The last time I focused totally on watching an international beauty pageant was the Miss Universe pageant held here in Manila many years ago. After that, I didn’t bother to keep up with the whole shebang of glitz and glamour. (Well, I made an exception for Miriam Quiambao.)

Ganns kind of changed that for me in the case of this year’s Miss World. He’s been writing enthusiastically about the Philippine candidate, Carlene Aguilar. I didn’t care much whether we won, but when Ganns posted that most oddsmakers find her the favorite, it got me thinking that the Philippines actually has a serious chance of winning. I mean, Miss International was won this year by Precious Lara Quigaman, one of ours. Miss World actually solicits votes for candidates from viewers; if we could just vote enough to get Carlene into the final… The last time I tried to vote, however, the Miss World site asked for a credit card; voting was on a pay basis.

Then one morning, I spotted a commercial on ABC5 detailing how people could vote through their cellphones. It took me a few days more before I actually went ahead and voted, but here’s how to vote. I’m duplicating info from Ganns’s site, but I think that voting instructions should get as much exposure as possible.

• Globe subscribers: text “mw 114” to 2345.
• Smart subscribers: text “mw 114” to 2441.

Both networks charge P2.50 per SMS.

Vote now! Vote often! Vote for Carlene Aguilar!