I have just finished watching MCI10 in what has been a whirlwind of a month for beauty pageants. I am pretty happy with the results, they were not perfect but acceptable.
The winner was No.19 Eliza Sam from Vancouver, capturing Vancouver's 5th MCI crown (the most out of any city). Eliza is a beautiful girl, and that's what translated in the pageant. What made her stand out was her personality, she had confidence throughout despite speaking little Cantonese and compared to some other frontrunners she was exceptionally personable. It's obvious Eliza will be promoted by TVB, her "sob" story was kind of ass licking TVB executive Virginia Lok to put her in a TVB series - I don't care what motive she had for expressing her "I tried so hard to learn Chinese, now I have the confidence to participate here" thing, I just care that she was a deserved winner.
No.7 Belle Theng from Kuala Lumpur was a surprise inclusion. Many may believe that she spoke well but I personally didn't think she spoke any better than some delegates did, the thing she had going for her was that she spoke Cantonese. I personally didn't predict or place her in my Top 3, she didn't even make my Top 12 but I'm not all too disappointed with her placement. At least she wasn't a WTF placement as Anabelle Kong was in 2006.
No.18 Candy Cheng from Toronto was the 2nd Runner Up. I loved Candy and it's great she placed. Her figure is awesome and I do see a slight resemblance to Christine Kuo MCI 09. However the problem with her is that she looks a bit nervous at times, kind of like Christine does but she messed up her Q&A which cost her dearly, she didn't answer badly she just didn't come off as quick witted, funny or particularly elegant, instead she was a bit flat.
So Canada dominates again with a very similar result to 2009 instead this time Vancouver wins and Toronto places 3rd. Rounding off the TOp 6 were Auckland, Foshan and Hong Kong.
I am particularly disappointed with TVB for making MCI such a small and insignificant affair. Minimal promotion and budget meant that very few people actually knew about it. It was also tape recorded for Hong Kong, how bad is that! Not even live! I did however like the start when they were showing past MCI contestants (especially Lee San San) but it seemed like they focused on the Hong Kong delegates with TVB far too much. It was amazing how unashamed TVB was in focusing on Virginia Lok every 30 minutes or so after a girl had answered her question or something, it just reminded us all that TVB backbenchers were watching to see who to promote next year! I'm sure Virginia Lok had something to do with the results. Watch out for Toronto and Vancouver on our screens next year!
One thing that TVB should respect is allowing non-Chinese speakers to speak in their own language. It places them in a huge disadvantage when they are speaking rehearsed lines or answering questions. Surely TVB is a big enough organisation to get a few translators on the stage. I liked the cut from 24 to 12 where they placed each girl into groups but personally they should have made it more exciting, something like Miss Hong Kong 1998 where they told each girl to walk through a metal detector (because that year they were celebrating the new Hong Kong airport) and the winning girls will get a tick and the losing girls will get a cross - cheesy but much more fun!
My Top 12 after watching the pageant were
No.1 Auckland, Athena Zhang
No.2 Amserdam, Simwayn Tran
No.5 Foshan, Lu Bai
No.6 Hong Kong, Toby Chan
No.8 Macau, Laura Li
No.12 New York, Cynthia Zhang
No.13 San Francisco, Amy Chu
No.18 Toronto, Candy Cheng
No.19 Vancouver, Eliza Sam
No.20 Hebei, Candy Fang
No.22 Henan, Cindy Liu
No.24 Guangdong, Yoyo Yang
No.15 Singapore and No.16 Sydney would have been my alternatives.
Sadly Macau, San Francisco, Hebei and Guangdong didn't make it to the Top 12
Macau did well on the night I thought, she was rather quiet throughout MCI pre pageant but she managed to stay on her A-game I think on the night so I was a bit disappointed she didn't make it. I think her speaking Cantonese and Mandarin looked like she was trying too hard to impress.
San Francisco looked good in general so yes I was also a bit disappointed she failed to place.
I was shocked Hebei didn't place as I thought she was a frontrunner whilst I've always liked Guangdong but she did seem a bit muted on the night. I was also shocked China didn't get more delegates in the Top 12 as I thought it was going to be a Mainland Chinese year like 2008.
I did get 8 of my Top 12 in though but I didn't place Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Montreal or Sydney. As I have said Sydney was an alternative for me whilst in hindsight I may have placed Kuala Lumpur.
After the Q&A in swimsuit round my Top 6 (out of the Top 12) were
No.1 Auckland, Athena Zhang
No.2 Amsterdam, Simwayn Tran
No.5 Foshan, Lu Bai
No.18 Toronto, Candy Cheng
No.19 Vancouver, Eliza Sam
No.22 Henan, Cindy Liu
Auckland had an elegance to her which shocked me. She was very well spoken and articulate. I loved how the contestants called her "Dai Nai Nai" it was so sweet.
Amsterdam was in my opinion the prettiest delegate in the bunch. She was also quite well spoken, yes at times lacking in confidence and poise but definitely better than I expected. However Simwayn did Europe proud by placing - 4 years in a row - woohoo.
I loved Foshan on the night. She was pretty, articulate, a fun spirit and memorable. I was shocked that MCI didn't include her in the Top 3 because I thought at least one girl would come from mainland China.
Toronto yet again produced a beautiful girl and on top of that Candy had a smashing body. She'll be up in the echelons of Miss Toronto's along with Christine Kuo, Sherry Chen, Elva Ni, Diana Wu, Christie Bartram and Monica Lo.
I think we'll be seeing Vancouver on our TV screen next year. I believe she'll follow the footsteps of Bernice Liu and Linda Chung by going into TVB.
Henan made my Top 6 because I thought she was very pretty and elegant.
A comment on the rest of the Top 6,
Hong Kong, she lost her sparkle. I didn't mind her MHK placing but I thought she wasn't as quick witted here as she was in MHK.
Kuala Lumpur, a nice girl but overrated.
Melbourne, she needs some toning and she needs to smile more.
Montreal, forgettable
New York, she was pretty and confident but her confidence could be seen as arrogance.
Sydney, I think at times she can look stunning but her styling let her down.
Yes I was disappointed when Simwayn didn't make the Top 6 because I had firmly placed her in my Top 3. You could imagine how annoyed I was when they called out Amsterdam and Toronto for a PK to get into the Top 6.
Out of the Top 6 I would have liked to see Toronto, Vancouver and Foshan make the Top 3 with Auckland as a potential usurper but it was obvious by then that Kuala Lumpur was going to get a spot.
When the top 6 were answering questions from their room-mates I think Auckland and Foshan came off the best. It's also very interesting that Kuala Lumpur and Vancouver, two girls that shared a room were the Top 2 - a bit suspicious considering Hong Kong and Toronto were also room mates and both made the Top 6.
I didn't like how they did the Top 6 though, they should have simply announced the Top 3 or if they really wanted a vote then have the judges vote for the Top 3 (kind of like Miss Universe). I just thought it was really harsh to Candy because she made the 2nd Runner Up spot but looked like a spare part to the Top 3 as they rushed her off stage to get the Top 2 ready for some ass licking. lol. In the end Vancouver won the votes by 4 to 1 after a teary vote winning speech.
Anyway congratulations to Eliza Sam, I think you represent a modern Chinese woman very well.
