After huge error, Riza Santos crowned Miss Universe Canada 2013, belatedly

In a major D’oh (in the words of Homer Simpson), the Miss Universe Canada 2013 competition Saturday night crowned the wrong woman due to incorrect tabulation of the scores, causing the organization to take the crown from one contestant and crown a new one the next day.

Miss Universe Canada 2013-Riza Santos

Saturday night at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts in Toronto, Bradford, Ontario’s Denise Garrido was crowned Miss Universe Canada 2013.

However, come Sunday morning, Miss Universe Canada admitted that they had made a mistake in tabulating the scores and stripped her of her crown.

Representing Calgary, 26-year-old Filipina Riza Santos was crowned  Miss Universe Canada 2013 and will represent the country at the Miss Universe pageant later this year.

In a posting on the Miss Universe Canada website, Andrew Lopez, PR for Miss Universe Canada said, “During the validation of the computerized scoring results (which occurs the following day), a typo was discovered in the top 5 entries, which significantly impacted the final results of the competition.  This is the first instance of this type of error in the 11 years that Beauties of Canada (BOC) has produced the Miss Universe Canada pageant.

“This is an unfortunate circumstance where a human error was made, and in such a situation, as difficult as it is, it is only right to correct the error.”

Image/Computer Screen Shot

Lopez continues,  “We would like to offer our sincere apology to Denise Garrido for this human error discovered while validating the results. Miss Garrido’s example and grace represents all we look for at Miss Universe Canada. We have no doubt she will continue to succeed in her endeavours and we wish her well. We truly hope she remains a strong part of the Miss Universe Canada Organization.

“Beauties of Canada congratulates Riza Santos as the winner of Miss Universe Canada 2013 competition, and looks forward to working with her as she prepares to represent our country at Miss Universe 2013. BOC would also like to congratulate all the runners-up on their proper placements at the pageant, as well as the other 52 extraordinary young women who competed for the title in Toronto.”

The corrected final tabulation was as follows:

Miss Universe Canada 2013 ­ Riza Santos (Calgary, AB)

1st runner-up ­ Siera Bearchell (Moose Jaw, SK)

2nd runner-up ­ Diana Martin (Mississauga, ON)

3rd runner-up ­ Denise Garrido (Bradford, ON)

4th runner-up ­ Michelle McKay (Sarnia, ON)

According to the Beauties of Canada website, Riza Santos was born in a rural Alberta town with a population of ten thousand people. She spent two years as a teen in the Canadian Forces Army Reserve.

Riza studied Mechanical Engineering at the Schulich School of Engineering. She received numerous scholarships, such as the Chinese Entrepreneurs Society of Canada Scholarship and the University of Calgary’s Science Excellence Award.

The Philippine news source, ABS-CBN says, “Although born and raised in Canada, Santos is pure Filipino. Her father, Ruel Santos, is from Bulacan; while her mother, Dina Buenaventura, hails from Bataan.

In 2007, Santos was among the housemates of the second “Celebrity Edition” of the hit ABS-CBN reality TV show “Pinoy Big Brother.”

While residing in the Philippines, Riza also became a popular actress for the ABS-CBN television network. She is most recognizable for her roles in many Philippine television shows and movies. Her leading lady role in the movie “Dobol Trobol” gave her the opportunity to work with legendary Philippine actors and earned her a best actress award nomination from the Film Academy of the Philippines (Luna Awards). Dobol Trobol was a blockbuster hit and ranked in the top three at the Philippine box-office for the year of 2008.

Riza said on her Facebook page today, “I would like to say thank you to God, my family, friends, and all of my supporters during this humbling yet rewarding journey to become Miss Universe Canada. I can’t begin to express my gratitude and excitement to represent Canada on the international stage. It’s an honour to represent our country and I ask you for your continued support and prayers.”

Riza gets to compete against fellow Filipina, Miss Universe Philippines, Ariella Arida at the Miss Universe 2013 pageant.