Miss Chinese International 2010 preview

MCI 10 is finally here! After 10 months of waiting we are finally going to see what "big things" TVB planned for this pageant. Sadly though it doesn't seem to be any different from before. Minimal promotion and only a handful of beautiful girls. Hopefully the production value will be big as Miss International will be one day after on the 7th. Anyway this years batch is not very competitive. At the moment I can name the 3 girls who I want crowned quite easily. Afterwards there is a huge pack of girls trying to impress. This year to me, pre-show, 3 girls stand out from the rest whilst the others are difficult to separate. So here are my Top 3 as of 31st October.

Winner

19. Vancouver

Will Vancouver crown their 5th MCI? It has been 5 years since Vancouver topped the MCI podium. Since 2005 they have made the Top 5 twice with Crystal Li in 2006 and Cici Chen last year. Who can forget the fantastic streak of 4 crowns in 5 years dominated by Vancouver. The beautiful Bernice Liu and Linda Chung represented Vancouver at MCI so could Eliza Sam make it up there as well? I personally think Eliza Sam stands out amongst the rest of the girls. She has yet to take a bad photo, however her height is of dire concern. At 5'4.5'' she'll be one of the shortest candidates and, if she wins, one of the shortest winners in MCI history. However Sarah Song was short but she managed to take the crown home in 2007. However Sarah Song has really been an exception to the case for the past many years as most MCIs stand at 5'6 and above, we'll see what happens with this Vancouverite beauty (who I also add is one of the oldest candidates here at 25!)

1st Runner Up

2. Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a demure looking beauty, she looks sweet and sincere but I'm worried about her charisma. What Amsterdam will have at least is great momentum from past European delegates. If you do not follow MCI you won't know that every year Europe only sends one delegate to MCI, which I believe is utter stupidity, but the girls they have sent have excelled recently. In 2007 Chinzy Choi, another Dutch girl, made the Top 10, a deserved placement in what was deemed a victory for the struggling European continent. In 2008 Oceane Zhu from Paris managed to win the title (in what I must say was an awfully staged year), and finally last year in 2009 Julie Lam from Germany managed to make the Top 5. Now this success in the past 3 years surely exceeds most other cities but MC Europe still continue to send one delegate compared to the army of girls China sends - 6 this year but in 2008 they sent 11! Anyway if the judges see what I see Miss Amsterdam will surely make the Top 5 cut at least.

2nd Runner Up

18. Toronto

In the pageant world Canada may not be a big name but in MCI Canada will always be the top of the pack. Canadian cities have won 8 MCI crowns out of the possible 21, Toronto having 3 of their own and the current MCI Christine Kuo. So I think it may be a struggle for Toronto to win it again this year, Vancouver is the only country to have won back to back, they did it twice! But Miss Toronto this year is no push over, I believe the best photos of this pageant has been of this girl but sadly she also has some dodgy ones lying about as well, that's why she only makes 2nd Runner Up on my list. However a 35-23-35 figure should not leave her unnoticed, she is still one of the strongest competitors here and a worthy candidate for Miss Toronto, who have sent amazing delegates such as Christine Kuo, Sherry Chen, Elva Ni, Diana Wu, Christie Bartram, Monica Lo, the wife of Donnie Yen and even a Miss World Top 5 girl!

After this brilliant 3 I have a hard time deciding my Top 5. I do currently have a Top 10 but they can easily change. The other 7 girls are...

Melbourne, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Singapore, Hebei, Guangdong

Whilst I have 6 alternatives also,

Auckland, Hong Kong, Macau, Sydney, Guangzhou, Henan

I am still unsure how to chose from these remaining 13 (and of course the other 8 girls I have not considered for my Top 10). This year MCI has fallen down slightly, I love my Top 3 but I have to say if they don't win MCI10 this year will be awful in comparison to the gorgeous winners that have come out in the past few years from MCI.

Just wanted to add. What happened to you Laura Li (No.8, Macau). When I saw her a year ago at Miss Macau she was the standout. Whilst a bit stiff she looked beautiful and vibrant, now she looks old and uncompetitive - WHAT HAPPENED!

P.S. I applaud TVB for their promo videos, they look awesome!