Questions emerge over judges' scores

The first major controversy erupted immediately after the final night when judge Omar Harfouch shared a screenshot of his personal scores for the top three contestants on Instagram Stories.

In the image, Harfouch awarded perfect scores of 10 out of 10 to all three finalists: Vanessa Pulgarin of Colombia, Huong Giang of Vietnam and Faith Maria Porter of Ghana.

However, the scores displayed during the live broadcast told a different story. Vanessa received 10 points from Harfouch, while Huong Giang was shown receiving nine points and Faith Porter 8.9 points. The discrepancy quickly fueled speculation across international beauty pageant forums that contestants' scores had been altered.

Organizers later issued an official statement.

"We would like to clarify that due to an internal display system error, the scores of judges Osmel and Omar Harfouch were inadvertently switched. To ensure accuracy and transparency, we have updated the results accordingly. Please note that the total scores and final rankings remain unchanged. We sincerely apologize for any confusion caused by this issue."

The statement was subsequently reposted by Harfouch, who expressed relief that the misunderstanding had been clarified and thanked Vietnamese audiences for their support and understanding.

Despite the explanation, some fans remained unconvinced. Critics pointed out that the competition had heavily promoted its real-time scoring system as a hallmark of transparency, yet technical issues occurred repeatedly throughout the event, including voting platform disruptions and the score display error involving two judges.

Lupita Jones defends her scoring

Judge Lupita Jones became another focal point of controversy after awarding Huong Giang five points in both the top five and top three question-and-answer rounds, the lowest scores the Vietnamese contestant received during the final stages of the competition.

In the top-three round, Huong Giang led audience voting with 26,524 votes but ultimately finished third after receiving lower scores from the judging panel. Her average score was 8.4, significantly lower than Vanessa Pulgarin's 9.23 and Faith Maria Porter's 9.86.

Jones subsequently faced a wave of criticism online. Many of her social media posts during the competition in Thailand were flooded with angry reactions and comments from fans accusing her of subjective and unfair judging.

Responding to the backlash, Jones hosted an Instagram livestream on May 31 to explain her evaluation criteria.

She stressed that she had received no instructions regarding the outcome and argued that judges must distinguish among contestants rather than assigning identical scores.

"You cannot give everyone a 10 or a 9. You have to create differences to determine who truly stands out," she said.

Jones explained that her assessments were based on contestants' overall performance, including closed-door interviews, attitude, stage presence, communication skills and overall impact throughout the competition.

The livestream generated additional debate when she made candid remarks regarding the appearance of Philippine representative Gazini Ganados, whom she had also scored five points during the top-five question-and-answer round.

Meme controversy escalates tensions

The situation intensified further when an Instagram post appeared on Jones' account featuring a meme image.

The image centered on Jones herself and included a smaller black-and-white photograph of Huong Giang surrounded by candles. Many social media users interpreted the image as resembling a memorial portrait.

The accompanying caption suggested that Huong Giang had advanced deep into the competition largely because of audience votes and implied that Jones' low score had played a role in controlling the final outcome.

Many viewers interpreted the post as a subtle response to criticism from Vietnamese pageant fans.

As attention surrounding the controversy grew, observers noticed that comments had been restricted or disabled on several of Jones' Instagram posts.

Faith Porter earns judges' support but falls short in voting

Faith Maria Porter of Ghana achieved the highest judges' average score among the top three finalists with 9.86 points. Six of the eight judges awarded her a perfect score of 10.

However, she received only 140 audience votes, a figure that was negligible compared with the totals received by her competitors. The gap ultimately contributed to her finishing as first runner-up rather than winning the title.

Following the competition, Porter revealed that family members and supporters had repeatedly encountered technical problems while attempting to vote because the voting platform experienced instability throughout the event.

The claims further fueled concerns regarding the reliability and fairness of the online voting system.

Huong Giang remains silent

During a livestream with supporters following the finale, Huong Giang said she was satisfied with her third runner-up finish and declined to comment on the judging controversy or score disputes.

Regarding the outcome, she simply stated: "I think Vanessa was the right choice for this competition."

She also reaffirmed that MGI All Stars 2026 would mark the end of her beauty pageant journey.

Huong Giang disclosed one unusual rule of the MGI All Stars format: the inaugural winner is expected to return and compete in the following season. Only by winning again can the titleholder claim the full value of the prize package. According to Huong Giang, failure to participate could potentially place the title at risk.

She also revealed that the second season of MGI All Stars is expected to take place around December this year.

Huy Minh