Miss Chinese International 2017 (Results)

The production is year is really one of the best since 2013. It really does help that the stage is huge this year, making more room for the girls to cat-walk and perform which is a must for beauty pageant in my opinion. I'm pleasantly surprised by the results but I'm happy about it. I have always felt that Stitch is a strong delegate as I think she reminds me of Catherine Hui, her predecessor in MCI 2014. However, she reli frizzled alot during the exhausting competition and she has been looking so bad in photos prior the finals.


Review of the contestants
Before I write about my review, may I say Jennifer Coosemans looks so gorgeous and stunning. Definitely the best MCI in years.

The Rest
16) Maria Rincon - Vancouver
I am in complete shock that Maria did not make it to the top 10. Based on beauty alone, she should have propelled up to the top 5. I guess we could just blame that she has a bad interview with the judges. However Real Shock!!!

8) Gloria Rong - Melbourne
I am also abit surprised that Gloria did not make it to the top 10. Maybe she comes off as a bit too forced at times.

Top 10
Basically I think everyone of them has a decent performance especially the ones who got into the top 5 plus Bangkok (as always) and Fushan (who fell short in the interview portion). I would think that the weakest among the Top 10 would be San Francisco and Toronto, who should have definitely be replaced by Vancouver or Melbourne or even LA.

Honourable Mentions
2) Gam Wonglappanich - Bangkok
I think she looks gorgeous throughout the night especially the swimsuit portion (where she also has an alright interview) and the national costume parade. Based on these two sessions alone, she should have made it to the top 5.


If I were the judge for Top 10:
2) Bangkok
3) Hong Kong
5) KL
7) Manila
8) Melbourne
9) Fushan
10) Montreal
11) New York
14) Sydney
16) Vancouver

Top 5
I agree with the judge's choices. I am happy about New York and Montreal's inclusion although this means more beautiful girls such as Bangkok or Fushan made way for her inclusion. For New York, I guess it is because of her eloquence and young aura.

If I were the judge for Top 5:
2) Bangkok
3) Hong Kong
4) KL
11) New York
14) Sydney

10) Alice Zhang - Montreal - Top 5
As mentioned, Alice is looking fresh and energetic. She seems to be a really nice and pleasant girl with a bubbly personality which the judges really like, giving her an edge over stunner such as Bangkok. Her talent is sadly one of the weaker ones among the Top 5 and therefore this is the furthest she can go.


14) Emily Yu - Sydney - Top 5
Gorgeous as always. Emily managed to look her best during the final night and has one of the best answers for the swimsuit portion. I really thought she is able to make it to the Top 3 as she has a decent talent performance. However, the judges decided to make way for New York (due to her exceptional talent) and HK.


Top 3
3) Crystal Fung - Hong Kong - 2nd Runner-up
I'm really surprised by her performance. Not only is she looking her best throughout the night, she also managed to be very confident and eloquent, much better than Louisa Mak last year. Everything seems to be in place for her to crack into the Top 3 until the talent came. Her magic performance is completely not up to bar with KL, New York, Sydney or even Montreal. Crystal is lucky that she is able to make it to the 2nd Runner-up as this is the furthest she can go based on her talent. A reason might have to be Montreal and Sydney's talent not being too extraordinary. Therefore, Crystal managed to sneak in front of them when the average score is calculated.


5) Serene Lim - KL - 1st Runner-up
Despite not liking her in my initial reviews, I find her extremely pretty throughout the night. I think she is more telegenic than photogenic. Coupled with quite a watchable talent (which much better than all her predecessors), I really thought she is able to bag the crown home. Never did I know that talent counts so much towards the final result.


11) Stitch Yu - New York City - Champion
Stitch seems to have the youthful and bubbly personality the judges like. She is also tall and lean. Thus, propelling her up to the Top 5. Throughout the night, she has made several pretty appearances. However, what made her seal the deal is her extraordinary talent. Whoever watched her talent would definitely agree that her talent is reli challenging and unique. What I could not have imagined is that her talent would be so strong that she could eventually win the title. I am pleasantly surprised and I am happy about the result as Stitch has a cute look (most of the time when she is looking her best) and she has a great personality. On a side note, I think Stitch looks abit like MCI 1995 from Taipei.

New York City has been really strong these years starting from Jasmine Hayter (2012 - top 10), Maggie Zhang (2014 - top 5), Catherine Hui (2015 - 2nd Runner-up) and Amy Chen (2016 - 1st Runner-up). Keep up the good work New York!

MCI 1995 (Centre) from Taipei

If I were the judge (Top 3):

14) Emily Yu - Sydney - 2nd Runner-up

11) Stitch Yu - New York City - 1st Runner-up

5) Serene Lim - KL - Champion

I would have placed Sydney in the Top 3 instead as overall, including talent, I think she is stronger than HK. 

Miss Chinese International 2017 (Predictions)

This year is such a competitive year. TVB is so fortunate to have such good batch of contestants since 2015. I would go as far as saying that MCI 2017 is even more competitive than MCI 2016 mainly because there is no major standout like Jennifer Coosemans yet at the same time, the overall quality of the contestants is very high this year.

For predictions, I have divided the contestants into categories such as champion material, top-shots and dark horses as usual. However, predictions this year is so much more difficult as the quality is so averagely high. So here it goes:

Champion Material
On a general note, this is what I want to happen. I feel that these two delegates deserve to win as they does stand out among the rest facially and have the eloquence to do quite well in the pageant. However, if there is a delegate who managed to charm the judges with their extreme eloquence, they may place higher than these two.

14) Emily Yu - Sydney

 Emily is my favourite to win since the very beginning. Despite being gorgeous all the time, you can tell that she seems to be exhausted and frizzled during the competition. But who wouldn't, given the tight filming schedule of TVB? Hopefully she would look her best in the final night and maintain her elegance and eloquence. Another thing that worries me is her age. At 26, she is the most mature delegate in the batch. If she is crowned, she would also be the oldest winner to date.. which judges may take into account.

16) Maria Rincon - Vancouver

There is a reason why Vancouver is the powerhouse in MCI. This is because they send such competitive delegates every year. Although Maria is not one of the media favourites, she is very attractive that you can't miss her. She is also quite eloquent and bubbly which is a plus in the pageant. I do sometimes see Bernice Liu in her so fingers crossed, she would flare reli well in the pageant. (PS the thing that worries me is her body size. Not that she is fat or sth, she is indeed on the thick side)

Top-Shots

Omg it is so difficult to pick as there are just so many.

2) Gam Wonglappanich - Bangkok

Look-wise Gam would definitely be the strongest in this group, similar to all her predecessors. However, similar to all her predecessors, they all have the same language barrier. If she made it to the top 5, Gam would reli need to make an impact with a strong (or watchable) talent performance in order to crack into the top 3, e.g. dancing and NOT singing and NOT muay thai.

3) Crystal Fung - Hong Kong

Stunning. I'm surprised by her performance to be honest. Crystal has been looking her best since her crowning as Miss Hong Kong. I really hope she can make it to the top 3 but I feel that she would a top 5 placement would be her best.
(PS ain't that shot of her in the commercial just simply STUNNINGGGG. She has this very feminine aura when she smile with her mouth closed)

5) Serene Lim - KL

She would definitely be up there no doubt. She is a good representative for her city but I would be disappointed if she places in the top 3 as I think there are prettier girls.

Weaker Top-shots 
I decided to put in this category as this year, there are contestants that are facially strong but yet I feel that they might not be able to outperform the contestants above or even some of the dark horses. They would have been strong top-shots if they compete in some other years.

7) Janne Zeng - Manila

Manila is back with a bang. Janne is perhaps the strongest contestant from Manila since 2003. She has the looks and the height. However, she does not manage to catch the media's attention and I have a feeling that she may not flare as well in the interview portion (although she speaks perfect Mandarin).

9) Bella Li - FuShan

Bella is strong. The reason why I think she won't flare as well is coz she is too aggressive at times. She is quite pretty and at times, I feel that she looks like Miss World 2012 Wenxia Yu from China.


Dark-horses
Dark-horses are usually those who does not flare too well in the facial department but they are very eloquent.. so eloquent that they would eventually catch the judges' eyes solely on this element alone. Examples would be Rachel Tan (MCI 2003); Sarah Song (MCI 2007); Belle Theng (MCI 2010 1st Runner-up) and Mandy Chai (MCI 2015).

6) Lili Qu - Los Angeles

At the press conference she does looks quite plain to me albeit being very presentable. Her profile pic as well as the advertisement has in some way made her look like a really elegant and sophisticated Chinese lady. If she can keep this image, she might be able to sail through the competition with ease.

8) Gloria Rong - Melbourne

As mentioned, Gloria is a pretty girl. However, she does frizzled a lot during the packed filming schedule. If she rest well and look her best in the finals, she would be up there, as I have a feeling she might pull out a surprise via her communication skills.

10) Alice Zhang - Montreal

Alice surprises me by performing so well throughout the competition. She should at least be in the Top 10 for sure for looking fresh and energetic.

What I want to happen

Champion: (16) Maria Rincon - Vancouver

1st Runner-up: (14) Emily Yu - Sydney

2nd Runner-up: (3) Crystal Fung - HK

Top 5: (2) Gam Wonglappanich - Bangkok; (5) Serene Lim - KL

What I think will happen

Champion: (16) Maria Rincon - Vancouver
1st Runner-up: (5) Serene Lim - KL
2nd Runner-up: (14) Emily Yu - Sydney

Miss Chinese International 2017 (Pre-Arrivals)

 

It's the time of the year in which chinese beauties from all over the globe (at least some parts of the globe) would fly to HK to compete in the Miss Chinese International Pageant. This year.. with somewhat of a pleasant, the pageant will be mainly held in Malaysia. Hopefully this would mean that TVB is putting more emphasis on the show and showcasting the girls' further potential. 

In additional to the change in location, lucky for TVB, the quality of contestants this years seems to be quite high as well, continuing the streak from last year. Based on the contestants that I know are competiting for sure, the following are those I think would shine throughout the competition:

Chanya Wonglabpanich 汪雅妮 (Bangkok)

Bangkok has always been strong in this pageant. I think one of the reasons is coz the girls are trained by the Miss World Thailand organisation which prepares their winners reli well. In fact, the winner this year went all the way to the top 20 in Miss World last month.

This year is no exception. Chanya is tall and cute. Even though she may not look stunning in every shot, she is going to be up there just based on looks alone. She would need to work on her talent and communication skills if she wanna crack into the top 3 (which would seems quite challenging this year).

Crystal Fung 馮盈盈 (Hong Kong)

I am actually a fan of Crystal as Miss Hong Kong progresses this year and I have her as my winner. Personally I think she is prettier than Tiffany Lau, the 1st Runner-up, as I think there's a more Chinese look to Crystal. I think Crystal is extremely pretty. However, she can look pretty inconsistent (especially with TVB's problematic make-up team.. she looks prettier when she puts on her own make-up and darken her light brows). Another thing about Crystal is that.. although I am a huge fan of her.. there's no denying that she just does not have that champion's aura at times.. which might be a challenge for her when competing in MCI. I see her reaching the top 3 at most.. but realistically, I think she would need to settle for a top 5 or a top 10 (just like Louisa last year).. PS i think she is much more prettier than Louisa lookwise.

Serene Lim 劉萱逸(KL)

KL is back this year with a strong delegate after last year's unplacement. This year's delegate has that girl-next-door look which should probably work well with the judges and the audience coupled with hometown advantage, a top three placement is in the bag.

Gloria Rong 戎 瑀 (Melbourne)

I have no idea how to pronounce her name. She gives me a really strong mainland and aggressive vibe but there is no denying that she is a pretty girl who should probably place in the top 10 at the very least.

Emily Yu 于欣卉 (Sydney)

Stunner! She is simply gorgeous with such perfect white skin. I would crown her now if I were the judge. We need to see more about her though.. but at the very moment, she seems to be a crown contender. Good job Sydney! It seems that the Australia pageant is doing a great job.. they manage to send two strong contenders every year.

Maria Rincon王思思 (Vancouver)

Another strong contender (mixed) contender for Vancouver. However, it would be a much uphill battle for Maria as facially she is not as stunning as Jennifer Coosemans and she is not so tall as her. She should aim for a top 3 placement but realistically she might have to settle for a top 5. She has a perfect look for a TV actress though.

My Predictions (What I want to happen)

Champion: Sydney

1st Runner-up: Vancouver 

2nd Runner-up: Hong Kong

Top 5: KL, anyone (perhaps Bangkok)

My Predictions (What I think will happen)

Champion: Sydney/KL

1st Runner-up: KL/Sydney

2nd Runner-up: Vancouver

Top 5: Hong Kong, Bangkok