Miss USA Preliminary Competition (Evening Gown)

It's the time of the year where there is one major national pageant that a lot of people are waiting for - and this is the Miss USA pageant. Dispute all the Trump controversy, the preliminary competition seems very smooth.

It is my first time covering Miss USA and I am more interested in analysing the evening gowns. So here it goes, my top 15 in gowns:-
Arizona

The first red gown of the night and I think the gown suits her very well.

California

I love gowns with a dramatic tail and this is why California is on the list. However, the gown would have been better if it is in a brighter yellow.

Colorado

I have to put this gown here as it looks amazing on photos. I would not say the same when I saw it on stage.

Florida 

I love this nude fitting gown with sequin details and her make-up and hair is perfection. The only thing she needs to work on is her walk. It looks a bit stiff.

Hawaii

Interesting choice. It looks very flowy and is a fun choice.

Iowa

This is one gown that made Iowa looks sophisticated.

Maryland

Love her overall package. She looks like a model. Her dress is a tad too short though but she did work it.

Nevada

The dress definitely looks better in motion. I can't stop thinking that this gown looks like Miss World Venezuela's gown in Miss World 2013. I would prefer she remove the attaching skirt because the skirt does not match the dress. The dress is heavily detailed but the skirt is just a piece of fabric.

New York

Love her dress. It looks amazing and shiny!!

North Carolina

Her choice of dress is interesting but it fits her. I dun like her hairstyle though, it ages her already mature look. Her sister Kristen Dalton, Miss USA 2009, definitely looks much younger and fresher when she was competing 6 year ago.

Kristen Dalton, Miss USA 2009

Oklahoma

I like Olivia when she was in Miss World. I still love her and she always save the best for the last. Her ball gown is a brave choice and I admire her for that. It is unique and striking. However, I would have gone without the ruffles. It made the gown look reli busy.

Olivia in Miss World 2013

Pennsylvania

Interesting choice. At first I thought this would not look good on stage when I saw this dress in the official photos but it turns out to be a very good choice. The dress fits her very well.

Rhode Island 

The super tall Miss Rhode Island chose a gown that resembles Miss Ukraine's very expensive gown in Miss Universe which both feature a slit and some flaps on the dress.

Miss Ukraine

Texas

To be honest, I find her dress mediocre only. But the fact that she is THAT gorgeous, she deserves to be up there.

Vermont

A bling bling black gown. A classy choice.

Miss Chinese International 2015 - Review

Well well well..Sydney wins again with yet another witty and Cantonese speaking candidate, just like the time when Sarah Song won the pageant back in 2007. I was on holiday during the final and thus I didn't catch up with the finals until later. I remembered when I checked the news, I was pleasantly surprised by the results but was disappointed by the fact that Hong Kong managed to bag the 1st Runner-up.

Sarah Song - MCIP 2007 - I actually like Sarah and her presentation skills

Before the start of the review, let me comment on the  MCIP champions that participated in this year's pageant.

Eliza Sam (MCIP 2011 from Vancouver)

Eliza looked rather different from her usual image in my opinion. Usually she wears rather cute and princess-y dresses but she managed to wear a more elegant and classy dress this time. She still looked beautiful without a doubt. She also managed to show people how she won the crown back in 2011 by cleverly and humorously answering the MCs' question on her favourite delegate - Bangkok.

Grace Chan (MCIP 2014 from Hong Kong)

She looked stunning and breath-taking. At first, I thought due to her tight filming schedule, she would look tired and not at her best (though she would still look gorgeous). However, she attended the finals with an absolutely stunning dress and energy. She looked her best during the night, outshining the other Miss Hong Kong winners sitting near her, i.e. Erin Wong and Katherine Ho, by miles.

The only critique that I have for her, which is not her fault, is WHO THE HELL gave her that HUGE AND UGLY CROWN!!

Get what I mean..Ugly crown ugh... BUT still outshining the others!!

Review
The stage looked like MHK 2014 but I enjoyed the opening.
The dresses and the hairstyle for the opening looks decent this year - not much monstrous dresses

Top 3

15) Mandy CHAI - Sydney - Champion

• Introduction: She looked very pretty and like her natural speech
• Interview/Swimsuit: Strong and clever speaker, just like Sarah Song when she won in 2007. I might even say she speaks even smarter then her predecessor. However, I believe she does have to tone down a but coz this is a pageant at the end of the day. This might though be the reason why she was placed so high. The judges loved her personality.
• Talent: People might find this performance sexy but it can be seen that she was not an adept dancer
• Comments: I have no problem with Mandy's win coz i think she deserved it! Her pic during the swimsuit portion was hot as well, though not as smoking as Catherine's.

6) Veronica SHIU - Hong Kong - 1st Runner-Up

• Introduction: I must say she looked her best tonight. The photo of her above is not justified. But why is her speech so slow!
• Interview/ Swimsuit: Weak answer. Very very weak. If she is not from HK then I believe she won't make it! I would rather have some other contestant in her top 5 spot
• Talent: This is the part where actually shot her to the top. The dance was watchable and vibrant. Judging from the talent portion alone, she deserved to be 1st Runner-up, which is quite disappointing at the same time coz I dun reli think she could be in the Top 5 
• Comments: Her 1st runner-up in my opinion is not justified because she should not have entered the top 5 in the first place. 

11) Katherine HUI - New York City - 2nd Runner-Up

• Introduction: She looked gorgeous in that purple dress. New York is strong this year!! I would still hope she don a darker hair colour. That would make her even more competitive in a Chinese based pageant
• Interview/Swimsuit: She was not bad and did not step a foot wrong. My only comment would be that her words can sound blunt at times. Definitely in the Top 3. On a side note her swimsuit photo at the back was HOTTT!!! I also like how her hair flow during her walk.
• Talent: Decent watching and she was reli good at the piano. However, it may not be as interesting as dancing
• Dance: She was a strong dancer! Her moves co-ordinateed with the music very well
• Comments: I would have been happier if she was the 1st Runner-up. Although her talent may not be as watchable as Veronica's, she definitely was much stronger than her in all other aspect.On a side note, New York had been quite strong these recent year with Maggie Zhang last year and Jasmine Hayter in 2012. Let's hope they can sustain the heat!

Top 5
7) Anjoe Koh - KL - Top 5

• Introduction: Love her dress!! Probably one of the most gorgeous dresses. She managed to carry it well at the same time. She looked better in motion
• Interview/Swimsuit: She speaks well. In the first interview she was definitely much better than Veronica. In the swimsuit one she was very good and eloquent as well
• Talent: Egyptian Dance...She definitely just learnt it for the competition. If there was no such part, she should have placed higher. Such a shame..
• Comments: I think she was an excellent representative for KL. However, she definitely was not as good as some of her predecessors in recent years, e.g. Lenna Lim and Denise Tan. Anjoe had the elegance but she lacked the spark that the two of them had.

17) Erica CHEN - Vancouver - Top 5

• Introduction: Gorgeous! She reli does looks like Whitney Hui at first glance.
• Interview/Swimsuit: She is strong in this portion as well! Definitely one of the top contestants.
• Talent: I actually liked her performance. However, I believer a classic music would showcase her beauty and elegance more and she would be less nervous. She definitely was nervous! I was wishing that her performance would suppress Veronica's dance actually
• Dance: She was lucky that she would not have to move much for this portion. She definitely is not a strong dancer and quite struggled with it. Her walk was also not as smooth as some other e.g. New York and Melbourne, to my suprise.
• Comments: She is another strong representative for Vancuover. She probably had one of the most gorgeous faces this year. However, when faced with an even stronger speaker in the Top 5, she just did not have what it takes to beat Mandy for the crown. However, she is definitely a much better choice than Veronica.

Top 10
2) Christina JIN - Auckland - Miss Friendship

• Introduction: Her dress looked weird but I can give it a pass.
• Interview/ Swimsuit: She is super tall!! But I dun think that would be enough to make it to the Top 10. That is why I was surprised that she was included.

3) Isabella CHAYANEE - Bangkok

• Introduction: Her Cantonese is surprisingly smooth. She did have glimpses of MCIP 2006 1st Runner-up Ginney from Bangkok. Because of this, I thought she was going to do very well that night.
• Interview/ Swimsuit: Nth special. It's just that she is lucky enough to have a celebrity translator. I dun reli mind if she gets into top 5 but i would not be sad if she miss it either.

MCIP 2006 1st Runner-up Ginney

8) Katrina LEE - Los Angeles

• Introduction: Lookwise she is basically one of the weakest.
• Interview/ Swimsuit: Didn't reli care coz I think this is the furthest she would go.

9) Cindy YE - Melbourne

• Introduction: Very cute and the dress helped to express that cuteness as well. Her walk in my opinion was very smooth
• Interview/Swimsuit: She was decent in interviews but she was always overshadowed especially in the first one where she was against Miss Sydney. She does have a very solid and good catwalk for the swimsuit portion though! She came prepared!
• Dance: I think her dance performance was quite strong

16) Valarie FONG - Toronto

• Introduction: To be honest, I dun find her strong among the girls. However, she had that composed aura that u will immediately know she'll get into the Top 10. I guess she is the type which are consistent and can sail into the Top 10 without difficulty but are too plain to make the final cut
• Interview/Swimsuit: She is no doubt a calm and decent speaker

Remaining
1) Zhengting LU - Anhui, China

• Introduction: As the first one on stage, she does look decent but I dun find her particularly memorable. The mainland contestants this year actually surprised as they look quite decent and elegant.
• Interview: Confident answer. Got a shot at top 10

3) Jennifer ZHANG - Chicago

• Introduction: As I have said, all of the girls look decent but Chicago just did not stand out for me, as well as the judges
• Interview: It's actually alright but she is quite nervous.

5) Holly HE - Jiangsu

• Introduction: She has that kind of mainland aura that I dun reli like. Probably the weakest among the mainland contestants
• Interview: She seems to rehearsed 

6) Jia LI - Montreal

• Introduction: She was very pretty and she seemed quite tall. Pleasant surprise. Could be a dark horse. Too bad her voice sound so DJ-fied
• Interview: She was not bad though she almost set a trap for herself which might probably be the reason why she missed the cut.
• Dance: Quite enjoy her dance as well!

12) Shirley LIU - San Fransico

• Introduction: She looked her best here and her dress was very pretty. Made her looked very elegant. However, unfortunately she was one of the weakest links in the pageant.
• Interview: Nth special

13) Leah LI - Seattle

• BIGGEST SHOCK!!!!
• Introduction: She looked so pretty and elegant!! Lookwise, she was one of the best bet. The judges may not like her introduction though as she said that she was a kind-hearted person. It's not an easy task to define yourself as kind-hearted.
• Interview: Over praising Miss Thailand and didn't relate to the question. Such a PITY! The judges could just simply place her in the Top Ten just because of her look!
• Dance: Nice Dance! Though she could have been fitter.

14) Tammy NG - Singapore

• Introduction: Love her dress. It was quite playful because of the sharp colour and the floral print on the top. Her hairstyle was a bit off though - dun like the bangs, especially when you are not facially the strongest
• Interview: Sure dead after her answer..
• Dance: Her moves are quite solid and I like her smile

15) Yolanda YEN - Zhejiang

• Introduction: She was looking her best as well and she was gorgeous!
• Interview: She was too nervous!