Misses Vietnam and Philippines in a group picture

Vietnam and Philippines are two of the countries in Asia where beauty pageants are well-loved by the people. Fans from both countries always have heated arguments on pageant-related message boards as they try to hype their own representative or bash the opponent.

This year, Vietnam is represented by Vo Hoang Yen and Pamela Bianca Manalo is carrying the Philippine flag.

It's good to see the two beauty queens in a group picture with Miss Zambia Andella Chileshe Matthews.

So, who between the two will make the final cut? I hope to see them both.

National Costumes and Long Gown at the Miss Universe 2009

The official head shot of Miss Philippines Universe 2009, Pamela Bianca Manalo

Miss Universe candidates from all over the world start arriving in Bahamas one week from now. We have visited different websites and forums and collected some interesting information on some of the lovely candidates. Here they are:

1. Miss Japan Emiri Miyasaka will be the first Japanese delegate to speak English if she can pass through the finals or Top 5. According to her national director, Ines Ligron, Emiri is the most prepared Miss Japan since she started handling the Japanese girls to the pageant.

2. Mayra Matos of Puerto Rico will be wearing a boxer-inspired suit for her national costume. Some argue that she should not win the Best in National Costume award since boxing is not a native of Puerto Rico. They say Puerto Rico can't claim the boxing outfit exclusively. See the pictures below for reference.

3. Miss Philippines Pamela Bianca Manalo is no longer dressed by Alfredo Barraza who, for almost a decade, trained the Philippine representatives with no success. Pamela is being trained by a Philippine top model, Wilma Doesnt, with her catwalk skills. Her sister, Miss World 2002 finalist Katherine Ann Manalo is training her how to do well at the question and answer part of the pageant.

It is also rumoured that Pamela will be wearing a Filipiniana terno for her national costume and it is said that the dress was designed by Pitoy Moreno. According to some, Pamela personally chose the dresses she will be wearing in Bahamas.

Will she be wearing a gown made by Monique Lhuillier? What's the truth on this?

4. Miss Singapore Rachel Kum will be wearing a national costume that will be decided by the people via public voting. Six costumes were presented online for voting and the one with the highest vote will be her costume in the pageant.

5. Miss Jamaica Carolyn Yapp is said to be the latest favourite of the Miss Universe Organization. Apparently, the people behind the Miss universe pageant are so impressed with her beauty. If this is true, expect her at the Top 15.

6. Miss South Africa Tatum Keshwar's national costume is very similar to a Vietnamese traditional dress. Her costume is kinda good but the gown is not stunning. See pictures below for reference.

7. Miss Vietnam Vo Hoang Yen is definitely one of the most hyped delegates this year together with Miss Japan Emiri Miyasaka. At first we love to see the "photo-chopped" pictures of Vo Hoang Yen but upon seeing more of her candid shots, we are predicting that she will end up not making the cut.

Though Vo Hoang Yen has a good catwalk skill, we doubt if she can score high in the long gown and preliminary interview. Never had a Miss Vietnam wore a stunning gown in any international pageants. We doubt also if she can do well in the interview. But we hope we are wrong since we love to see Asian winning the crown again.

The national costume of Mayra Matos, Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2009

Mayra Matos, Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2009, in her national costume.

Mayra Matos, Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2009, in her national costume.

An artist sketch of the national costume of Mayra Matos, Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2009.

Tatum Keshwar, Miss South Africa 2009 in her long gown.

Tatum Keshwar, Miss South Africa 2009 in her national costume.

Miss Singapore Rachel Kum's Another Scandalous Picture

Rachel Kum, Singapore's representative to the Miss Universe 2009 pageant in Bahamas is in hot water again, for the nth time, for having another racy picture circulating in the net.

Rachel is definitely one of the most attacked candidates to the Miss Universe along with Miss Philippines Pamela Bianca Manalo and Miss Vietnam Vo Hoang Yen. Poor three lovely beauties who have been into public scrutiny just because of their dreams of representing their countries to an international pageant like the MIss Universe.

Well, the photo is taken from a party and there's nothing wrong being involved in this idea of fun but as a beauty queen, we really have to be very careful.

More of her racy pictures in here.

An Apology to Vo Hoang Yen

I would like to correct my previous post on Vo Hoang Yen, one of Asia's strongest candidates for this year's Miss Universe pageant in the Bahamas. I have written about a blog which I claimed she updates personally.

A big thanks to the admin behind vohoangyen.blogspot.com who made remarks on this entry. The said blog is not owned by the beauty queen who is so far Vietnam's strongest candidate to the Miss Universe. The said article was written by Nina herself, a fan of Vo Hoang Yen.

To Vo Hoang, if you are reading this blog, I apologize. To the writers of the said blog, you have a fantastic blog.

Miss Vietnam Vo Hoang Yen Dares Ines Ligron

Vo Hoang Yen, Vietnam's representative to the Miss Universe 2009 pageant to be held in Nassau, Bahamas is very happy with the review of a Puerto Rican fan who wrote an affirmative review about her chances in the pageant that she even dared Ines Ligron, the Director for Miss Universe Japan.

"Feeling a tad nervous, Ines?" That was the line from Vo in her latest blog entry. It should be remembered that Ines made a comment about her and called her a Miss Tiffany entrant. Miss Tiffany is a Thai pageant for transsexuals.

The fan who described by Vo as " from a beauty expert site" is Nina Cleopatra.

Cleopatra gave Vo an almost perfect score of 9.15 and 9.90 for her presentation and catwalk skills respectively. As for her face, the fan gave her a score of 8.80. Vo got a score of 8.70 for her body.

Read the full review here.

Miss Vietnam Vo Hoang Yen is not offended by Ines Ligron's Comment

Wow, the comments made by Ines Ligron, Japan's national director for Miss Universe Organization, in her blog about some of the candidates for the Miss Universe 2009 in Bahamas and was FIRST reported in our blog is now generating "controversy" because of fans around the world who were offended.

In my entry dated 20 May 2009, I relayed what Ines has said about Miss Vietnam. "Võ Hoàng Yến is indeed special, but she need to seriously start to look more sophisticated. I saw many pictures of her and she looks like a beautiful Miss Tiffany to me sometimes. She is a beautiful girl but she needs urgent styling. I wish her the best because I want Asian girls to do great. Methinks. Meilleurs voeux le Vietnam!"

But Vietnam's Vo Hoang Yen is not really offended when Ines compared her to a beautiful Miss Tiffany Universe, a pageant for transsexuals.

In an interview with the Yen by Vietnam Net, the beauty queen said that she was not upset by Ligron’s comment because the comment was correct and frank, and not easy to recognize.

“There are some photos of me on the Internet in which I was captured at angles that make me look quite husky. I will learn from them for my next photo shows,” Yen said.

About Ligron’s suggestion of building her own style, Yen said: “I’ll try to develop my image as a supermodel, but not so cold. I’ll smile more and be more cheerful.”

The Performance Art Agency under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism hasn’t received an invitation letter from the Miss Universe 2009 organising board so it hasn’t approved Hoang Yen’s participation. However, Yen is preparing for the event by taking a training course at John Roberts Powers School.

Supermodel nominated for Miss Universe 2009

The Hoan Vu (Universe) Company has asked the Performance Art Agency, under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, to licence supermodel Vo Hoang Yen to participate in the Miss Universe 2009.

The Performance Art Agency’s senior official Pham Dinh Thang said the agency would consider licencing Hoang Yen once it received the invitation letter from the Miss Universe organisers.

According to regulations, Vietnamese contestants who are chosen for international beauty contests must be able to speak a foreign language fluently. However, which agency will test the contestants: the Performance Art Agency or Hoan Vu company?

Thang said that when the Miss Universe Organization sends its invitation letter to Hoang Yen, Hoan Vu Company will have to submit some documents, including Hoang Yen’s certificate in a foreign language, perhaps English or French.

Vo Hoang Yen (1.79m, 90-62-90), was born in 1988 in HCM City. She was in the top ten of the Miss Vietnam Photo 2006, won the gold prize in the Vietnam Supermodel 2008 and was first runner-up in the Miss Universe Vietnam 2008.

Hoang Yen said she was very happy to be nominated as Vietnamese contestant for this year’s Miss Universe pageant and was ready to participate in this event. “Miss Universe pageant often has a talent competition. I plan to sing a song,” she added.

She also said that she would exercise to lose one kilo in weight and to have a smaller waist. “Hoan Vu Company said that if I’m invited by the Miss Universe Organization and licenced by the Performance Art Agency, they will organise a training course for me, from May to August 2009,” she revealed.

Previously, Hoan Vu Company chose Vo Hoang Yen and Phan Thi Ngoc Diem as bright nominees for Miss Universe 2009. However, Ngoc Diem withdrew. “I’m a last-year student at the HCM City Foreign Trade University so studying is my top priority this year. I don’t have time for training courses for the Miss Universe pageant. Moreover, Hoang Yen has more favourable conditions than me. Of course, I feel regret having to give up this chance,” Diem said.

Miss Universe 2009 will take place in August 2009 in the Bahamas. Forty countries have registered to take part in the event.