MCI Review: The Blooming of Cosmopolitan Charm

RESULTS:

Champion: Kelly Cheung (Chicago)

1st Runner-Up: Cheryl Wee (Singapore)

2nd Runner-Up: Lenna Lim (Kuala Lumpur)

SIDE AWARDS:

Miss Friendship: Ashton Hong (Toronto)

Miss Cosmopolitan: Lenna Lim (Kuala Lumpur)

Asia-Pacific Region Glamour Award: Lenna Lim (Kuala Lumpur)

Euro-America Region Vitality Award: Jasmine Hayter (New York)

Greater China Region Classic Elegance Award: Rebecca Zhu (Hong Kong)

BACKSTAGE/PREPARATION WORK

Three, two, one…GO! Entering the night city of suspense, the show began with flashing scenes of the backstage where the staff members were busy gathering the right accessories for the contestants. It was absolutely impossible for me to take my eyes off the design and color of the backstage. Announced at the press conference, I was not excited to hear that the final was going to be held in TVB City. In this case, TVB proved me wrong. In fact, I was more interested in what was happening backstage, trying to get a quick glimpse of who was doing what.

Also, the trendy-designed backstage would have been incomplete without the instructor. However, this one seemed more sincere than the one from the 2007 MHK final.

INTRODUCTION

I loved how the guest performers ushered the 28 contestants during most of the segments. Not. Basically, it happens at every TVB-held pageant with it being the most popular in the 90′s. The Miss Hong Kong contestants were ushered by a Four Heavenly King depending on which singer TVB did not have contract disputes with during that time period. The rundown for the introduction segment was similar to last year where the contestants had to name something influential about the pageant. It was nothing surprising, but the nightgowns were somewhat better last year.

Not to mention, but it was Raymond Lam again.

SWIMWEAR

You can never go wrong with a flaming red-colord swimsuit. Especially when TVB hired a wrong fashion team, it is safer to stick with a single color and simplistic design.

The leather pieces they wore at the Q&A segment were well fitted. It is definitely a want that is missing in my closet.

INTERVIEW

This was definitely the highlight of the show. I could have easily passed watching the other segments and still make a fair judgement on the contestant’s performance. Often times, TVB would alternate the traditional way of the Q&A segment and make an attempt to create some gimmick for the show. But TVB’s definition of gimmick and silly is only a line apart where they would bring mothers up on stage and shed contestants in tears causing them to lose their fake lashes. This time, however, was an exception. It was refreshing to see how the girls had a choice of interview questions to select. Considering that those were “right or wrong” question, if you knew the answer to the question, great, you are a “beauty with wisdom”. If not, then you would have to rely on your creativity, which I believe happened to all if not most of the contestants. Kelly, Cherly, and Lenna were the three who nailed the question with a correct answer who ended up being the top three winners.

RESULTS/CONTESTANT’S EVALUATION

Elegant | Calm

With the height and beauty, Kelly Chueng (張曦雯) was a safe winner I would say. She effortlessly carried her elegance and expressed it in a calmly matter during the interview segment. Her performance was clean and natural all the way though. Coincidently, Kelly was chosen by random to try on the crown and scepter at the press conference, which I believe is a first in MCI history.

Cheerful | Quick-witted

Cheryl Wee (黃馨慧) reminded me of 2006 MCI Second Runner-Up Annabelle Kong who appears to have an aggressive personality. Without a doubt, Cheryl had the best interview and it wasn’t a surprise win towards the end of the show. Prior to the final and based on the press conference videos, Cheryl makes too many movements when she poses. Yes, it does leave an impression on others, but it came out to be quite unnatural to me.

Beautiful | Confident

Confidence? Stage appearance? Eloquence? You can find it all in Kuala Lumpur representative Lenna Lim (林家冰). Throughout the final, I had wished that the cameraman would hold still on her for a couple of more seconds. That said, why wasn’t she the champion? Lenna’s performance was stable all along, but that being said, nothing stood out in particular that made her a mile ahead of the rest. Frankly, she performed better when she was competing for Miss Astro. But please do not get me wrong. Her performance was nothing disappointing at all. In fact, when Lenna was announced in Top 3, I was ready to sit back and see her take the champion title back to Malaysia.

As much as I was disappointed at Lisa Lau’s nude look at the MHK final, TVB decided to repeat history. But this time, they decided to slap it on Toronto representative Hilary Tam.

The show itself was really forgettable. By the time #28 XinYan finished her line, I already forgot what #1 Bianca said.

Even though the show was only average last year, I still remember parts of Eliza’s speech. “If you have a dream, please reach for it. Because if I can, you can!”

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