Tough for VN to choose representatives for int’l pageants

VietNamNet Bridge – This year, it will be a hard job for Vietnam to choose contestants for international beauty contests like Miss Universe and Miss World as the new rules only allow one national beauty contest a year – the Mrs. Vietnam pageant.

According to the regulations on the organisation of beauty contests in Vietnam, dated December 30, 2008, as of 2009, Vietnam will have only one national beauty contest, one regional, sector level beauty contest. Provincial pageants are permitted to be held every two years.

In recent years, Vietnam has had three national beauty contests: Miss Vietnam, Miss Vietnam Global and Miss Universe Vietnam. According to the new regulations, these contests will not be organised in 2009 because Mrs. Vietnam 2009 was licenced to be the sole pageant.

The Chief of the Performance Art Agency under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Le Ngoc Cuong, said the Mrs. Vietnam 2009 pageant must be licenced this year because in 2008, the government approved the Mrs. World 2009 pageant in Vietnam. Vietnam needs to hold a national beauty contest to choose a representative for the Mrs. World 2009.

Moreover, the agency received applications for organising beauty contests 2009 last October and at that time, the agency didn’t receive any application except for the Mrs. Vietnam 2009, Cuong said.

“It is quite funny that each year Vietnam will have only one national beauty contest because each pageant has its own criteria. Mrs. Vietnam is for married contestants. It will be a loss for young girls if only Mrs. Vietnam 2009 is licenced next year,” said former Chief Editor of Tien Phong Newspaper, who has been the chief organiser of many national beauty contests, Duong Xuan Nam.

The vice chief of the Performance Art Agency, Nguyen Van Khanh, suggested that the Miss Vietnam Global, Miss Universe Vietnam, etc. should change their scale from national to regional or sectoral to get a licence.

However, Duong Xuan Nam, one of the founders of Miss Vietnam Global pageant, said it is impossible to lower the scale of Miss Vietnam Global because this contest is open to contestants from home and abroad.

Respecting the new rules, the Deputy General Director of the Universe Joint Stock Company, Chi Bao, stated that the firm would not organise Miss Vietnam Universe 2009. He also said that it is impossible to change the scale of the pageant because in that case, the winner of this contest will fail to meet conditions to attend the international Miss Universe pageant.

The new rules are said will cause difficulties for Vietnam in choosing representatives for international beauty contests this year. But Cuong said: “Vietnam doesn’t need to have too many beauty contests while its organising skills are unprofessional. Moreover, not all international pageants require national-level contestants.”

At the same time, Elite Vietnam stated it would stop buying the copyright to send Vietnamese representatives to Miss World and Miss Universe 2009.

Managing Director of Elite Vietnam, Thuy Nga, said: “This decision was considered in 2008 and Elite Vietnam wants to focus on modelling.”

However, she admitted that choosing contestants for Miss World and Miss Universe 2009 will be difficult.

VietNamNet/VNE/NLD

Vietnam may not join Miss World, Miss Universe 2009

VietNamNet Bridge – Elite Vietnam has refused to repurchase the copyright to send Vietnamese candidates to the Miss World, Miss Universe 2009 pageants. This means that Vietnam may miss the two big beauty contests this year.

Elite Vietnam Managing Director Thuy Nga said the firm’s withdrawal was planned in 2008, and is not because it is afraid of the new strict rules issued by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on beauty contests.

Under the new rules, there will be only one national beauty contest, Mrs. Vietnam 2009. Other contests will be local-level events. Contestants at Miss World and Miss Universe must be winners of national contests.

“If we want, we can choose beauties from previous years. But this is not a good method. It’s time to solve the problem at its roots,” she said.

Miss Vietnam Global 2007 Ngo Phuong Lan, who refused twice to take part in the Miss World pageant, said that if she was invited to attend an international beauty contest in 2009, she would have to refuse because she is busy with a new job and new life in Vietnam.

The first runner-up of the Miss Universe Vietnam 2008, Hoang Yen, said she was willing to represent Vietnam at any international beauty contest.

Vietnamese Adonis wins Mister International

Doan won the US$5,000 prize after beating 33 other competitors in four competitive categories – Taiwanese traditional costume, national traditional costume, swimsuit and a question-and-answer session.

Speaking via a phone call from Taiwan, Doan said his life dream has come true.

“I don’t know how to express my happiness,” he said.

Doan impressed the judges and audience with a self-designed traditional costume comprising a loincloth, a robe and a crown decorated by gems. He said the piece was inspired from ancient clothing worn by Vietnamese.

The 1.83-meter model also defeated other contestants in the swimsuit category with striking measurements of 99-80-99.

Doan won over the jury during the 10-day pageant with his down-to-earth attitude, fluent English and gentlemanly qualities displayed through various sub-competitions.

A local newswire has reported that in addition to the cash awards, Doan was granted the right to use an apartment in Singapore for one year.

He told the newswire he had been very confident prior to entering the contest as he had received the invitation in May and had plenty of time for proper preparations and training.

Doan has been working as an exclusive model for the Venus Modeling Agency while maintaining his lecturing career at Can Tho University in the Mekong Delta.

He had finished among the top 16 and won the Mister Physique title at last year’s Manhunt International pageant held in the Republic of Korea.

It was at this contest that Doan impressed Mister International’s Chairman Alan Sim, and the latter proceeded to invite him to take part in this year’s pageant.

Lebanon’s Mohamad Chamseddine, China’s Zhang Chao, Croatia’s Mihovil Barun and Vincent Cleuren from the Netherlands finished as the top runners-up in the respective order.

The Mister International, first organized in 2006, is considered one of the most prestigious male beauty contests. The last two events were won by Lebanese Wissam Hanna and Brazilian Alan Martini.


- Da Ly