay Castillo Velasco, the national finalist of Miss Ecuador 2012, was named one of the top 20 finalists.[10] From 2013 to 2018, the Ecuadorian franchise belonged to the Miss Ecuador organization, with one of the pageant finalists being appointed as Miss Grand Ecuador.[4][5][6][7] However, only one of them qualified for the top 20 finalists on the international stage; the rest were unplaced.[11] Later in 2019, Ecuador broke the record of non-placement after the new franchisee, the Concurso Nacional de Belleza Ecuador (CNB Ecuador), appointed a 24-year-old actress from Guayaquil, Mara Topic Verduga, to join the international contest in Venezuela,[12][13][14] where she was ranked among the top 10 finalists as well as obtained the Best in National Costume award.[15][9]
Tahiz Panus and Miguel Panus, the presidents of the CNB Ecuador, have been serving as the national directors of Miss Grand Ecuador since 2019.[16] Under their leadership, the first edition of Miss Grand Ecuador happened on June 26, 2021, at the TC Televisión studios in the city of Guayaquil.[1][2] The contest featured six national finalists from six provinces, including Cañar, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Los Ríos, Manabí, and Pichincha,[3] of whom Andrea Aguilera from Los Ríos Province was elected the winner.[1][2][3] Aguilera had later participated at Miss Grand International 2021 in Thailand and was awarded the first runner-up, the highest placement of Ecuador at such the international contest since 2013.[1][2][3] Previously, Aguilera competed in the Miss Earth Ecuador 2019 pageant but did not win the main title.[1][2]
However, no pageant was held to determine the titleholder in 2022; the first runner-up of the previous edition, Emilia Vásquez of Pichincha Province, was appointed to the position and expected to represent the country at Miss Grand International 2022 in Indonesia,[17] but was later replaced by Liseth Naranjo for undisclosed reasons.[18] Naranjo was a former Miss Grand Ecuador 2020 but was dethroned before competing on the international stage.[19]
Editions
Location and date
The Miss Grand Ecuador pageant was separately held once in 2021,[1][2][3] and the upcoming edition is scheduled to be held in 2023.[20]
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