Perak student’s winning answer in Miss Malaysia Global Beauty Queen 2008 Beauty Contest

When Perak-born lass Natalie Chiew was asked about pageant winners achieving stardom, she gave an eloquent response that would lead her to the Miss Malaysia Global Beauty Queen 2008 crown.

In the national finals held at the Bayview Georgetown Hotel in Penang recently, the 21-year-old mass communications student, despite having a sore throat, held off the challenge of 13 other hopefuls with her elegant walk and confidence.

In the question and answer section, Chiew cited Datuk Michelle Yeoh, a former Miss Malaysia who eventually landed roles in major Hollywood movies, including that of a Bond girl. Her answer drew applause from the packed audience.

The pageant was divided into four rounds, evening wear, swim wear, casual wear and body sculpting wear. The top eight were then chosen for a Q & A session.

No stranger to pageants having emerged runner-up in the Miss Tourism Queen Malacca contest earlier this year, the 170-cm tall Chiew won the right to represent Perak after a series of preliminaries in her home state.

“I’m really surprised. It was hard talking with a sore throat, so I just tried my best.

“The experience I gained in previous pageants stood me in good stead, as I knew the proper way to present myself.

“Being a mass communications student also helps, as we do presentations which improve our confidence in public speaking,” said an overjoyed Chiew.

Surprisingly, Chiew also lists being a policewoman as one of her career choices.

“I would like to do my part to uphold justice and protect this beautiful country of mine,” she explained.

An eager traveller, she will represent the nation at the international final to be held in Xiangshan, China, from Sept 7 to Sept 28.

“I promise to do my best,” Chiew added.

Besides receiving a tiara from 2007 winner Moo Yan Yee, she took home RM3,000 in cash and various prizes from sponsors. She also won two subsidiary titles, Miss Global Charm-ing Style Flash and Miss Congeniality Perut Rumah.

Event organising chairman Alan Kok believes Chiew has what it takes to match Moo who secured a top 15 finish in last year’s international final.

In second place was local crowd favourite Sandra Yap, an 18-year-old pre-university student. Despite narrowly missing out on the big prize, she claimed four subsidiary titles, Miss Global Popularity Island Plaza, Miss Emerald Capital, Miss Global Personality Feeling and Miss Global Best Catwalk RG Creation.

“My mother and friends encouraged me to join. It was a very fun experience,” Yap said, adding that she plans to dabble in modelling, but only after completing her studies. She took home RM1,000.

Stephanie Tan, 21, of Kedah complemented her third place finish with the Miss Global Amusement title and took home RM500.

The 2008 Miss Malaysia Global Beauty Queen contest was presented by Emerald Capital Group and organised by Catvogue Events Production.

Audition round of Miss Millionaire Bangladesh Beauty Contest held

Audition round of 'Miss Millionaire Bang-ladesh,' a beauty contest, was held at a studio in Gulshan in the city on August.

One hundred contestants participated in the audition round where 50 were selected for the next round. The next round, grooming session and selection round, will be held soon, said Abdul Latif Apurbo, CEO of Apurbo.com and Chief Coordinator of the contest.

He said, "Before one year this contest was planned. Advertisement of the contest began on Channel 1 on April 5 this year and registration has been started by SMS. About 9,000 beauties from six divisional cities attained. Of them, a panel of judges selected 300 beauties initially. Then screen test, photo session, vocal test and dental test were held from July 28. After 10-day programmes, a day-long exhibition of the photos of the selected 100 beauties were on displayed at the National Art Gallery of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on August 13. Main aim of the exhibition was to give the opportunity to the general people to cast their votes and opinions on the contest."

On August 15, at the audition round, dance artiste Shamim Ara Nipa, presenter Abdun Nur Tushar, actor and director Shahidul Alam Sachchu, photographer Chanchal Mahmud, photographer YJ Moon from Korea, Principal of Radiant Institute of Design Nasrin Chowdhury and Creative Director of the advertisement agency Interspeed Kawshik Dey from India were present as judges at the audition round, said the organisers.

Grooming session will be held in various locations of Bangladesh, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Then 'Miss Millionaire Bangladesh' will be selected through gala round. The winner of the contest will get one million cash and scope to work in different media.

Top Ten Reasons a Nun Beauty Contest is a Good Idea

The Associated Press has reported that an Italian priest is organizing an online beauty pageant for nuns around the world to break the stereotype that they’re old and hard-faced.

The idea behind “Miss Sister 2008” is at first very disturbing, but here’s the upside:

• All of that hard service to God can only mean one thing rockin’ bikini bod.
• There are few things sexier than a bikini, heels and a nun veil. Three accessories. Three fantasies. Yes!
• For once, maybe you’ll be doing the beating.
• “World peace” might actually be an appropriate and logical answer during the question and answer session.
• This is their one chance to hit it big with a nun modeling agency specializing in nun robes with a side venture in Halloween costumes.
• For the sake of a real life nun-only song and dance routine ala “Sister Act.”
• There’s sure to be no concern for loose morals. (I’m looking at you Miss USA!)
• The nun named Miss Congeniality isn’t just the contestant who loaned other contestants her Spanx and water bra.
• Even a 50 year-old man from Idaho can be a beautiful nun on the internet.
• The contestants can choose to photograph themselves with or without traditional veils.

Hoi An hosts final round of Miss Viet Nam beauty pageant

The final round of Miss Viet Nam 2008 started yesterday in the ancient town of Hoi An.

Thirty contestants who were selected out of 2,500, will take part in different competitions including costume, swim suit and question and answer rounds over the next two weeks.

Those who performed the best in these competitions will be decided when Miss Viet Nam 2008 is crowned on August 31. The crowning ceremony will be held on a floating stage on the Hoai River and it will be broadcast live on VTV1 at 8pm, organisers said. Television audiences can vote for their favourite contestants on the Internet.

Other than wearing the prized crown, contestants also have a chance to be named Miss Photogenic, Miss Friendly, Miss Ocean and Miss Earth of Viet Nam.

Miss Viet Nam 2008 will be awarded VND150 million (US$9,500), a trip to Europe and free flights with Pacific Airlines for two years. Two runners up will be awarded VND80 million and 60 million, respectively.

This year’s Miss Viet Nam will be the first to wear a special crown made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Miss Viet Nam Peagant.

The crown for this year’s winner is made of VND300 million worth of gold by the SJC Jewel Company, and will be the official crown for Miss Viet Nam from now on.

The first Miss Viet Nam Peagant after the country’s reunification in 1975 was held in 1988 by the Tien Phong newspaper. Its success has resulted in a biennial event to pick Miss Viet Nam, as well as similar competitions at escalating scales, such as Miss Viet Nam World in 2007 and Miss Universe 2008 last month.

"That beauty peagants have attracted many fans is evidence that Vietnamese people are interested in this new cultural event," said the editor-in-chief of Tien Phong, Duong Xuan Nam. "The success of beauty contests both locally and internationally in Viet Nam has helped put Vietnamese beauties on the world’s beauties map."

15 northern girls qualified for Miss Vietnam 2008 Beauty Contests

Fifteen beautiful girls from the North of the country will be taking part in the final round of the 2008 Miss Vietnam beauty contest being held in Hoi An ancient town from August 19-31.

They were chosen from 40 competitors, mainly coming from universities, colleges and high schools in the Northern area, who wore the ao dai (traditional long dress), swimsuits and free-style dresses events in Hanoi on August 8-9.

The port city of Hai Phong, which is the home of many former Miss Vietnams, does not have any representatives in the final round at this year’s event.

The Organising Committee will select the remaining finalists from the South in Ho Chi Minh City on August 11-12.

The Miss Vietnam pageant, first held in 1988, is the country’s most prestigious biannual beauty contest organised by the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper.

Nepal beauty contest is postponed

A contest to choose the next Miss Nepal has been postponed indefinitely after women assembly members from the Maoist party criticised the beauty pageant.

The former rebels said they opposed a contest where women were treated as objects of entertainment.

The so-called "Hidden Treasure" contest scheduled for 7 August had been called off, event organisers confirmed.

The Maoists emerged as the single largest party in elections this year but have yet to form a government.

'Anti-women'

"We won't let the event take place. We don't need such a thing in the new federal democratic republic of Nepal where women are treated as objects of entertainment," Maoist MP Amrita Thapa was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

Ms Thapa said the Maoists would not allow an "anti-women" event inspired by "capitalist" elements.

"Such contests send the wrong message to society as they emphasise physical beauty rather than intellectual ability," another female Maoist told the agency.

Contest organiser Girendra Man Rajbanshi told the BBC: "The event was originally scheduled for 7 August, but we have postponed it for the time being.

"We are currently in the process of holding dialogue with them, so the contest has only been postponed for some time."

The beauty pageant has been criticised by various Maoist-affiliated groups and women activists who have vowed to disrupt it at any cost.

The Maoists are in talks to form the new government, after surprising many by winning most seats but no majority in elections this spring.