The Miss Grand International 2026 final took place in Bangkok, Thailand, on October 10, with Tanzania's Jihan Dimack emerging as the winner.

Vietnam's representative, Emoura Pham, who stands 1.70 metres tall and has measurements of 80-58-92cm, finished as fourth runner-up, a result that left many beauty pageant fans disappointed.

Following the final, social media was filled with messages of affection and support for Pham, who had impressed audiences throughout the competition with her confidence, intelligence, initiative, warmth and sharp communication skills.

Speaking to VietNamNet, Duc Thang, a former beauty pageant writer who now works in marketing communications, said Pham had demonstrated many outstanding qualities but had not been fortunate enough to take home the crown.

"I really wish Emoura Pham had achieved more than fourth runner-up at Miss Grand International. Sending her all my love and a big hug," he said.

Three seconds of silence on the final stage

This year, the Top 11 contestants each delivered a speech lasting approximately one minute on the theme "Ending War and Conflict".

Pham chose an unusual opening. She asked everyone in the auditorium to remain silent for three seconds, then posed a simple question: Had they heard anything?

That silence, she explained, was the sound of peace. No gunfire, no bombs, no screams of terror. It was the very sound that millions of people living amid war longed to hear.

She went on to speak about the grief of a mother who loses her child and a child who loses a father, arguing that such suffering remains the same regardless of the flag people live under or the language they speak.

"Pain needs no passport. Tears have no nationality," she declared, stressing that the right to live in peace should not be restricted by national borders.

She ended her speech by singing a short excerpt from Michael Jackson's Heal the World, bringing an emotional close to her presentation.

Two question rounds, one powerful image of a bridge

During the Top 11 question-and-answer round, each contestant received an individual question.

Pham was asked how she inspired herself and the people around her.

Responding in English, she spoke about the influence of her mother, grandmother and Vietnam's history.

She recalled how her mother had once walked more than 10 kilometres to school every day, often attending classes on an empty stomach and, on one occasion, fainting along the way.

For Pham, her mother's experience illustrated the transformative power of education and the determination required to overcome adversity.

She said she believed that by becoming someone she herself could admire, she would also be able to inspire others.

When the competition reached the Top 5, all finalists were asked the same question: What qualities should a strong, independent woman possess?

Pham compared such a woman to a bridge, connecting people and helping them move forward.

She drew on her family's ongoing project to build 100 small community bridges in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, an initiative intended to make it easier for children to attend school and improve daily life for disadvantaged families.

"A strong woman should be a bridge that gives others greater strength, more opportunities and the ability to rise above their circumstances," she said.

The bridge metaphor was not something Pham had introduced spontaneously on the final night.

During a closed-door interview on October 4, she was asked about the competition's four B's: beauty, body, brain and business.

She proposed adding a fifth B: bridge.

Drawing on her personal experience, Pham explained that growing up in Vietnam and spending 10 years in the United States had inspired her to become a bridge between the two cultures.

Her family's community project has so far completed 18 bridges, with the 19th and 20th nearing completion.

Three memorable weeks in a turbulent pageant season

Emoura Pham, whose Vietnamese name is Pham Chan Phuong, was born in 2000 and is of Vietnamese and British descent.

She moved to the United States to study at the age of 15 and later graduated with a degree in acting.

On July 31, she defeated 29 other contestants to win Miss Grand Vietnam 2026 in Ho Chi Minh City, also taking home the Peace Presentation award.

On September 18, Pham departed for Thailand with more than 40 outfits prepared by her team.

Even before the competition officially began, she had secured a place in the Top 10 of the Pre-Arrival voting category and topped the Grand Day Experience poll, becoming the only Asian representative in that category's Top 10.

Her journey, however, was not without mishaps.

During the opening ceremony on September 23, Pham stumbled and her crown fell off. She quickly regained her composure and completed her performance, earning praise from international viewers for the way she handled the incident.

The following day, September 24, she sang and danced to Sabrina Carpenter's Espresso, earning a place in the Top 15 of the talent competition.

Ahead of the swimsuit competition on the morning of September 29, she continued rehearsing until 1am.

Following the closed-door interviews, Pham emerged as the contestant most frequently chosen by her fellow competitors when they were asked who deserved to win the crown if they themselves did not.

She received 14 votes, one more than the Tanzanian representative.

There was another last-minute challenge ahead of the October 7 semifinal.

Around six hours before the show, Pham's team unexpectedly replaced her evening gown after previously announced options had attracted mixed reactions.

The replacement was a figure-hugging mermaid gown made from nude-coloured mesh, decorated with a phoenix motif in red and orange crystals and metallic gold.

Her national costume, Vinh quy bai to, was a design that had previously won first prize at Miss Grand Vietnam 2026. Created by Pham Minh Man with guidance from designer Ivan Tran, the costume drew on the traditional Vietnamese idea of returning home in glory to honour one's ancestors.

Beyond Pham's individual journey, this year's Miss Grand International was marked by significant organisational changes.

The competition had originally been scheduled to take place in India but was relocated to Thailand just weeks before contestants were due to arrive. According to the organisers, the change was made because the original host did not meet the required standards.

In late September, the Miss Grand International Organisation announced that Thailand would host the pageant's 15th edition in 2027, replacing Vietnam, which had previously been named as the host country.

Earlier in September, Miss Grand International president Nawat Itsaragrisil had maintained that Vietnam would retain its hosting rights.

The organisers have yet to announce the reason for the subsequent change.

Huy Minh