Check out the Miss Universe 2010 Pre-Arrival Review by a Shamster, a Missology forum member:
It’s that time again, folks: Miss Universe season is upon us! Regarded as one of the most high-profile and popular beauty pageants in the world, Miss Universe has produced and showcased drama and surprises, sweet victories and bitter defeats, and of course, beautiful women. The year 2010 is absolutely no exception.

Since last year ended, I have been itching for Miss Universe season to start again. I’ve been closely following many girls who win their respective pageants and transform and develop over time. There have been some surprises, disappointments and shocks! Now that almost all of the girls have been crowned or chosen, save for Vietnam, let’s see where we stand.

I’m going to put this as simply as I can: THIS MAY BE THE BEST MISS UNIVERSE BATCH EVER!!!!! A major combination of girls with different strengths and weaknesses, all coming together to grab the coveted Diamond Nexus Lab crown. You got the sweet beauties, who show strength in their feminine and demure aura and soft features. Then you have the sexpots, who exude massive amounts of sex appeal and use it to their advantage. All the way to the fierce competitors, who have trained for this pageant for months, or even years, in order to win the pageant! It shall be interesting how this plays out this year, since they may be looking for something different this year, or they might just go for the same formula.

From first glance, here’s what I see:

- This seems like a relatively weak year for Latinas, but they have a way of surprising us. We said the same thing last year; only three Latinas made the cut, but all three made the Top 5. But I think some Europeans will overtake the dominant Latinas and knock them off their pedestals and claim their spot. >:)

- Extremely strong batch from Europe, in terms of facial beauty. They tend to be weak in the catwalk department and in stage presence, but I have a feeling this WILL BE EUROPE’S YEAR! Lots of girls with potential to succeed in Miss Universe, but again, they can disappoint.

- Caribbean is a surprisingly strong group this year, as well. My only problem is a lot of them don’t have much info on how they’ve been doing, in terms of preparing for the pageant, so it’s a bit hard to figure out how they’re progressing. But I expect some good stuff from these ladies.

- Asia/Pacific and Africa seems a bit weak this year, but you do find some diamonds among the groups. Just have to see if they deliver in the prelims.

But one thing’s for certain: This year is going to be competitive. Probably the most competitive year in Miss Universe history! Some favorites will live up to the hype; others will falter. And girls who were unnoticed and went to the wayside will surprise us. So we’ll have to wait and see what happens within the next few weeks.