Eight women, mostly in their early 20s, have been chosen as finalists for the Miss Vancouver Chinese Pageant and will compete later this month for the title at the River Rock Show Theatre.
The eight finalists were announced on Wednesday in Richmond, and the winner of the pageant, coming up on Nov. 30, will go on to compete in Miss China World next year.
“We look at how they present themselves, what their aspirations are, what their dreams are, and things like that. And they need to show their talent during the audition – some of them dance, play the piano or do public speaking,” said Vivien Louie, a spokesperson for Richmond-based Fairchild TV, which is hosting the event.
“Nowadays when you look at beauty, it is not just outer beauty, you also include intelligence and inner beauty. So we try to take into consideration the charity elements and involvement in the community.”
This is the 29th year the event has been held in Richmond. It started as a fundraising gala following the format of the long-standing Miss Hong Kong pageant and has been held every year since then. The competition is open to applicants aged 17 to 27.
Louie said the finalists will receive extensive training that’s like “bootcamp” before they hit the stage for the finals.
“They will have stage training, dance training, catwalk training and also different seminars for them including teeth whitening and makeup seminars,” she explained.
“We also arrange a lot of activities for them such as promo shooting, photo contests and [media events], that they have to practice for.”
She said many applicants see the competition as an opportunity to learn about public speaking or how to present themselves on stage, and for the winners, it can be life-changing.
“For the past 29 years, seven of our winners won the Miss Chinese International title – we have a track record that hasn’t been broken by any other city in the world,” said Louie.
Some of them have signed contracts with a production company in Asia and became actresses or models, she added.
“The winners will also be involved in [local] community events including fundraising galas, golf tournaments and volunteer work. We arrange volunteer work for them right after the pageant until the next contestants come up.”
