Miss Chinese International 2017

[samuel]

The time has come!! The pageant is here again. Alt. I had high hopes that the number of delegates will return to 20 this year, Chicago, Seattle, Tahiti, and South America (this is a long-shot I know) continue to be absent. Hope these cities will return in the future! Manila decided to send their first rep. since 2013!! A lot of fans didn't expect Manila to compete

I'm happy to see the number of girls return to 16 though! It's still relatively low but better than the historically low last year. The quality of this year's girls are very high! I see at least 5 girls having a chance to win the crown! The fight for the top 5 spots will be intense. Hope there will be a top 10 this year!

The girls have arrived in Hong Kong. They will meet the press on the 5th and travel to Malaysia on the 6th or 7th. They are doing voiceovers and sleeping only 3 hrs a day right now!! Add oil ladies!

FIRST ROUND of thoughts:

Honestly, the quality of ladies didn't seem too promising initially ><. But, they all won their cities' pageants so they definitely had something. Crowning photos also don't say much because they make have on too much make up (like the LA or Chinatown USA girls). I'm sure they look beautiful after TVB's transformation.

My initially favorites were Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, and Bangkok. But, after their arrivals, it seems like new favorites emerged! San Francisco resembles a lot like MSHK 2012 1st RU Jacqueline Wong. Manila is sending a candidate that can speak Chinese this year! Not sure if she speaks Cantonese or Mandarin but if memory serves me right, only 2006's Manila rep. Royce Ann. speaks Chinese. Carlene (2004) recited a poem in Mandarin, the other representatives don't understand Chinese. Interestingly, the Filipino organizers decided to send the 1st RU to this year's pageant. Melbourne looks very sweet and demure! As of right now, my top 5 is Bangkok (striking face), Sydney, Kuala Lumpur (hometown advantage and won in a very competitive national pageant), Melbourne, and San Francisco. I'M SURE MY PICKS WILL KEEP ON CHANGING!

Besides these competitive ladies, there are other cities that should not be ignored. Hong Kong may not be the hometown girl this year but she is the prettiest HK rep. since Grace Chan in 2014. Her biggest disadvantage may be her figure though.. We shall she how she fares. New York has an amazing figure and bested two favorites to win her title (the mixed 1st RU and 2nd RU). NY tends to excel in interview and has amazing stage presence/confidence so I expect Stitch to fight till the end! Her talent is quite good too so I have her as a darkhorse right now. And how can we forget the Fairchild girls?? Fairchild knows how to train their girls as well! Gloria Li is the prettiest rep. Toronto has crowned since MCT 2009. But, the city has lost its magic recently because they haven't placed in the top 3 since 2010 (with the beautiful Candy Chang). Will Gloria turn things around?? She is also the first multiracial winner Toronto has crowned but fans have been a little critical on her figure. We'll see how she does.

And how can we forget VANCOUVER?? The city didn't make the top 3 until 2000 but since then, the city has done it again and again. Jennifer G. managed to win the 7th title for the city in a competitive but somewhat low quality year. I honestly thought Jennifer's performance was a little lackluster compared to New York, Sydney, or Nanjing last year. But, her looks and amazing figure held her up and she will remain as one of the most beautiful winners ever crowned. Multiracial girls seem to fare really well at MCI with wins in 1988, 1993, 2000, and 2016 (and a 1st RU in 2002). Tell me if I left anyone out (not sure about 1989 and 1994).. Van. has crowned another multiracial winner and she has a lot of pageant experience. I have her as a darkhorse. I don't think she can replicate Shirley Zhou or Leanne Li's success though. But, will the judges favor another multiracial winner? We shall see!!

*Eric Tsang is rumored to be the host this year (returning for the first time since 2014). Critics cite that Tsang tends to favor HK and Van. reps. so we shall see. On a interesting note, I wanted to see Lawrence Cheng return for a fourth year because when he hosts, New York makes the top 3!!

So this is my first round of thoughts. I hope to continue updating as more news comes out. Stay tuned!!

[samuel]

Second round of thoughts:

Right now, the press favorites to win are Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and Sydney. I do think they are the most beautiful ladies so the press made great picks. The Baidu Board seems to heavily favor Sydney. The press seems to lean towards Miss Kuala Lumpur and Miss Hong Kong more because they're the most frequently mentioned and photographed.

Their official portraits are out!! Based on their portraits, I'm puzzled on what happened to Miss Kuala Lumpur's portrait! She looks nothing like that... Miss Sydney looks older here than in photos. The other girls look decent and it is hard to pick the best portrait. I'll decide later.

Based on the ladies' IG stories/posts, they seem to be enjoying delicious food (Bird's Nest!). They didn't sleep for 48 hours initially (they had to do shootings and filmings) but they seem to have more time now. I hope they can get more rest and present their best look to the audience!

Time passes so quick, the pageant will be held on Sunday!! I hope to post more thoughts before Saturday, when final predictions will be posted!!!

[samuel]

So a top 10 will be announced this year! That's great because 5 more girls have a chance to shine. I prefer this format more than last year's (no top 10 cut and 2 ladies interviewing at the same time). I hope the girls have more time to speak this year.

The ladies are rehearsing right now and the stage looks fantastic!! It's the best stage since the 2002 pageant in Guangzhou, China! I hope the ladies can have nice dresses and gowns as well.

Like last year (for some reason..), 2 panels of judges will select this year's winner. I don't really like this format because there may be some bias towards a particular delegate. I.e. Some fans cited how last year's 20 ladies panel heavily favored Miss Vancouver because most of them have Canadian backgrounds... Cheng even said it out loud, "Where's the Canadian gang?" Or how MSHK 2016 #5 Andrea So made the top 4 because of her Canadian background. TVB could've avoid this talk. I do think Andrea So did well that night and her placement was justified (the fight was really for 4th place that night). As for Jennifer G., I thought her body was amazing but interview was decent when compared to #4 Nanjing, #9 New York, or #12 Sydney. She shouldn't have received the highest score in interview.. The judges pretty much made up their minds before the pageant (like Miss Universe 1990-1991).

Getting back to 2017, my list of favorites changed again. As of right now, my top 10 are: Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Bangkok, Hong Kong, New York, Melbourne, Auckland, Manila, Vancouver, and Montreal. I'm sure it will keep on changing until the final night!! Some ladies that stood out to me during the TVB Entertainment news interviews are Auckland, Manila, and Montreal. The latter is quite telegenic.

I would hope New York and San Francisco speak in Chinese during the finals. Maybe they feel more comfortable with English and spoke it in interviews. But, very few women have managed to win the title when speaking in English (1989, 1993, 1997, and 2016). 1997's winner speaks Cantonese too but she gave great answers in English so I guess it worked out for her. But it's mostly an disadvantage so I hope they use Chinese whenever possible.

Manila and Auckland know how to present themselves during interviews. Bangkok and Melbourne seem a little bit shy (or underwhelmed?). Vancouver's Mandarin is pretty good (and Manila too!).

My prediction for Miss Friendship so far is between - Melbourne, Johannesburg, and Los Angeles. We're see how things turn out.

Final predictions to come later!

[samuel]

OK, so I haven't come up with the top 10 list yet.. I will first announce my Miss Friendship prediction. Hard to predict given how limited inside information we have alt. I can say Misses KL, New York, San Francisco, and Singapore are very active on social media. Some delegates update from time to time.

Miss Bangkok and Singapore seem to be getting along really well. I expect them to vote for each other. I think the girls adjacent to each other are also more likely to vote for each other - HK and KL, Foshan and Montreal, NY and SF, TO and VAN. etc. In the end.. I decided that Miss Friendship will be one of the following ladies:

#4 Johannesburg, #6 Los Angeles, #8 Melbourne, #12 San Francisco, #13 Singapore, and #7 Manila

Many fans are saying that #6 LA will likely win because of the luck she received while trying on the MCI crown!! Looking back from 2012 to 2016, the ladies that tried on the crown received an award (winner, 2nd RU, or Miss Friendship). If that's the case, LA will benefit but I am picking #4 Johannesburg for this award. However, I will not be surprised if LA wins because she looks like a friendly girl. Melbourne was noted for helping #16 Vancouver out when her heel got stuck in the drain during their visit to the Peak. #13 Singapore is the most active in social media and #7 Manila is very outspoken. Recent Miss Friendship winners seem to speak English primarily/ABC background (Toronto 2012, LA 2013, LA 2016) and so #12 San Francisco fits the bill too!!

My final predictions will be posted later (definitely hope to post ASAP). Visit the Baidu Bar for more predictions and insights from the fans!

[samuel]

Miss Friendship prediction: #4 Johannesburg
Close shots: #6 LA, #8 Melbourne, #13 Singapore, #12 SF, and #7 Manila

[samuel]

So three awards just got announced in a span of 2 days!! Miss KL won the Malaysian style award which was voted by the audience and #15 Toronto won the Best Talent Performance award. She performed a Brazilian Samba Dance (similar to MCI 2015 winner). The top 4 finalists were #11 New York (ballet dance), #12 San Francisco (ribbon dance), and #16 Vancouver (rap song).

And then there was the voting and announcement of Miss Friendship. The winner is #4 Johannesburg!! This is the third time that I got the Miss Friendship winner correct (I predicted Skye Chan (2009) and Miss Singapore (2014) as Miss Friendship). I think #4 has a cute smile and certainly a radiant personality. I'm happy that she won this award and that I called it right!

Congratulations to all the award winners!! Final predictions to come next!

[samuel]

So the time has come, the MCIP!! Sixteen delegates will vie for the title and they're waking up early right now to prepare for the finals. This is a tough year to call because there is no true standout and it can be anybody's game. And, interesting to note, MCI tends to surprising results during odd-number years AND when the quality of girls is high. I would not be surprised if a cold door ends up winning the crown. It's really up for grabs this year.

Let me give some quick commentary on each girl:

#1 Auckland

She looks a lot more telegenic. She has experience in Korea working as a model so she's a darkhorse. Auckland has never made the top 5 in this pageant so can this curse be broken?

#2 Bangkok

Beautiful face, great body, and height. Only factor working against her is if TVB would crown another non-speaking Chinese contestant. Bangkok has stepped up its game since 2012 but hasn't made the top 3 since 2006. Will this be their year??

#3 Hong Kong

Crystal has a beautiful face and strong sash but her height, body, and talent are factors working against her. Can she pull it off?

#4 Johannesburg

The South African city won an award after the famous Lu sisters won top 2 back-to-back in 2006-2007. Miss Lee will attempt to make the first cut.

#5 Kuala Lumpur

Beautiful face and strong presence, she will have a lot of fans cheering her on. Anything less of a top 3 placement would be a disappointment. Fans are criticizing her for having a bad attitude though..

#6 Los Angeles

If the luck of wearing the crown continue, LA should have a top 10 placement at least. But, there is a lot of competition this year.

#7 Manila

She reminds of that TVB Entertainment news anchor. She has great presence and great command of Chinese. I think she's the strongest rep. Manila has sent since Carlene in 2004 (or the 2005 rep.). Major darkhorse. The press labelled her as a cold door though.

#8 Melbourne

Cute and demure, reminds of her predecessor in 2015. Fans have said she performed well during the Miss Chinese Australia finals so watch out for her.

#9 Foshan

She was a fans' favorite initially but sorta fell off the radar when they arrived. I think her sash is the biggest issue.

#10 Montreal

She looks a lot better on camera than in photos. Another darkhorse but it's rare to see all Canadian reps. make it. I think TVB may reserve the spots for Toronto and Vancouver since FC has better relationships than Montreal's org...

#11 New York

Another major darkhorse. She has the best figure and height. I'm sure the NY org. prepared her for interviews and other things so I expect her to give it a fight till the end. I think fans are underestimating her.

#12 San Francisco

Initially a favorite when she arrived in HK, the press doesn't think so though. They have her as a cold door. I think it will be better if she speaks Cantonese during the finals. Will her Miss Chinatown USA experience help her? I think she has a good shot at top 10.

#13 Singapore

Very active on social media. Speaks what she has in mind. However, placements for Singapore are rare.

#14 Sydney

Major fans favorite alt. she fell off the final list of press favorites. Many think she has the prettiest face and her experience in Miss Chinese Australia will help her. I think she needs to put up her A-game though. She seems to be a little shy as opposed to her predecessors. Will Sydney's streak continue?

#15 Toronto

The city has won a side award since 2013! It seems to be a little bit long given how successful the city was in the 90s up until Vancouver overshadowed them. Gloria has one of the bigger bodies and so I am a little worried. I guess FC thought this was the body the judges wanted this year(??). She did win Best Talent performance so I think she may have left enough of an impression to make top 10.

#16 Vancouver

Maria has a lot of experience. She won the prestigious MCV pageant (alt. it was a not so competitive year) and I'm sure FC knows what they're doing. I wish she has a skinner figure though. I have her as a darkhorse in a rather competitive MCI year.

Final predictions to come next!

[samuel]

So here are the final predictions. May the best girl win! Good show!

WINNER: #11 New York
1st RU: #5 Kuala Lumpur
2nd RU: #3 Hong Kong
Top 5 Finalists: #2 Bangkok (4th place) and #14 Sydney (5th place)
Top 10 Semifinalists: #8 Melbourne, #16 Vancouver, #7 Manila, #15 Toronto, #12 San Francisco
Bubbles: #10 Montreal, #9 Foshan, #1 Auckland, #6 Los Angeles, #4 Johannesburg, #13 Singapore
Miss Friendship: #4 Johannesburg
Best Talent Performance: #15 Toronto
Malaysian Style Award: #5 Kuala Lumpur

[samuel]

CONGRATULATIONS Stitch!! I am very happy with the results because of two main reasons - my homecity won AND I got the top 3/Miss Friendship EXACTLY right!! This have never happened before. I have some people asking me if I have insider information or if I am one of the pageant staff.. Of course NO! I don't think I will get more accurate in terms of predictions than this year. Of course, I hope I can continue doing so well in the future!

I was able to find a online link to watch the pageant (technology is amazing these days). Alt. it was laggy, it was better than nothing! Being able to witness New York capture the second title after 1999 is simply amazing. This is also the first title for the current pageant organizer (formerly named Miss NY Chinese, now it's known as Miss Chinese Beauty Pageant). I do prefer that the pageant be called Miss NY Chinese because there is only one winner and she represents New York. If multiple reps. are sent to compete, I think it's more appropriate to call it such name (the Chinese name has USA in it). It's called Miss Chinese Beauty Pageant right now. And, the title is a little too broad.. They should add USA somewhere (like what Australia did). Just my opinion.

I will add more thoughts when I watch the pageant again. But, here are some initial reactions and thoughts:

1. A number of Baidu fans and viewers are not too happy with the result. Some are criticizing the winner for having work done on her nose. I honestly can't tell but Stitch has denied such claims. Even if it is true, I don't think it's that big of a deal.. There are lots of pageant contestants that undergo PS these days.. Just to name a few countries - Miss Venezuela, Miss Korea, etc. It seems that HK Society is still conservative these days..

2. Some don't understand how the winner won. Facially, NY may not be the prettiest. But, her talent was jaw-dropping. She definitely performed the most entertaining and difficult talent in MCI history. She also had the best figure among all contestants (with Foshan coming next). Her figure and talent was able to compensate for the lower scores she received in the intro/national costume rounds.

Talent counts a big portion of the final score these days. I hope that future contestants can present a stronger talent than what was witnessed on Sunday. Talent seems to be the deciding and determining factor in recent years (Sydney 2015) and can turn the tables around (boost a delegate's final ranking). This happened to HK 2015 and last year's Mary Chen (NY). While I think Mary was the male judges' favorite, she wasn't among the top 3 of the females' judges pick and needed talent to change things around. Indeed, she managed to outscore Bangkok and even Sydney (who was the top 2 all night among female judges) to win 1st RU. Some fans thought Bangkok 2016 chose a risky talent (singing) and should've stuck to a tradition Thai dance. I think so too.

3. KL was leading all night and seemed to be the apparent press/delegates' winner. She is beautiful. Since the pageant was held in Genting, Malaysia, she had a lot of fans cheering for her (that's what I call homecourt advantage!!) and was very confident. But, she gave people a feeling that she was overconfident (some think she has a bad attitude). I don't know Serene personally so I can't comment on her attitude but I do have a feeling that she thought the crown was in her bag.. Besides this, her body was a little too thin and her talent wasn't too impressive compared to NY or the other talents that made the top 4 earlier (Toronto, San Francisco, and Vancouver). These were factors that most likely caused points to be deducted. The stunning Linna Lim (KL 2012) was also too skinny but there was no talent performance that year.

4. Crystal Fung (HK) looked beautiful. I was afraid she would end up not making top 5 (like Louisa last year) but she looked her best that night. Even more beautiful than when she won Miss Hong Kong!! (which is usually rare). Very confident. But, she also looked too skinny. And, some fans are still picking on her for comments she made on Facebook years ago (she apparently wrote some swear words). Some also think she doesn't have the elegance/temperament a Miss HK should have.

I thought she deserved to be in the top 5 just on her interview/looks. Indeed she has a beautiful face (with KL, Bangkok, Sydney) and no surprise that she was a press favorite. But, her magic performance wasn't very impressive.. I think she messed up as well (one of the cloths fell to the floor). Many think that Sydney should've replaced her in the top 3. I will need to rewatch the pageant to decide if Sydney was just as well as HK in the other rounds, but for talent, Sydney's dance was more impressive.

HK was crying when the top 3 was about to be announced. I think she probably thought she blew her chances and that an award was gone. But, when she won 2nd RU, she seemed very delighted. Congratulations to her and KL because the competition was so tight. It wasn't easy making the top 5, let alone top 3!! They should be proud of themselves because winning an award is better than nothing, right?

5. Sydney.. I still need to rewatch the pageant to see what happened. Many thought that she was in the top 3 after the final 5 was standing. I correctly predicted that she'll end up in the top 5 though. I think she is beautiful too but her age may have been a disadvantage. She looked a little bit too-aged on screen. Her talent was decent but she came right after New York and so this may have hurt her chances. Furthermore, she wasn't heavily mentioned by the press (she fell out of the final press favorites) so it may have been a precursor (reminds me of Jacky Cai in 2013!!). Another factor working against her was Sydney's win in 2015. Alt. back-to-back has happened before, it was a little too soon for Sydney to win again. This may be one of the reasons why Vancouver didn't win in 2014 and Sydney's placement last year.

6. A press favorite, Bangkok did not make the top 5. I think she has the face of the pageant (some think she can compete in Miss Universe/ Miss World). It was noted though Bangkok was a little too nervous. Her interview answer was too short, she needed to elaborate. That should be the main reason why she didn't make top 5. I wanted to see her talent though, her talent costume looks amazing!!

7. Montreal was such a pleasant surprise!! I honestly took notice of her but like I said earlier, I didn't think TVB would advance all 3 Canadian delegates (alt. it has happened in the past). Indeed that was the case but Vancouver was the victim!! Montreal was one girl that I regret not placing the most.. I saw Toronto and SF placing but decided to drop Montreal at the last minute. She def. gave a good run for the money!

8. I like to compliment all the girls because they all did really well. The runway allowed the delegates to walk confidently and many girls presented themselves with confidence. This year's pageant will be one of the best productions in recent years because of the stage, quality of delegates, venue, hosts, and atmosphere! I would prefer that they announce the top 10 though because it seemed a little bit too cruel for the delegates to open the envelopes.. The top 5 announcement was the same as the top 4 announcement in Mr. Hong Kong 2016. Cruel but exciting. Good job Astro, TVB, all the ladies, and everybody behind the pageant!!!

I hope to post more thoughts after I rewatch the pageant.

For now, congratulations to all the ladies, their families, and everybody associated with the pageant. You all did amazing!