Viet beauty, many scandals, rare hallmarks

03:44' 25/12/2008 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – A new year is coming. What did Vietnamese beauty do in the world arena? VietNamNet reviews beauty contests in Vietnam and international events which saw Vietnam’s participation. Miss Universe Vietnam 2008 Thuy Lam, Miss Vietnam 2008 Thuy Dung and the second runner-up of Miss Universe Vietnam 2008 Thien Ly. Still scandals The number of national beauty contests this year was half as many as in 2007 because events like Miss Vietnam Global, Miss Sports, Miss Jewelry, and Miss Vietnam Ethnic are not held on an annual basis or were cancelled for some reasons. However, scandals occurred at some big pageants. The first Miss Universe Vietnam was organised very quickly in early 2008, to prepare for the Miss Universe 2008 in Vietnam. Vietnamese audiences weren’t satisfied with the pageant’s results because they saw some sensitive photos of the contest’s beauty queen and her boyfriend in a bar. The largest and most prestigious pageant contest, Miss Vietnam 2008, took place a short time after the Miss Universe Vietnam 2008. The public and the media raised a tumult because Miss Vietnam 2008 was found to have not graduated from high school and there were suspicions about her school report, which was said to be a fake. While the scandal related to Miss Vietnam 2008 was still burning, some contestants of the Miss Vietnam Tourism 2008 told the media that they hadn’t received their prizes from the organisers thought the contest had been over for months. Vietnamese beauty dim at int’l events Cao Thuy Duong, Vietnamese contestant at Miss International 2008. Vietnam sent representatives to many international beauty contests this year, such as Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International, Miss Tourism International, Manhunt International, Mister International, etc. However, Vietnam needs to learn experience from these contests in choosing suitable candidates for such events. Miss Universe Vietnam Thuy Lam, Vietnam’s contestant at Miss Universe, is said to have had inadequate English skills. Moreover, her chronic fatigue made her look dim in comparison to other contestants. Thien Ly, second runner-up in Miss Universe Vietnam, who participated in the recent Miss World pageant, can speak English very well. But her height is quite modest and she didn’t have sufficient time for preparation. She didn’t have a chance to show her talent in the Miss Talent competition. Some companies that hold the rights to send Vietnamese contestants to international beauty contests continued to choose models to represent Vietnam. However, the only easy-to-see advantage of models is their performance style. Their faces and knowledge are things that need to be discussed further. Supermodel Quang Thinh at Manhunt International, model Dinh Lan Phuong at Seeking Famous Models and model Ngoc Ha at World Model Contest returned home with bare hands. Cao Thuy Duong was luckier with the Most Favourite prize from Miss International. Vietnam reaches summit of men’s beauty! Mister International 2008 Tien Doan. The reasons for Vietnam’s failure at international pageant contests are very familiar: poor English, poor preparation, and lack of outstanding apparel. At Mister International 2008, model Tien Doan didn’t follow other Vietnamese contestants from previous contests in choosing the traditional Vietnamese dress (ao dai – Vietnamese long dress for men; and khan dong – turban for men), but wore a costume he himself designed. For the talent competition, he drew a painting, he did not sing or dance like others had done. These differences helped Tien Doan become Mister International 2008. He also won the Best in Swimwear title. The secret of Tien Doan’s victory was his careful preparation for the contest. He designed his own costumes and studied English for several months as well as met with experts to learn experience. With Tien Doan’s victory, for the first time Vietnam reached the peak of an international beauty contest for men. To have more Tien Doans, Vietnam needs to make changes in selecting contestants. In addition, each contestant must carefully prepare for the event and they also need assistance from related agencies. Son Ha http://english.vietnamnet.vn/