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 Pamela Yau
The anticipation is over and the judges of Miss China UK 2008 have selected their top 20 contestants, who will move on to the next round of the MCUK pageant. But for the chosen finalists, it has not been all glam and flashy outfits, as the hard work and training has already begun in order to prepare the girls for the series of events associated with this year’s pageant.
Auditions for Miss China UK took place on Saturday August 16th at the Novotel Hotel St.Pancreas in London, where the applicants were put through a three part audition process where they had to demonstrate their ability to model, be photogenic, and think quickly on their feet during a face-to-face interview.
With the short period between the selections of the Miss China UK finalists to their debut at the 3rd Annual TVB Happy Family Gala on Sunday August 24th at Brent Cross Shopping Centre, this has left no time for celebrations for most of the girls. In order to prepare for their choreographed dance routine for the gala they have already gone through two days of training with them learning how to do pop, lock, and hip hop styles of dance. Overall it has been a steep learning curve with the hectic schedule of the pageant well underway.
“I’ve gained more confidence and learned to pick up things faster than ever before,” MCUK finalist and pharmacy student JoJo Lee said of her experience so far as a part of MCUK.
After their performance on the main stage of the TVB Happy Family Gala, the twenty finalists came out in their matching black dresses to join the crowds at the celebration. Despite making their debut only a half an hour before, the girls already had their adoring fans and people wanting to chat and take pictures with them. This meet and greet session was all a part of their promoting themselves to the public, who can call or text in their votes for the twelve girls they would like to see in the MCUK final.
But all the work that these contestants have already put into participating in the pageant does not take away from their appreciation of the achievement of being selected to compete for the crown of Miss China UK , a title representing the best of both worlds of being British as well as Chinese.
At age 18, Colleen Thi, who is one of the youngest contestants in the pageant, can add becoming a finalist in Miss China UK 2008 to her growing list of accomplishments, which includes recently passing all her A-levels. Thi stated how excited and proud her parents are of her in being chosen to compete in MCUK, although her friends do not know as of yet she is in the pageant.
Thi also spoke with pride of her growing up in the UK as both ethnically Chinese and culturally British as she remarked, “I am BBC, everyone thinks I’m more westernized but I have my Chinese side as well.”
 Thi’s youth may be what makes her standout, but other contestants such as Kirsty Lo, a student at Manchester Metropolitan University studying international fashion marketing hopes that maturity and experience will help her advance through the competition.
Lo credits having recently completed her work placement at John Lewis in the business dress design division to have helped her become more mature and ready to take on the task of being a representative of Miss China UK.
Taking this whole experience in its stride, MCUK finalist Ivy Xu hopes to use this opportunity to grow and develop as a person as she sees the competition as a challenge for herself. But of course it has not simply been “all work and no play” with Xu pointing out that there are some perks of not having to go through this process alone, but along with the other contestants.
“It is really fun to hang out with twenty other girls from different backgrounds,” Xu said. “We kind of learn things from each other.”
Although there are several more hurdles that the MCUK contestants must overcome before the main event, some are already looking forward to the future and the possibility of becoming the next Miss China UK.
“Hopefully I will have the right attitude and the right image to represent Miss China UK,” Xu declared.
What is to come…
 As finalists in the Miss China UK pageant, these girls are facing the realities of being a part of an official pageant organization. They are all now under the watchful eyes and in their guiding hands of Miss China UK project managers Fiona Hoang and Andrea Tat of Trixabelle Productions.
Hoang and Tat have the responsibility of whipping these girls into shape for the jam-packed next couple of weeks leading up the MCUK final on October 5th at the Lyric Theatre in London. They will be preparing the girls’ routines during the events and styling their outfits to make sure they all look their “beauty queen” best.
Next up for the girls is more training, as they will learn how to paddle a dragon boat and work together as a team. The MCUK contestants are learning these skills for a reason. They will be entering a dragon boat race event on September 7th, during which they will compete and raise money for Chinese New Year Trust, a charity supporting children and restoring schools in China. There will be more charity events which the girls will attend as well as a performance of their special talents before the final cut to the top twelve on September 14th for the MCUK final.
Hoang, who is a former contestant and first runner up of Miss China UK 2006, had some words of wisdom for the twenty girls that have made it so far in the pageant.
“I just tell them to enjoy every minute because you only get one chance,” Hoang stated. “It’s hard work but it’s definitely worth it.”
With all the training and preparations, it can be physically and emotionally draining but as these girls are demonstrating with the right attitude anything is possible.
“It’s a whole tiring process but you have to cope with,” MCUK finalist Lee said. “I think the main thing is that we have to be very positive.”
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