MANILA, Philippines – Jessica Lane stands out. Her towering height, glowing skin, golden short hair, and queenly poise and eloquence helped her best 89 other contestants to win the highly-coveted Miss Earth crown.

She was an early favorite to win the Miss Earth title and consistently placed in pageant analysts’ hot picks. In fact, pageant site Missosology successfully predicted she would be in the final four. But what further cemented Lane’s place as a powerhouse contestant was her consistent performance in the finals night.

Long-legged Lane rocked the swimsuit competition as she sashayed effortlessly, emphasizing her curves. She walked with confidence in this round — but just enough. In the evening gown segment, she wore a blue veiled dress, which later revealed a shiny, body-hugging gown. She exuded an aura even reminiscent of Disney’s Cinderella. Blue was a good choice, too, since most of the top 12 girls wore either earth-toned or neutral-colored gowns.

In the top 8 question and answer round, the contestants were given a word to talk about, and Lane was assigned the word “popularity.”

“Popularity is actually something that relates deeply to my advocacy, ‘Dress for Tomorrow.’ Through trending and trying hard to be popular, to fit in with one another, to fit in with pop culture and celebrities, we also contribute to fast fashion, which is a main [contributor to climate change. If each of us cares less about popularity, and stays true to our inner beauty, dig deep for who are and believe in ourselves, we can help the Earth,” Lane said.

She gave one of the strongest answers among the final 8 and this was enough to catapult her to the top 4. During the final question and answer round, the four finalists were given the same question related to heritage, which was this year’s theme: “How can you promote old traditions in a world obsessed with modern technology?”

“I myself am currently studying a double major of journalism, creative writing, and publishing to use modern technology to share environmental sustainability and promote passion,” Lane said.

“In Australia, our heritage relates to Dreamtime Stories, and they use storytelling to promote this environmental sustainability and teach how to care for the land. I believe that we can use modern technology such as our journalism, such as our social media, such as news and broadcast, to share and inspire one another to be more sustainable in daily actions,” she added.

In the end, Lane bested her fellow early favorites and won Australia’s first Miss Earth crown. Her elemental court includes Iceland’s Hrafnhildur Haraldsdóttir as Miss Earth Air, USA’s Bea Millan-Windorski as Miss Earth Water, and Peru’s Niva Antezana as Miss Earth Fire.

The runners-up are Cabo Verde’s Jasmine Jorgensen, Dominican Republic’s Tamara Aznar, Puerto Rico’s Bianca Caraballo, and Russia’s Ekaterina Romanova.

Future environmental journalist

Before Miss Earth, Lane tried her luck in pageantry by joining the local Miss World pageant in her country. In August, she earned the right to represent the land down under at Miss Earth after winning the national title.

Missosology said the Queensland native is also a passionate environmentalist and dreams of becoming an environment journalist in the future. Australian news site Sunshine Coast News reported about Lane’s views on activism and advocating for good causes.

“I have always seen a problem and instead of sitting there feeling sorry for myself or feeling sorry for the people affected, I have wanted to go out and do something,” the then-Miss Earth Australia told the news outlet. “I’ve always been a person of action.”

Due to the Philippines’ reputation as a pageant powerhouse, Lane also chose to train under a Filipino pageant coach. The new Miss Earth and Miss International Australia 2024 Selina McCloskey both trained under renowned pageant mentor RL Lacanienta, according to Inquirer.net.

Lacanienta is the man behind the beauty pageant camp “RL’s Angels,” which produced queens like Miss Intercontinental Philippines 2022 Gabrielle Basiano.

New powerhouse

Lane’s victory finally put an end to Australia’s long wait for a Miss Earth crown. The land down under has almost coveted the crown at least three times.

In 2015, Dayanna Grageda almost blocked the Philippines’ back-to-back win at Miss Earth during the pageant held in Austria. Despite a stellar performance, Grageda was named Miss Earth Air to eventual winner, Philippines’ Angelia Gabrena Ong.

Two years later, Nina Robertson gave her best to finally bring home the crown. Robertson, however, suffered the same fate as Grageda and ended up as Miss Earth Air to another Filipina winner, Miss Earth 2017 Karen Ibasco.

The most recent Miss Earth Air from Australia was Sheridan Mortlock, whom pageant fans dubbed a look-alike of American superstar Taylor Swift. Mortlock was an early favorite due to her captivating charm and beauty, but in the end, Mina Sue Choi made history as the first Korean to win the Miss Earth crown.

Lane’s victory was also historic because aside from bagging her country’s first Earth crown, her win also put Australia in the list of elite countries that have bagged all four major pageants in the world known, known as the “Big 4”: Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International, and Miss Earth.

Countries that have won crowns at all Big 4 pageants are Brazil, Venezuela, the Philippines, USA, and Puerto Rico. The Philippines joined the list in 2013 after Megan Young’s historic Miss World victory in Indonesia.

Australia is a powerhouse on its own, as proven by its record in other major pageants. It just needed a Miss Earth crown to finally be inducted in the hall of fame of successful countries in the world of pageantry.

Here’s a list of Australia’s victories in the other Big 4 pageants: 

• Miss Universe: Jennifer Hawkins (2004), Kerry Anne Wells (1972)
• Miss World: Belinda Green (1972), Penelope Plummer (1968)
• Miss International: Kirsten Davidson (1992), Jenny Derek (1981), Tania Verstak (1962)

– Rappler.com