Miss HK Beauties

Miss Chinese International News

Many people from the forums have been debating about placement of Leanne & Fala , as to who should have won. Here are the views from two experts. Critical Beauty member ERIC SIOW resides in Malaysia & was able to watch the show live, said New York’s Fala Chen was his favourite & thought she was sweet, & that she should have won. However she only had the 2nd best answer during the final interview round. The night belonged to Vancouver he says. As did Rafa (President of Critical Beauty), who added “Vancouver was the favourite & the one to beat”.

Leanne & Fala both performed to the best of their ability. It was a matter of preference & at the end of the day, the judges favored Leanne just a bit more as she shined during the night with her superb stage presence, sweet personality, & near perfect interview. Both of these girls are pleasant, friendly, beautiful, & intelligent. Either way, the winner would still be beautiful inside as well as out.

Jan 31 Miss Chinese Int' News*translated by Em, Tvbspace News Roundup
The winners of the pageant were out and about again collecting their prizes from the sponsors and in total received $228,000 of watches, $100,000 of skincare products and health foods and $100,000 in cash. When asked about their comments on the swimsuits, they all said that they were fine. Kate Tsui added: "For the show to only receive 8 complaints from the whole of Hong Kong, then that is a small number really. It is a very personal opinion." She wore a black swimsuit on the evening and she said jokingly: "I didn't really notice the other girls in their white swimsuits because we were very rushed and I had to watch a tape to review the show."

Winner Leanne Li and first runner up Fala Chen both wore pink swimsuits and did not think that they were too revealing. Leanne smiles: "That is what swimwear is like!" As for Fala, she responds: "Every beauty pageant has a swimwear section for the judges to look at the contestants' figures. I felt very comfortable and I saw the other girls were very happy too."

Second runner up Jessica Young and 'Miss Friendship' Jolene Chin both wore white swimsuits, but did not think that they were disadvantaged. Jessica even says: "It was not like underwear, the material was like swimwear and I felt it looked quite good." Jolene added: "It was okay and the sparkly sequins were quite unusual."

Saturday's Miss Chinese International Pageant achieved average ratings of 24 points, which was quite respectable, but there have been criticisms that some of the girls' swimsuits resemble lingerie and the Hong Kong Broadcasting Authority has received 8 complaints about the show, all aimed at the swimwear section of the show.

Complaints included the swimsuits being too revealing and degrading to women, unsuitable and a bad influence to children. TVB's External Affairs Assistant Chief Tsang Sing Ming responded to this, thanking the viewers for their comments, but TVB itself has not received any complaints as yet. He adds that the swimsuits worn by the girls are of an international fashion standard, but TVB will take on board the experience and there will be lessons learned from the post-event production review.

http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20050201/20050201010604_0003.html
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a08cnt.html

More goodies to collect
The five new Miss Chinese International Award Winners: Leanne Li, Fala Chen, Jessica Young, Kate Tsui and Jolene Chin continued their tour of sponsors to collect their prizes yesterday and winner Leanne was presented with a diamond watch worth $90,000, with the other four ladies receiving watches worth between $4000 and over $60,000.

Leanne admits that this is the first time that she has been given such an expensive watch and she will keep this in her security deposit box and only wear it on special occations. When asked what her family have given her, she said articulately: "They have given me love and that is enough." When it was mentioned that she resembles Miriam Yeung, Leanne says that she does have this feeling and when she saw Miriam performing at the music awards earlier, she had hoped to be able to have her photo taken with Miriam. Can she sing Cantonese songs? Leanne's thoughts turned to Faye Wong as she replied: "I know how to sing Faye's songs, she has a very unusual voice." When asked if she sees Miriam as her idol, Leanne smiled: "I like them all!"

First runner up Fala received a watch worth $63,000 and as she has not eaten very much in the run up to the pageant, she indicates that she went for a massive celebratory meal the night before with her friends and family.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2005-2-1/UL-360571.htm

Jan 30th Miss Chinese Int' News*translated by Em, Tvbspace News Roundup
The five newly crowned Miss Chinese International award winners were on a busy schedule yesterday as they attended presentation ceremonies by the show's sponsors in Mongkok and Tsimshatsui. Three different sponsores handed out prizes that amounted to totals of $228,000 of diamond jewellery, $200,000 of leather goods, skincare products to the value of $100,000 and $100,000 in cash.

The winner Leanne Li was also presented with a gold and jade sceptre by 3D-Gold, worth $238,888 in a ceremony that was also attended by her proud mother. When asked what she would do with her award, she says she will take it home to Vancouver and display it in a glass cabinet. As for her other prizes, she says she will give the money to her mother and donate some to the church because she is a Christian. *Leanne is the Creative Communication Coordinator of the Campus Crusade for Christ at UBC. She says “Campus Crusade for Christ has dramatically changed my life since my membership in 2003. I didn't quite realize that being a christian on campus can shine lights on other students' path through evangelism, discipleship, bible studies, outreaches, and much more. Being a second year art student, I'm also able to utilize my abilities in graphic design and fine arts to serve the Lord, the creater of heaven and earth. One important thing I've learned through this movement is that God uses ordinary people like you and me to make a difference in the world.” (Courtesy of UBC) Leanne says that she is very interested to working in front of the camera and if she has the opportunity, she would like to try her luck in Hong Kong. First runner up Fala Chen says that she will share her prizes with her mother and use the cash prize to help pay off her student loads. When asked if it was enough, she replied that it wasn't.

Priscilla Chik was later asked for her thoughts on the result and she did not seem surprised that Kate did not make the top three, saying that she thought the three winners were very justified and it was good enough for Kate to win the Miss Gorgeous award. When asked if she even felt that outsider Jessica Young should have won, Priscilla replied saying: "You thought she wasn't in the running? I thought she was okay." As for Kate's performance, Priscilla thought she did well, but she says that the other girls did even better: "All the girls from abroad did their very best when they were faced with questions about Chinese culture and did not seem nervous at all, this made it even more entertaining. (What about Kate?) She did a very good oldie dance - I couldn't take my eyes off her body!"

After hearing boos from the audience during the pageant and now not receiving a vote of confidence from her predecessor, Kate responded to Priscilla's comments saying: "I do not really know her very well, but as a fellow Miss Hong Kong, then I am sure she will support me. I have not heard these words from her directly and she even says that for me to win an award is a good thing, so I will take this as words of support. (She says that she didn't think you would get into the top three?) Everyone has their own choices, not choosing me does not mean she did not support me." Well said!

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http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20050131/20050131004141_0003.html

Jan 30th Miss Chinese Int' News *translated by Em, Tvbspace News Roundup
Winner - Leanne Li (Vancouver)
1st ru - Fala Chen (New York)
2nd ru - Jessica Young (Melbourne)
Miss Gorgeous - Kate Tsui (Hong Kong)
Miss Friendship - Jolene Chin (Kuala Lumpur)

The Miss Chinese International Pageant 2005 was held at TKO TVB City yesterday and after many rounds of selection, the title was awarded to 20 year-old Leanne Li from Vancouver. Hot favourite Fala Chen was only able to make second place, with darkhorse Jessica Young from Melbourne taking third place. When Hong Kong's Kate Tsui was chosen for the top five, there were many cheers from the audience, but she did not make the top three, taking only the 'Miss Cosmopolitan Beauty/ Miss Gorgeous' award as a consolation. The 'Miss Friendship' award had earlier been announced as Jolene Chin from Kuala Lumpur.

Leanne hails from Shanghai and is currently studying at university (majoring in Fine Arts, specializing in graphic design) . Her ambition is to become either a producer or an artiste. Leanne says that she was always confident in herself and just enjoyed the contest calmly without any pressure. With Kate Tsui winning the internet vote, she does not feel that this was a consolation prize, because she was chosen by the Hong Kong and China audience. Judge Andy Lau praised thet top three contestants, saying that Leanne has the look of a winner, Fala has the beauty of a star and Jessica has a wonderful singing voice. As for why Kate Tsui did not reach the top three, Andy felt that this was due to her having too much pressure put on her.

This year's show was themed "Eternal Beauty - Touching Hearts for Five Thousand Years" and the contestants paraded in various period costumes that were very beautiful, but in one of the swimwear items, the girls wore white bikinis that resembled underwear and the thin material at times showed a little more than was decent, causing complaints from some of the audience. Tomorrow, several contestants will be auditioning with TVB! GOOD LUCK!

Articles
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Jan 28th Miss Chinese Int' News*translated by Em, Tvbspace News Roundup
"Miss Chinese International 2005" will be taking place this evening in TKO TVB City and the 22 contestants paraded yesterday for the first time in their swimwear for the press as they voted among themselves for the winner of Miss Friendship, that was won by Jolene Chin from Kuala Lumpur.

Jolene was very surprised to win the award, saying that she never would have imagined it. Talking of the suggestion that the winner of this award was usually from someone who was no threat, Jolene laughs: "I am sure that the others would not vote for me because I am not a threat to them. We are not really fighting for anything, but anyway, I am confident in myself."

From the scenes yesterday, the swimwear arranged for the girls was not only rather skimpy, the material was also quite thin and the girls revealed some of what was underneath, including bra pads. Hong Kong representative Kate Tsui seemed to have overdone the weight loss regime as she revealed her bra pads as well as some rather bony ribs. Also as she walked, she seemed to be covering up some serious cellulite near her bottom. When asked if she was disappointed at not taking the first award, Kate seemed a little put out as she said: "Disappointed? How? I am very supportive of Number 5 and after sharing a room with her for three weeks, we have not argued at all. (Did you vote for her?) I don't really want to say because that would be unfair." When asked about her very thin figure leaving her a little behind the others when showing off her figure, Kate disagreed, saying: "Actually, my weight is very similar to when I was taking part in Miss Hong Kong and my measurements have not changed. I feel that the most important thing is the balance." She does not feel that she is too skinny, saying that her figure is okay. *The press has been taking cheap shots at Kate since the start of the pageant. She has handled it quite well!

Among the other contestants, there were some rather voluptuous figures and Brisbane's Kelly Wang has been recognised as the 'Bustiest Contestant' by the press. Annie Chang from San Francisco seemed to be wearing a bikini that was a size too small for her, giving the feeling of 'overflowing' and attracting much attention. Annie herself felt that the costume was a little tight, making her look even sexier, but everyone else was wearing the same, so she did not want to comment, despite laughing that no-one in America would wear it like this. As for the hot favourite New York's Fala Chen, she was very confident, smiling sweetly and showing a well balanced figure. When asked if she was confident about taking the crown, she said modestly: "I will do my best and give my all for tomorrow's show. (Is there any pressure?) Being favoured naturally puts a bit of pressure on, but my confidence grows with this." Fala's parents have come to Hong Kong especially to watch her performance and this has also helped her.

Amsterdam's Joyce de Jong is also dubbed for the top three and it has been revealed the Kimberley Chin from Taipei is the daughter of "Apple Flower Songstress" Yang Yan, who has also come to support her daughter.

TVB released 4 additional clips today & revealed the top 3 most popular contestants, voted by the public through phone polls for the past4 days. The favourites were

Jan 24 - Melbourne, New York, HK
Jan 25 - Calgary, New York, HK
Jan 26th - Sydney, New York, HK
Jan 27th - New York, HK, Montreal

Best in Swimsuit
From a distance, the swimsuits, in hues of green & yellow look quite decent (I’m pretending the peacock feathers didn’t exist!) & fits especially well on all the contestants, allowing them to have a longer torso. The green swimsuits were much more attractive than the yellow, as most of the contestants in the yellow appeared a tad bit washed out.

There were quite a few contestants who looked amazing & in swimsuit. They were San Francisco (the fittest), New York (natural shape), Vancouver, Singapore, Amsterdam, Hong Kong , Auckland, Lima, Sydney, & a few others.

Predictions
This was so tough! I will guess it is…
New York, Vancouver, HK, Kuala Lumpur, & either Amsterdam or Melbourne or San Francisco or Toronto or........

It’s hard to believe a winner will finally be crowned tomorrow! Win or lose, the delegates should be proud of themselves as they are all winners of their respective cities & represented it with class. This was a strong & sweet group! Good luck to all @ the finals! :)

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Jan 27th Miss Chinese Int' News *translated by AL from Mingpao
Miss Chinese International contestant No. 6 Miss Seattle celebrated her twentieth birthday at TVB city. Yesterday, TVB prepared a birthday cake during the rehearsal. At the occasion, Cheng Dan Shui suggested all the three hosts should give Miss Seattle a birthday kiss. However, it was only Cheng Dan Shui himself who pretended to kiss Linda from a far distance. When the press asked Cheng Dan Shui who he thinks will do well at the competition, Cheng Dan Shui said Miss New York Fala Chen.
Linda Tomko was ecstatic to have twenty-one contestants to celebrate her birthday and to receive many presences. When asked if she wants the competition award to be her gift, Linda said she will do her best!
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*translated by Em, Tvbspace News Roundup
This year's Miss Chinese International Pageant will be taking place on Saturday and yesterday, the 22 contestants together with MC's Cheng Dan Shui, Stephen Au and Joe Ngai were rehearsing in TVB City and it also happened to be the 20th birthday of No 6 Linda Tomko from Seattle. The crew prepared a birthday cake for her and everyone sung 'Happy Birthday' to her and presented her with cards and flowers, making her very happy. Ah Dan called out that the MC's had to give her a birthday kiss, but in the end, he was the only one to blow her a kiss. The other girls then played a trick on the birthday girl, leaving her with cream on her nose.

Spending her birthday with 21 other girls from all over the world, Linda felt very happy because she has never spent her birthday with so many other girls before, so even if she had cream on her nose, she didn't mind because it was a lovely and happy surprise. When asked about her birthday wish, she hopes that she and her family have good health. Asked if she would like to win an award as a birthday present, she smiles that she will try her best. As well as the flowers and cards, some of the other girls had also presented her with some gifts, such as a purse and accessories.

Ah Dan was asked whether his refusal to really kiss Linda was because he was afraid of his wife and he laughs: "No, it is just that we did not need to go that far." He has been at TVB for over ten years, but this is the first time he has MC'ed for MCI and he feels very excited about it, complimenting the girls' appearances, saying the quality was not bad, especially No 10 Fala Chen.

Joe was the MC for Miss Hong Kong when Amy Kwok was the winner, but he will just be a guest this year, responsible for asking questions about Chinese history, so he will not bee too hard on them. Talking of the quality of beauty this year, Joe says that they are overall better than Miss Hong Kong, where he judged the 'Perfect Skin' award last year. In comparison, he feels that the MCI girls are more embracing and eyecatching, especially Kate Tsui, who seems more radiant and youthful than when she entered MHK, so she stands a good chance of winning.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2005-1-27/UL-358573.htm

Jan 24th Miss Chinese Int' News*translated by Em, Tvbspace News Roundup
The Miss Chinese International Pageant 2005 will be held on Saturday and a special press conference was held yesterday, where the girls met the five judges - artistes Andy Lau and Cecilia Yip, Dr Robin Chan Yau-hing GBS JP EOE, The Hon Maria Chan Wai Chu and The Hon Henry Wu JP. The three guest performers Eason Chan, Linda Chung and Gigi Yiu were also present alongside MC's Cheng Dan Shui and Stephen Au, but guest MC Joe Ngai was absent. The figures of the 22 contestants are not bad at all, but it was No 3 Annie Chang rom San Francisco and No 14 Kelly Wang from Brisbane who stood out from the rest and caught the attention of the cameras, whilst No 2 Jessica Young wore a low cut deep V dress.

Andy has been a judge in a beauty pageant before, but he has forgotten what contest and year it was ( I remember he once judged for Miss Photogenic at MHK 1990 & said he was looking for someone with eyes, ears, mouth, nose & later added someone who looks beautiful at first glance). He jokes: "In the past, I represented the opinion of the young people, but now I am representing more mature men and there is a big difference between them. When you are younger, you look for external beauty, but now I also take their internal personality and how lovable they are into account." After the press conference, the judges each had twenty minutes to chat with each of the contestants. When Andy was asked about what he would be asking them, he syas that he does not have any special topics and will improvise. As for the earlier criticisms that No 16 Kimberley Chin had received from people about her looks, Andy laughs: "The people who are criticising should look at themselves first (How right he is! ). (Will you show favouritism towards the Hong Kong representative?) Of course! I support Hong Kong!(Well there you have it, HK will likely win an award in the top3) However long hair and big b****ts will not get higher points, but maturity will. (There are so many contestants already 25 this year?) No wonder they asked me to be the judge this year."

Andy adds that 40% of the score will be down to the pageant's structures, the other 60% is down to the opinion of the judges, otherwise they could judge using robots. As Andy has travelled to many places before, he was asked which location has the most pretty girls. He says openly that it is India because in facial shape, they look very sharp and their eyebrows are especially defined.

Originally working away in Shanghai, Cecilia Yip took time out especially to judge the contest before heading back to work. She says on meeting the contestants for the first time that that their figures are very good maybe because of the good nutrition of modern times. When asked what her standards are as a judge, she says that her first wish is for girls to get to know about Chinese culture. When it was mentioned that Andy would give more points to the Hong Kong rep, Cecilia insisted that she would not do this because in her eyes, every girl in the contest has the same standing and she will be giving out her points fairly.

In response to becoming the target for the press at the event, #3 Annie says that out of the six outfits she had tried, this was the most conservative. When asked why she did not choose the high cut dress, she says that it was rather tight. Was she embarrassed at being the focus of attention? She says no, because she does not usually wear this type of clothing and # 14 Kelly was looking sexier. Asked if she felt she would get more points from the judges for looking sexier, she says she does not know, because the other contestants have great figures too. Kelly had already added a tube top to her outfit, but her figure still stood out and gave the impression of 'overflowing'. When asked if she thought the judges would show favouritism over Hong Kong, she says that she believes that they will be fair and she has confidence in herself, especially in her eyes, because they are the windows to the soul. Kate Tsui responded to Andy's comments about giving her more points by saying she believed that Andy would be very fair to the other contestants, but she thanks him for his support. She has always been in admiration of Andy for his hard working and determined character. As she has lost some weight, her original dress no longer fitted her, so the black dress she wore yesterday was borrowed from No 21 Tahiti's Elodie Chung. (The girls appeared their best in their semi-formal wear. There were quite a few standouts & it was nice to see a range of different colors instead of pure black. Chicago, Toronto, Amsterdam were absolutely stunning as ladies in red. Thailand was radient in her short baby blue tube number, Kuala Lumpur looked amazing in her pink/purple halter? with keyhole, Montreal (great necklace), HK, New York, Melbourne were elegant in black, & the list continues! Angela has written a fashion review but it will be available after the finals. The contestants also paraded in swimsuit in a private interview with the judges where they wore yellow & green bikinis. While we're still in the topic of attire, the contestants will be wearing gorgeous gold qipaos (2 diff. necklines) along with 4-5 inch matching heels )

Meanwhile, guest star Eason said modestly that the responsibility of being a judge is very great, so he would have to consider very carefully if he was offered the role. He adds that he has his own criteria for a pretty girl: "I like girls who are confident and their own personality. All you have to do is look at who I am with to see. She (Hilary Tsui) once threw a can at someone, even I have never dared to do that!"

It was also revealed that the stage design for this year's pageant will be kept simple to avoid hazards resulting from too many traps and gadgets.

Picture links
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http://ent.tom.com/xiezhen/50125huajie/index.php

Articles
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http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20050125/20050124233403_0003.html
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Jan 22nd Miss Chinese Int' News *translated by AL from Takungpao
Miss Chinese International 2005 will take place on January 29, 2005. Similar to the past, the competition will consist of the top three along with Miss Friendship, however, this year TVB added a new award called “Miss Cosmopolitan” that will determined by viewer’s votes. In addition to the new award, TVB has designed three sets of swimsuit for the contestants to wear during the interview. According to TVB, it has confirmed a famous talk show host Ai Chun will be a guest host, along with Lau Tak Wah as one of the judges and Eason Chan will be one of the performances on the competition night.
Yesterday, TVB arranged the contestants to attendant the opening ceremony of the “? ? ? ? ? ?” award, and invited the audiences to vote for Miss Popularity (I think it is pretty obvious who will be the winner for this award, considering the polls are opened only to those from HK or Mainland China). Despite the favorites such as, New York, Toronto, Amsterdam and Bangkok, all have fans presence to support them; they were still defeated by the local contestant Miss Hong Kong. Moreover, Kate was chosen to display a winning septor that worth HKD 238,888 (It doesn't look that posh....probably the color). Therefore, Kate was ecstatic and told the press, “even though I can only take pictures with the winning septor, I am still happy. I am especially thankful to Mandy Cho for her support”. When the press asked Fala Chen if she was disappointed or not, she said, “today’s votes were only determined by the live audiences!”

*translated by Em, Tvbspace News Roundup
Miss Chinese International 2005 will be held next Saturday night and in addition to the top three and Miss Friendship, this year there will be a new award that is voted for by viewers in Hong Kong and China entitled "Miss Cosmopolitan Beauty" (directly translated). A special promotional event was held yesterday at a Mongkok Shopping Mall marking the beginning of voting as well as showcasing one of the prizes for the winner - a jade and pure gold sceptre worth a $238,888.

When the 22 girls appeared, they attracted the cameras of many passing members of the public and when they each introduced themselves on the stage, Tahiti's representative Elodie Chung was nervous about her poor Cantonese and as she stuttered her words, she became very embarrassed and silent as she just smiled. Then when she was being interviewed, she also revealed her bra that she was wearing under her dress. Afterwards, she explained that Cantonese is not her mother tongue as she speaks French or English normally. She only knows a little bit of Mandarin Chinese and no Cantonese at all. However, she wanted to give it a try though, even though it ended in embarrassment. There were other mishaps at the event as some girls showed their knickers whilst walking onto stage in their mini-skirts and some contestants were so nervous that they were photographed in compromising positions, such as adjusting their bra straps. (It doesn't seem fair that the length on some of the outfits were quite short! A little toooo short imho. Not even boy-shorts would help. The blue velvet dresses were the best (at least from phtoos), while only Singapore, Taipei, Vancouver, Sydney, Chicago, Seattle had a conservative length)

Although this was the first official public engagement for the girls, there were many fans there supporting the contestants, in particular Toronto's Lena Ma, Hong Kong's Kate Tsui, Amsterdam's Joyce de Jong and Pradubduen Sawankwan from Bangkok. (A few of the contestants even received letters of support from 2 girls (Fiona & Michelle) who were present at the event!The contestants were very touched) When Kate appeared, her fans blew wolf whistles at her and she did not disappoint them, winning the vote for "Audience's favourite contestant" at the event, her reward was the chance to be the first to hold and parade with the winner's sceptre. She smiled: "I am very happy and thank you to the Hong Kong fans for their support. This is a great encouragement for me and has increased my confidence." With just a week left before the girls all return to their respective countries, Kate says she is starting to miss them already, so she is spending time chatting to the other contestants in the evenings and sharing their cultures. Yesterday was the first time that Kate had come into contact with the winner's mace and she smiled that she will try her best to win it and have the chance to take it home. She is also thankful to Mandy Cho for her support.

The hot favourite to win the contest Fala Chen from New York indicated that she was not disappointed that Kate had won yesterday because there is still another week for her to prepare. She admits that she is a little nervous, but luckily the contestants are all encouraging each other. She is not worried that she does not have the advantage of being the local delegate because this is an international contest, with entries from all over the world and everyone has a chance to win. As for the confidence to win, Fala says that of course she has it, otherwise she would not be able to perform to her very best.

The Co-ordinating manager for the pageant Chan Ka Yeung indicates that the judges for this year's contest will include Andy Lau, Cecilia Yip, Dr Robin Chan Yau-hing GBS JP EOE, The Hon Maria Chan Wai Chu and The Hon Henry Wu JP. The guest performers on the night will be Eason Chan and dancer Gigi Yiu and the show will be MC'ed by Cheng Dan Shui, Stephen Au and guest MC Joe Ngai. Mr Chan says: "Andy was very happy when we asked him to be a judge, so he agreed at once. As for the outfits, we will have swimwear, chipaos and 60's miniskirts." The judges meeting is tomorrow (24th) & the contestants will be appearing in swimsuits! GOOD LUCK GIRLS :)

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Jan 21 Miss Chinese Int' News*translated by Em, Tvbspace News Roundup
The 22 contestants from this year's Miss Chinese International Pageant went two separate ways yesterday and contestant numbers 8-11 and 17-22 visited Stanley, whilst the other girls stayed at TVB City trying on their Ming Dynasty costumes and filming. First they went to take photographs at Stanley Fort before heading into Stanley Market to go shopping. Afterwards, they enjoyed lunch at the Jumbo Floating restaurant.

After arriving at the market, they attracted many local traders and other tourists and although they were shopping, the trail of press following them made them rather unwelcome, with complaints coming from shopkeepers saying they were getting in the way.

No 20 Cecilia Liu from Montreal bought an angel headdress for No 22 Sawankwan Produbduen from Bangkok and as she was too happy, she slipped as she left the shop and as the press were too busy taking photographs of her, no-one bothered to help her up. Luckily she was fine and continued to shop away happily afterwards, buying a set of dragon-phoenix pictures for her family that signified "Safety in the Home". No 10 Fala Chen and No 12 Lena Ma [Em: this seems to be a mistake as No 12 wasn't there! Haha!] bought some doggy clothes, but the most prolific shopper was No 8 Patricia Hon from Calgary, who not only spent $600 on three pairs of shoes, she went on to buy a stone chop with her name on. Hot favourite Fala seemed rather chilly in her thin clothing and when they were having their photographs taken on Stanley beach, she was shivering with the cold. A warm hug from Kate soon warmed her up and Kate showed her friendship by helping to fix Fala's hair.

Hong Kong representative No 17 Kate Tsui played the photographer for the others throughout the trip, so she did not buy anything for herself. She laughs: "It doesn't matter because if I wanted to, I could come here any time. The most important thing is for me to be a good tour guide, group leader and interpreter because the main role of being Miss Hong Kong is to promote Hong Kong. (Some people thought you were just a tour guide and did not recognise you as Miss Hong Kong.) Really? Some people recognised me and called my name and even asked me to have my photo taken with them! (Some shopkeepers found you all obstructive and yelled at you to move on.) I did not hear them and did not notice. This trip to Stanley would have helped their business, so it is good publicity for them."

Meanwhile, five contestants were rehearsing in TVB City and were very excited about their Ming Dynasty costumes. Having been called 'ugly' by some tourists in Lantau Island the day before, No 16 Kimberley Chin from Taipei did not seem affected by this and said defiantly: "I am very confident in myself, this is not just about appearances, internal beauty is just as important." Vancouver's representative No 15 Leanne Li was asked if she was under any pressure after the previous successes of Vancouver in the contest and she said: "No pressure, as long as I do my best then that is fine."

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http://www.takungpao.com/news/images/20050121-ul-31.jpg

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2005-1-21/UL-356176.htm
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a58cnt.html
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20050121/20050121004839_0003.html

Jan 20th Miss Chinese Int' News *translated by Em, Tvbspace News Roundup
Contestant numbers 17 to 22 in this year's "Miss Chinese International Pageant" filmed in Qing Dynasty costumes at TVB City yesterday and this is the first time that Hong Kong representative No 17 Kate Tsui has worn period costume. She says that when she was young, she wore a Qing costume for ballet, but it was rather simplified. Riding on the back of the popularity of "War and Beauty", she feels that the costume this time is very beautiful and all the outfits and shoes have been especially made for the event. As for whether it is hard to walk in Qing palatial shoes, Kate says that it is not and she can actually walk faster than wearing heels, but she does say that the hairpiece is very heavy.

For this year's pageant, the girls will be wearing fur as well as bikinis and Kate was asked if she has been keeping fit. She says that she started her regime very early on. She adds that although she is representing Hong Kong, she still has to move into the hotel with the other contestants and for security reasons, she has to sign out when she goes out. Even when her mother brings her soup, she has to take it to TVB City to hand it to her. (For me, standouts in these costumes are HK & Montreal. Re: Swimsuits: he contestants will be wearing 2 pieces & divided into 3 groups for the swimsuit/interview portion. First group will appear in white SS with sequins, 2nd group in hot pink, 3rd group in black.)
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http://www.takungpao.com/news/2005-1-20/UL-355747.htm

Jan 19th Miss Chinese Int' News*translated by AL from Mingpao
TVB arranged contestant number 6 to 11 in the Tang Dynasty costumes for their photo shoot. Among the contestants, it was Fala Chen who stole the camera spot light with her elegant figure.
Yesterday, it was also Jolene Chin’s birthday. TVB surprised Jolene with a birthday cake. Jolene said it was very memorable to have a birthday in Hong Kong with Kate Tsui and Lena Ma individually gave Jolene a dress and a pair of ear ring for presents. With most contestants are not native Cantonese speakers, communication problems are bound to happen. In particular, when Miss Thailand was learning how to say the number 19 in Cantonese, the word that came out of her mouth sounded like a swear word in Cantonese. (Calgary & NY just exudes ‘oriental charm’ in these costumes)

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http://www.takungpao.com/news/2005-1-19/UL-355298.htm

Forum bashers: Some of the contestants have been constantly bashed & imho …its really not fair as we don’t even know them. Yeah yeah I should talk. I’ve probably done my share in the last couple yrs…but I’m trying to stop. Bottom line is… we don’t know them & if we were in their shoes, we wouldn’t want the same thing happening to us either....think about it ok?
Filming schedule #6-11, #17-22, 12-16 for the diff dynasties.

Jan 18th Miss Chinese Int' News *translated by Em, Tvbspace News Roundup
The Miss Chinese International Pageant will be taking place on 29th January and as there is no international shoot this year, the 22 contestants have already began shooting their film clips for the final show. In order to tie in with this year's theme of "Eternal Beauty - Five Thousand Years Touching Hearts", the contestants have been split into four groups, which are Tang Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty and Dunhuang styles. The Ming girls will appear as fighters and the Qing as princesses.

The first group to be filmed were contestant numbers 1 through 5, who appeared in Dunhuang themed costumes and in line with the feeling of fairies in heaven, they had to be suspended by wires. Luckily none of the girls were afraid of heights and although they were four metres above the ground, they all had a great time. No 1 Sydney's Gaynor Chin felt rather chilly wearing the sexy Dunhuang dress and this was her first experience of wirework. She says they had begun rehearsing for this two days ago and although it was hard work being pulled up in the air, it was a lot of fun. When asked if she was used to life in Hong Kong, she says that they have three weeks to train and she is gradually adapting to it. (This girl is just gorgeous in pictures...and it makes me wonder why she wasn't placed in the top 3 in Sydney last yr...what went wrong?)

No 2 Jess Young is from Melbourne and when she was waving her ribbons around in the air, the crew praised her beautiful pose. She says that she has been learning ballet since she was three years old and did it for ten years, she then moved onto singing when she was older and has taken part in musical productions. As for the praises from the crew, she smiles: "Thank you, this was not actually that difficult or hard really. (Does this add to your confidence?) Yes, but anything to do with singing or dancing makes me confident because I have done this since I was young." As she emigrated when at a small age, she no longer has any relatives in Hong Kong, but on the 29th, her mother will be arriving in Hong Kong to support her. (#2 Jess is looking very strong these days. She's stunning in pictures & poses like a pro! The papers didn't mention much of #3 Annie & #4 Lisa (well boo them!), so I'll add in my own 2 cents. Both are gorgeous & really accomplished individuals. Annie's got a strong dance background, often chreographing dances for shows, etc. I could go on..but a lot's been said in the interview already! #4 Lisa was a part-time runway & print model as a teen. She also taught a modeling class for a leading modeling school. )

No 5 Jolene Chin hails from Kuala Lumpur and she says she likes extreme sports, so she feels that wirework is great fun. Her eyes were very red yesterday and she said that she did no know why. When jokingly asked if she was envious (Cantonese "red-eyed"), she responded in good humour: "I am envious of myself!" (Jolene is growing on me. I think she will do quite well & she seems so witty (big plus during interviews)! I'm glad she's competing this yr as she's another asset in this highly competitive field)

The remaining contestants 12 through 22 had their official portraits and measurements released today and also revealed some rather impressive figures. Among them, No 14 Kelly Wong tops the list with measurements of 35.75,25,35, closely followed by No 20 Montreal's Cecilia Liu (35,25,36) and No 21 Tahiti's Elodie Chung (34,24.75,35) together with No 15 Vancouver's Leanne Li (34,24,36) were not far behind. After the makeover, by far the most eyecatching was No 17 Kate Tsui representing Hong Kong.

After disappearing from the small screen for a little while due to problems with his record company, Eason Chan will be making his comeback for 2005 by appearing at the pageant as the special guest star. In order to show his sincerity to TVB, he will be taking a few days out of his hectic schedule to rehearse and make the performance something special.

Pictures
http://ent.tom.com/1306/1362/2005117-117989.html
http://ent.tom.com/xiezhen/050117hyxj/index.php

Articles
http://www.takungpao.com/news/2005-1-18/UL-354865.htm
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20050118/20050117234916_0003.html
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a05cnt.html

Jan 17th Charity Walk