| Countdown to the Final: Miss China UK 2008 Pageant |
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| Friday, 03 October 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pamela Yau
What happens when the girl next door becomes a beauty pageant contestant? If she just happens to be taking part in Miss China 2008 United Kingdom, she’s has been up for one mighty task that requires her to not only go through an extensive audition process to be selected for to be a part of the Top 20 finalists, but also a rigorous training and event schedule before the semi-final talent round that would determine whom will make the cut to the Top 12. For the Top 20 finalists of Miss China UK, it has been a whirlwind ride of appearances starting with their formal introduction to the public at the TVB Happy Family Gala held at Brent Cross Shopping Centre on August 24th. After showing off a dance routine on stage at the gala, the finalists went right into meeting and greeting the public, as the contestants encouraged them to vote through SMS text messaging and voice phone calls for the twelve competitors they believed should move on to the main event. In the weeks since then, the candidates for this year’s MCUK have been putting their best face forward in order to seize each and every opportunity to present and promote themselves to large variety of audiences, from young professionals to aunties and uncles, all of whom have the ability to propel each of them into the all-important final round. On a night honouring successful women in business held by the Association of Chinese Financial Professionals, on September 6th at the Chartered Accountants Hall in Moorgate; the MCUK finalists captivated the event attendees with their professionalism and poise during the event as spokeswomen for the Miss China UK pageant. They may have started as “diamonds in the rough” when it comes to their first appearance at the TVB Gala, but with their catwalk performance during the ACfPU event, the MCUK finalists were beginning to show their luster. With the crowd embracing the contestants, their enthusiastic presentation further endeared the young women to the community, as they maintained their fun and playful sides amidst the competition seemingly lurking beneath the surface. All work and no play can make anyone a bit dull, as these girls more than welcomed the experience of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival together on a boat, which took off from Embankment Pier on the night of September 12th. Andrea Tat, MCUK project manager from Trixabelle Productions, spoke of the boat party as an opportunity for the girls to finally put aside the competition and come together and bond as a sisterly group. Considering the amount of time they have spent together in the past several weeks, this gathering was a fitting event as it would lead up to semi-finals. These young women would all have to go head to head with one another in performing their special talents to make it to the MCUK final. At a dinner attended by over 280 people, as the attendees enjoyed a traditional Chinese banquet in celebration of both the pageant and the Mid-Autumn Festival, packing the China Palace Restaurant for the MCUK semi-final on September 13th. While the attendees were in a celebratory mood that night, eating their way through 12 courses of sumptuous food, the contestants were concentrating on the demanding task ahead of them. Not only would they have to perform their talent in front a full house, they would also have to face the scrutiny of a panel of judges, which included the winner of Miss China UK 2006, Michelle Lau, and the director of China Palace Restaurant Mr. Jimmy Yeung. “Every minute they had, they were practicing their talent,” Tat observed. Without batting an eyelash, the finalists stepped on stage and proudly showcased their talents, which were diverse and uniquely fitting to each of their personalities. Talents ranged from the arranging of a flower bouquet by Contestant 1, Rhonda Ko, to the drawing of a fashion illustration by Contestant 19, Jenny Dam, to the playing of a tune on the saxophone by Contestant 8, Jun Cheng. Many of the girls also displayed their musical talents in the form of singing and playing various musical instruments but there were also some who showed their skills dancing everything from samba to hip hop. After the final key was struck and the judges scores were tallied, it was Contestant 5, Miss Guo Long Xiao, who wowed the panel with her performance on the piano. Guo went on to win the Miss Talent Prize of MCUK at the semi-final, a title made ever more valuable by the fact that it would allow her to automatically advance to the final. As for the other girls, their talent scores were combined with the public’s votes and the scores from their initial auditions and together these marks were used to determine this year’s Top 12 MCUK finalists. With the cut to twelve contenders, the competition is getting even fiercer, as the challengers will now be focusing on getting their routines down pat and every pose picture-perfect. “We’ll have our rehearsal from now on,” MCUK project manager Daniel Chan explained. “No more functions, they will practice their dance and catwalk from the whole show.” The final for Miss China UK is divided into several rounds for which the girls will be judged. According to Chan, there will be six rounds in the final event, which include everything from the traditional eveningwear and bikini rounds to a ballroom dance sequence. Learning new dance moves and how to work the runway is only the tip of the iceberg, as the MCUK candidates will also be receiving attention from TVBS-Europe presenters such as Cecilia Chiu in their preparation for the interview and final question and answer rounds. “They [Top 12] have to concentrate on getting the routine down,” fellow MCUK project manager Fiona Hoang stated. “But they have to have fun.” “They are more tighter now when it comes to relationships,” Hoang added. “They are looking out for each other more because they know it is about teamwork.” Depending on how you look at the MCUK final, it is a grand production, which is appropriately being held in the same theatre as Flamenco Flamen’ka, the music and dance show directed by "Strictly Come Dancing" judge Craig Revel Horwood. The night will also feature the performances of this year’s winners of the Chinese New Talent Singing Competition along with an appearance by TVB star Hawick Lau, who will be coming all the way from Hong Kong as the special guest of the evening. Hoang continued to stress the need for the girls to realize they must become a tight cohesive group in order to pull off a show in front of a crowd that will fill the seats of the famed Lyric Theatre. From helping each other out backstage with the numerous wardrobe changes and hair and makeup to preparing one another for each subsequent round, it is all a part of working together to put on the best performance they can for themselves and the public. “It is not just the individual,” Hoang declared.
In watching the finalists grow and develop during the pageant, Chan seemed encouraged by the results as he stated, “All the twelve girls have really improved and deserve to be on the stage.” As for the MCUK organizers, they will have will have to look after both the production side of the final and the logistics for the big night. Hoang and Tat will serve as the primary choreographers of the event, and Chan being the main organizer of this year’s MCUK pageant, will be handling everything from the marketing of the event, ticket sales, hosting VIPs, to stage managing the production side of the spectacle. Last year, Chan was also involved in working backstage as a stage manager and was even a singer during the show. “I can’t wait to see everything running on that stage,” Chan said enthusiastically. “It is quite amazing.” After all the planning, organising and preparation on the part of the organizers and competitors, they will hopefully pull off a flawless final production that they can be proud of. But sometimes amidst the sighs of relief at the end of the night, these pageant participants will also have to come off of the high of putting on a pageant that they have fully dedicated their hearts and minds to for the past several months. “Every time after the show you get a little depressed, you start missing it,” Chan admitted. “At least I got Miss China Europe as well.” But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, on October 5th, all eyes will be on the twelve British Chinese young women, who will all be trying the grab the brass ring that is the ever coveted crown of Miss China UK 2008. See you there!
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With the finals for Miss China UK only a couple of days away, the organizers and contestants of this year’s pageant are pulling out all the stops to make the grand finale on Saturday October 5th at the Lyric Theatre, a night to remember. As the girls will be going through four days of intensive training leading up to the MCUK final, they are actually capping off weeks of preparation and competition, polishing off their routines as they make their bid to become the next Miss China UK.
