Miss Chinese International 2007

The Miss Chinese International Pageant 2007 pageant was held on January 20, 2007 in Foshan, China. 21 delegates competed for the crown. They were previously in Hong Kong for promotion events and activities. At the end of the two and a half hour show, outgoing titleholder Ina Lu of Johannesburg crowned the new winner.

Pageant Results

Miss Chinese International 2007 Winner 國際中華小姐冠軍: "Number 12", Sarah Song 宋熙年 of Sydney, Australia

1st Runner-Up 國際中華小姐亞軍 "Number 20", Ivy Lu 呂怡萱 of Johannesburg, South Africa

2nd Runner-Up 國際中華小姐季軍: "Number 4", Sherry Chen 陳爽 of Toronto, Canada

Top 5 finalists 五強佳麗: "Number 9", "'Sirena Wang 王思寧 of New York, United States of America "Number 13", "'Yvonne Chapman 彭美齡 of Calgary, Canada

Top 10 semifinalists 十強佳麗:

"Number 2", Aimee Chan 陳茵媺 of Hong Kong, China

"Number 3", Louisa Wu 吳如意 of San Francisco, United States of America

"Number 6", Chinzy Choi 蔡紫君 of Rotterdam, Netherlands

"Number 14", Susana Su 蘇小蕊 of Vancouver, Canada

"Number 21", Zhao Ying Ying 趙瑩瑩 of Nanning, China

pecial Awards

Audience Favorite Award 現場最受歡迎佳麗獎: "Number 9", Sirena Wang 王思寧 of New York, United States of America

International Charm Award 國際風采獎: "Number 8", Carol Li Rui 李睿 of Pearl River, China

Miss Friendship 友誼小姐: "Number 16", Parichart Wisutthiphat 林雅志 of Bangkok, Thailand

Miss Chinese Culture Ambassador 中華文化大使: "Number 12", "'Sarah Song 宋熙年 of Sydney, Australia

chedule of Events

*January 3, 2007: 20 delegates arrived in Hong Kong to compete. They will also undergo a makeover. A press conference will be staged in the upcoming days. One of the delegates, Miss Nanning, Ying Ying Zhao is currently not in Hong Kong due to Visa problems. The organizers of the pageant are currently considering her eligibility to compete.

*January 5, 2007: TVB, the organizers of the pageant held a press conference where numbers were assigned to the delegates. Official portraits and official profiles were not available at the moment.

*January 6, 2007: TVB released the official portraits of delegates from number 1-10.

*January 8, 2007: The official site was opened and launched. The site featured a promotion clip with Leanne Li, the 2005 Miss Chinese international winner. Profiles and portraits are yet to be updated. News section is open.

*January 9, 2007: The 20 delegates visited Ocean Park. They also took a ride to Lantau Island through a cable car.

*January 10, 2007: The delegates visited Victoria Harbour on a ship at night.

*January 11, 2007: 20 delegates competed in a talent competition in Hong Kong. Miss New York, Sirena Wang won the Audience Favorite award, voted by the local audience. Her talent was singing Yesterday Once More and playing the piano. The delegates arrived in Foshan where they met up with Miss Nanning, Zhao Ying Ying.

*January 13, 2007: The 21 delegates toured Foshan. Delegates number 1 to 5 made cakes. Some delegates lifted a lion head and some learned the art of paper cutting. The portraits and profiles of all 21 delegates were released.

*January 14, 2007: The 21 delegates competed in a competition for the title, International Charm Award. At the end of the show, Pearl River's Carol Li Rui won the award. The delegates were asked to present a gift from their city and Miss Li introduced the art of paper cutting.

*January 15, 2007: The delegates met the panel of judges in Hong Kong. They include: Roger Kwok, Sonija Kwok, Charmaine Sheh, Steven Ma, and Chinese painter, Mr. Yong Qiang Chen.

*January 16, 2007: The delegates traveled back to Foshan for the upcoming finals. They had a ceremony before returning to Foshan upon wishing for a good show.

*January 17, 2007: Outdoor filming and shootings for finals.

*January 18, 2007: Outdoor filming and shootings for finals.

*January 19, 2007: Final dress rehearsal. Miss Bangkok, Parichat Wisutthiphat won the Miss Friendship title, which was voted by her fellow delegates. Finals of the pageant will be held tomorrow.

*January 20, 2007: Finals were held in Foshan, China at 8:30 HK time. In the end, #12 Miss Sydney, Sarah Song won the Miss Chinese International 2007 title and the Miss Chinese Culture Ambassador award.

*January 21, 2007: The newly crowned winners met up with Miss Hong Kong 2001, Shirley Yeung in Guangzhou, China to receive their prizes.

Delegates

There are 21 delegates participating this year. The delegates below are sorted by number, country, and continent.

Asia

*Number 2: Hong Kong, China: Aimee Chan 陳茵媺

*Number 5: Singapore: Leow Cai Ling 廖彩伶

*Number 8: Pearl River (Foshan), China: Carol Li Rui 李睿

*Number 15: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Novel Lim 林秀婷

*Number 16: Bangkok, Thailand: Parichart Wisutthiphat 林雅志

*Number 17: Manila, Philippines: Rachel Tan Carrasco 陳香利

*Number 21: Nanning, China: Ying Ying Zhao 趙瑩瑩

Europe

*Number 6: Rotterdam, Netherlands: Chinzy Choi 蔡紫君

North America

*Number 1: Seattle, United States of America: Tina Leung 梁皓婷

*Number 3: San Francisco, United States of America: Louise Wu 吳如意

*Number 4: Toronto, Canada: Sherry Chen 陳爽

*Number 9: New York, United States of America: Sirena Wang 王思寧

*Number 10: Chicago, United States of America: Mingzhu He 赫明珠

*Number 11: Montreal, Canada: Lois Cui 崔竹子

*Number 13: Calgary, Canada: Yvonne Chapman 彭美齡

*Number 14: Vancouver, Canada: Susana Su 蘇小蕊

South America

"There are no representatives from this region"

Africa

*Number 20: Johannesburg, South Africa: Ivy Lu 呂怡萱

Australia & Oceania

*Number 7: Tahiti, French Polynesia: Erwina Chanson 陳雪芳

*Number 12: Sydney, Australia: Sarah Song 宋熙年

*Number 18: Auckland, New Zealand: Cindy Hsu 徐自璇

*Number 19: Melbourne, Australia: Jenifer Jiang 江珏

Historical significance

*This year's pageant will be held in Foshan, China for the first time. It is also the third time the pageant will not be held in Hong Kong.
*This year marks the 19th anniversary of the pageant and is also the first year to accept Mainland China delegates.
*Lima, Peru did not send a delegate for the first time ever since 2003.
*The city of Pearl River and Nanning, China is competing for the first time.
*Delegates from San Francisco, Calgary, and Amsterdam will compete after a two year hiatus.
*First time that two of the judges were former beauty queens: Sonija Kwok was Miss Hong Kong 1999 and the winner of Miss Chinese International 2000. Charmaine Sheh was also 2nd runner up at Miss Hong Kong 1997.
*Sydney wins their second crown, last being Kit Wong in 1989. This is also the second time in five years that the city made the top 5.
*Johannesburg places in the top 3 for the second year in a row.
*Toronto makes the top 5 for the second year in a row.
*Hong Kong fails to place in the top 5 for the second year in a row.
*Vancouver places for the 4th consecutive year.
*Calgary records their first placement in the pageant.
*New York makes the top 5 for the second time in three years, the second time this has occurred.
*Cities that debuted this year, Rotterdam and Nanning both placed as semifinalists.
*Bangkok wins their first Miss Friendship award.

Contestant notes

*Miss Nanning, Ying-ying Zhao was chosen by a local television station to enter a preliminary competition in Nanning. She competed with 7 other Chinese cities in Hong Kong for the title of "Homeland Beauty", allowing her to compete in the Miss Chinese International Pageant. However due to a Visa problem, she was unable to arrive in Hong Kong for the first press conference and a talent competition. She joined the delegates later on in Foshan.
*Miss Johannesburg, Ivy Lu is the sister of current Miss Chinese International, Ina Lu. Ivy was selected to represent Johannesburg since she finished 1st runner up at Johannesburg's 2005 pageant. Since that pageant is held every 2 years, Ivy therefore is also the only representative from Africa.
*The Miss Chinese Seattle pageant, is held every 2 years. Due to MCI being held every year, the top 2 represents Seattle at the international pageant. 2005's 1st princess (or 1st runner up): Katie Au was suppose to compete this year. She was later replaced by Tina Leung (2nd princess). It is unknown whether or not she gave up the chance to compete.
*Miss Netherlands, Chinzy Choi is named by TVB as Miss Rotterdam rather than Miss Amsterdam. She is the only representative from Europe.
*Miss Hong Kong, Aimee Chan failed to land at the top 5 and only made the top 10. This is only the third time that a Miss Hong Kong did not make the top five at MCI. The two other times were: Winnie Young (Miss Hong Kong 1995 at the 1996 pageant) and Tracy Ip (Miss Hong Kong 2005 at the 2006 pageant). Like Aimee, Winnie placed in the top 10.
*Miss Sydney, Sarah Song takes her city's second winner's crown. She was considered a dark horse by many and her win was a surprise to many.
*Miss Johannesburg, Ivy Lu takes second and was really close in succeeding her older sister, Ina Lu, the 2006 winner.
*Miss Toronto, Sherry Chen takes third, her city's 5th placement at the pageant.
*Miss New York, Sirena Wang makes the top 5 in the pageant, she was considered by many a favorite to win.
*Miss Calgary, Yvonne Chapman makes the top 5, her city's first placement in the history of the pageant.
*There was a top 10 selected this year. The last time that the competition had a top 10 was 1996. There was only a top 5 and a top 3 during 1997 - 2006.
*The city of Rotterdam makes the top 10, her city's first semifinalist at the pageant.
*The city of Nanning makes the top 10, her city's first semifinalist at the pageant.
*During the final minute of the show, Sarah Song fell her cape as she was taking her first walk. This was caused by the helper and the 2006 winner, Ina Lu who forget to button her cape during the crowning.

References & Links

* [http://tvcity.tvb.com/special/mcip2007/main/index.html Official Miss Chinese International Pageant 2007 Website]
* [http://pageant-beauties.tripod.com/id35.html Pageant Beauties' Coverage for Miss Chinese International 2007]
* [http://www.misshkbeauties.com/ Miss HK Beauties]