Miss Hong Kong 2012: Ten Finalists Announced
After fierce elimination rounds, the ten finalists for the 2012 Miss Hong Kong Pageant were announced on July 23rd. The last finalist was dark horse, Amy Cheung (張鈞美) from New York. The ten contestants will compete for the Miss Hong Kong title when the pageant takes place on August 26th.
The ten finalists for the 2012 Miss Hong Kong Pageant are: Christy Chan (陳潔玲), Carat Cheung (張名雅), Tracy Chung (朱千雪), Wingto Lam (林泳淘), Melanie McAndrew (李渼琦), Jennifer Shum (岑杏賢), Roxanne Tong (湯洛雯), Cynthia Tsang (曾明俐), Jacqueline Wong (黃心穎), and Amy Cheung (張鈞美).
The tenth finalist, Amy Cheung, was chosen among a group of four women, who had survived the latest elimination rounds in the pageant, which included Penelope Pin (卞曉帆), Xaviera Yau (尤蔭蔭), Hilary Tam (譚曉榆), and Ivana Wong (王舒銳). Amy was selected after consolidating the pageant’s judging panel and online audience votes via TVB.com.
Regarding the finalist results, Amy Cheung said, “I was surprised myself! It is not because I lack confidence in myself, it is because the results are beyond my control. Actually, I thought Hilary Tam would have a good chance.”
Reasons Other Candidates Were Ousted
Peneople Pin allegedly was unable to be placed as the tenth finalist in the pageant due to her inability to mix well with the pageant’s “social rules.” As CEO of her own company, Penelope will turn her focus back to managing her own business. Penelope said, “Now, I can breathe a sign of relief. I expected this to happen. It is not because I lack confidence in myself, but the entertainment industry is not suitable for me. Running a business has a lot more freedom and fits me better. Perhaps it is because I do not know how to behave [according to the social rules of the pageant]!”
When the contestants traveled to London earlier, it was rumored that Xaviera Yau and Jacqueline Wong were both gossip queens. Xaviera allegedly leaked the disagreement rumors between Roxanne Tong and Melanie McAndrew to the press. With Xaviera’s drunk photos surfacing earlier, it was expected that her chances in the Miss Hong Kong Pageant were slim.
Sources: On.cc, On.cc, ihktv.com
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Jayne: Good luck to the candidates! I was surprised that Hilary Tam did not make it as the top 10 finalists, given her previous pageant experience. Amy seems bubbly as well and I wish a fellow New Yorker good luck!
I was rooting for penelope. She is very beautiful.
It too felt she was among the front runners… but didn’t understand why she was in the pageant given her success with her own company. She had said before she had no interest in the entertainment industry… and most see MHK as a stepping stone into it – so why try?
I was rooting for her to win. she’s still the prettiest and smartest
penelope is pretty, but her body ratio sucks, it makes her look like such a shortie due to her large head. Jacqueline and Carat who are of similar heights, looked more proportionate.
Yes I am indeed very surprised that Hilary Tam did not make the top 10 considering she had participated in many beauty pageants before and is not too bad looking as well.
i thnk melanie s allrght
what type of business does Peneople own?
She is into Fund Management and Wine apparently. She started a wine brand last year, and is reported to be worth over $10 million yuan (about $1.5 million US). She comes from a wealth family. You can read more about her here. She really doesn’t seem to be the MHK pageant type… and my guess is when they say she wouldn’t mix with their “social rules” it just means she wouldn’t do everything they asked of her.
Read more : http://mhkdiary.com/2012/06/29/6-28-penelope-pin-example-of-beauty-and-intelligence/
they have a really nice photo of her there as well
http://mhkdiary.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/012.jpeg
Thanks for the info.
I was kinda surprised that my fav Penelope got eliminated, guess she refused to attend those business dinners 😀 plus the fact that she won’t sign a slave-contract with TVB, LOL
So she’s indeed from a wealthy family no wonder the elegant aura of hers. It also explains her being a CEO. Her wine is called “Afeccion” 🙂
Exoidus,
Does Penelope own a vineyard?
Is there such a thing as overqualified candidates in the Miss Hong Kong Pageant? In 1997, the Miss Hong Kong Pageant had a contestant from Harvard University named Pauline Yam. She is very pretty too, but rumors claim that she was not favored because she did not have the right “social attitude.”
I suspect that the pageant organizers expect their contestants to comply and not question certain orders. It’s a tightly managed pageant and they wish the candidates to project a certain image. Go with a stylists’ recommendations and no questions asked, that type of compliance. Penelope Pin hinted that the pageant had lack of freedom, which I interpreted as they do not want candidates who are strongly individualistic with their own strong preferences.
TVBFanatic,
Thanks for the info. With such an impressive background, even if Penelope wins the Miss Hong Kong title, she may not put behind her successful business.
Jayne,
I don’t know just got the info from TVBFanatic’s link.
I suppose she does if she is serious abt wine making i.e control entire process in order to produce quality wine -> create a brand name.
The other choice is just to put your own label on the bottle produced by some unknown wine maker.
TVB just want a mindless puppet they can control, LOL.
My guess is that her wineyard is located in Spain and hence the name.
It maybe she wants her name to be recognized where TVB is broadcasting Miss HK worldwide audience. Free publicity in the matter of weeks.
I think you may be right Larry! Many that compete don’t expect to win but want free publicity or a chance to enter the circle because those that don’t win often get more popular than the ones that do win as we have seen many times. I personally don’t think it is big deal to win this pageant since the one that usually wins does not even deserve to win. It seems like this pageant no longer means what it meant in the past. No wonder the quality of the contestants just keep on declining…
Very true.. she could have been using the pageant to help get her name out there to help her wine company. People will now know who is behind the wine. Maybe she never expected to go this far? Maybe she decided it was time to let it go? That she’d obtained what she wanted out of it?
Sure would be interesting if that was the case. A shrewd marketing ploy if true!
Too bad that witch drinking Jack Daniels not in the contest. haha.
This years Miss HK looks to be low quality.
I agree and I guess no one else wanted to participate in this low quality pageant anymore. I have a feeling that Roxanne may win and if she does, it is only due to connections and nothing else.
Personally I think Hilary Tam is pretty. Unfortunately she has a rather “flat” top compared to other girls. Moreover, I think she was rather quiet and did not make good noises vs. Roxanne Tong and others.
Jayce:
Who is the girl in white T-shirt in the above photo? She is very pretty. Did she get into the top 10 finalists?
Sorry, I meant asking “Jayne”. It was my typo.
Sandcherry,
She is Amy Cheung, who is the tenth finalist announced. 🙂 Amy is an overseas candidate from New York, so highlighting another fellow New Yorker.
According to Amy Cheung’s above photo, she is the prettiest one in the group. Don’t know if she looks the same in person. I hope she wins if she is that pretty.
Don’t like to have Roxanne Tong as Miss Hong Kong. I don’t think she is that naive and innocent. She will get in to the top 5 and will be cast as a new actress for sure.
I also do not want Roxanne as Ms HK, but since she already has connections, she will definitely be able to enter the circle whether she wins or not. If she does not win, it may only be because TVB wants to cast her in their series first. Oh gosh, no wonder the quality of TVB series have greatly declined in terms of cast/acting, storyline, script,etc…. Tvb now has to face competition from arising companies as well. Is TVB really sinking ship???
@HTS,
I’m with you on this, I hope Roxanne won’t win too lol just because that will boost her pride even more in a bad way. I feel that she’s someone who thought she’s so special just because she has connections etc..haha..
I think ppl will blast me soon for saying stuff like dat..lol
@veejay,
I agree with you as well and I do not think people will blast you since there are many that probably agree with you as well. I can totally imagine Roxanne becoming more haughty if she did win. I personally do not think she is someone that is fit to represent HK or become Ms HK. It would really be a bad reflection on TVB and the pageant. People may boycott the pageant if she won because it would be clearly due to connections if she did win.
I think you guys are being a bit unfair to Roxanne. What gives you guys the impression that she’s haughty and prideful?
From the previous news I read about the problem between her and Melanie, I can only come to the conclusion that she’s a messy girl. Melanie denied that she’s being bullied. It’s only Xiviera who badmouth Roxanne.
I wish Hilary could’ve have made it in, or to put it better..I wish they could have a Top 12 instead of 10 since the show is going to be pretty boring with just 10 contestants. I wonder if the online voting really counted since you never know what happens behind TVB. I thought the London episode where they determined which 3 contestants (Carat, Cynthia, Melanie) were guaranteed into the final was pretty lame and not fair but I guess that’s how it works xD
A few of them did not look good and pretty in the above group photo, such as Wingto Lam, Jennifer Shum and Jacqueline Wong. Don’t know why they got into the top 10 finalists.
It depends a lot on who were the judges? Prettiness is very subjective and abstract!!
I thought Hilary had the highest chances of winning since Amy’s Chinese wasn’t as good. Hilary was good looking too…
I know the supporters of the two contestants I do not hope to see grabbing any of the competition awards will find reasons with no substantial bases to counter argue my points. I am anticipating the challenge.
I hope Wingto wins. I applaud her for the down to earth characteristic. She did not give herself an English name. She stuck with the phonic translation of her Chinese name in English format. She is acknowledging her Chinese roots.
It is only fine to give oneself a name that is not of your native root when you have knowledge of the name’s history, its origin and derivation. It is quite ridiculous when one cannot properly pronounce the name one had chosen, what a joke. Something fishy is going on if the following two candidates qualify into the finalist round of the competition.
Carat Cheung, I find her very superficial, carat is a form measurement for gems. There are two reasons for naming one self after a measuring instrument: she wants to be sized like a gemstone or she has poor knowledge of the English language. Every time I see her name, it reminds me of, “You can take the girl out of China, but you cannot take the China out of the girl”.
Xaviera Yau is another one of those with the bare minimal but thinks she knows all. Let me remind her that she is named after a former call girl and madam who wrote a memoir of her own story about being “the Happy Hooker.” There is nothing wrong with being down to earth with your birth name in whatever language it came in if you don’t know the origin of the chosen name and can’t enough pronounce it properly.
I have my bets on Wingto Lam to win it all. If my first choice does not end up being the winner, I can settle with Melanie McAndrew, at lease she is original and natural or the wildcard, Amy Cheung, coming from behind. She deserves to take home the grand prize.
How do you know that their names are given by themselves are not by their parents? These girls are born in the late 1980s or early 1990s. And their parents are not part of the older generation, and may have given their kids an english name when they are born.
Even if their parents give them a “lame” name like you said, does it mean you feel that they should go against their parents’ wishes to change their names?
Btw, if the name “Carat” is superficial, then those ancient chinese people called, “jade”, “gem”, “gold”, “silver” must be very superficial as well. Eg. Chan Po Chu?
Xaviera is a feminine form of Xavier. It is a very uncommon name, thus you may associate it with the author who wrote “The Happy Hooker”, but let me put it this way. If someone decides to call their kid “Paris”, others may think, wow, why the hell is she naming her child after that classless Paris hilton. But Paris is the name of a city, it may hold special meaning for the parents. It has a long history.
I don’t think it’s a good idea for anyone to put down someone else due to their name. Look at all those celeb kids with their weird names.
Comes back to only speak the language when you can speak it fluently. Don’t try to act like you can speak the language if you can only fit bits and pieces of it to be cocky among your peers, you are just making an *** of yourself. This rule applies to their parents if they gave them the lame name.
Get real, this pagentry is a cover up for meat market. Who are they trying to fool that they have knowledge, talent and wisdom. Not one of them is professionally educated. Even if they had a college education, it is one of those majors that cannot get them a real job.
Do you think celebrities from all over the world, not just Asia have any class. They think they are artisically talented when they can act in front of a camera where you can cut the film to perfection. What makes you think they have class when it comes to naming their children as well.
As for Paris Hilton, she is a despicable attention yearning idiot. She lower herself and bring shame to herself and yet her parents condone to her action.
Hey it is you that tease the Chinese names, but the old fashion is the tradition. Let me remind you the definition of carat, a unit of weight for precious stones and pearls… from Merriam-Webster. Perhaps if she used the letter, “K” then it would have been unique.
People can’t choose their parents. If their parents gave them a lame name, what do you expect them to do? Respect their parents and their decision, or turn their snotty noses up and change their name, disrespecting their parents. You bring up traditions, and chinese roots. I’ll like to remind you of one of the basics – filial piety.
Why are you telling me more about Paris Hilton, when I have acknowledged her behaviour in my post? I’m simply asking , if someone calls her child Paris, after the city, are you gonna mock them, like the way you mock Xaviera for her name?
I did not “tease” the traditional chinese names, but reminded you, if someone can call their child “gold/silver/pearl/gem”, why not Carat? Perhaps her parents think she’s worth carats of diamonds. It’s akin to calling your child precious pearl or gold or gem.
Don’t get me wrong, my favourite contestant is Wingto and is definitely not a fan of the other two. She is down to earth and cute. You can check my post in a previous article, but to debase someone due to their name, of which they may had no control over?
I agree with you that people cannot choose their own parents, but don’t give me that excuse of filial piety. We don’t have to worry about filial piety since the contestants gave themselves their own western name.
Parents of high society and wholly educated would not send their daughters to the “railroad tracks” in exchange for luxury and fame. Hate to burst your bubble, but pageantry competitors are usually socially, economically and educationally deprived. I know Nicole will argue that some have talent like playing an instrument. If they are that talented, they don’t need to play an instrument and wear a two piece swimwear. There are plenty of well known musicians around the globe that climb to stardom based on their true talent and perform music pieces with their choice instrument at famous symphony halls and major events. Stage acting and opera singing is high society and culture. The lyrics and music of these Cantopop songs are gibberish and noise jam together without any point. As for film acting, the tape can be done infinitely until the director accepts it as perfection.
I have no qualms of being named after what so ever, like a city. At least the person who got the name can explain why they had such a name. Children named after city has a story behind it.
By the way Xaviera is a Spanish name and I highly doubt she knew anything about the name she chose for herself. Parents and folks themselves of non-mandatory English speaking nations usually don’t research about the name before selecting it. For sure they seem to choose the name due to it sounding cute, special, or unique and used by a famous person. If you are following the 2012 Miss. HK competition, Xaviera’s name fits her well for her character like her predecessor of her name. Her action to leak her fellow competitors’ personal hygienic habits to the press was very conniving and vindictive action to increase her own popularity. In doing that she got a taste of her own medicine, postings of her drunken looks were all over the internet. I am glad that Xaviera was not selected among the ten semi-finalists.
As for Carat, let me remind you that you said it yourself that she wants to be compared to one of the four qualities in evaluating diamonds so she is superficial. How come she did not choose Clarity, Color or Cut? Being named Carat is not the same as to being named Pearl, Gem etc. At least Pearl and Gem is an object and it is no different from being named Beauty or Cutie. However Carat is a form of measurement and it is not very appropriate; she might as well name herself by her body measurements. To have such name is ghetto and tacky. Honestly if she named herself Carrot after a vegetable, I would not taunt her.
There are other forms of measurements that can be used as a person’s name and does not sound superficial. An example was found in a TVB series. They named a female character Calorie because the role portrayed a cop constantly concern about her body figure, watching out on her diet.
yayy the 5 top girls that i like are still here 😀
If penelope can’t follow the rules, then she shouldn’t be in the contest. Doesn’t matter if it is signing a slave contract with tvb. It’s their pageant they can do as they wish
I don’t know if it is not “following the rules” per se… but rather partaking in social events. I think they just expect that the ladies will all be willing to do all the promotional stuff etc… and didn’t expect her to say “no.” Why she said “no” we won’t ever know unless she decides to share, and we won’t know what social events she didn’t want to partake in unless either she or TVB wishes to share.
The difference for her is that she is a successful business woman. She doesn’t “need” TVB or an acting contract after the pageant. She’s stated she had little interest in acting a few times. So she had the ability to say “no” because there wasn’t any fear of losing that coveted possible TVB spot…
I would love to know what exactly is was she refused to do. We know, at least, that she wasn’t willing to sell out.
To be a MHK or what ever title that representing your own country for a Miss, a candidate mustn’t have news like scandals, gossiping, showing off, boosting about yourself, showing no interest, not pure and kind are likely to be chosen, perhaps these are the obstacles that mostly judges looking for at the first round I guess !
For sure the competition is a meat market advertising what is available. We know they are not pure, but pretending to be. There is no rule in the competition books that contestants have to undergo a gynecology exam to verify their virginity. The qualification is having an appealing body figure and never held a marriage license prior to competition. Of course the candidates will make news, create scandals, stir gossiping, glorify oneself and berate others. Yet we feed onto these things by reading the tabloid and giving them the attention they want. They have to cat fight to earn attention. Ever since the Edison Chan scandal all innocence lost.
It is corruption and extortion for those who sponsor them as well. Sexy bodies and money is the bargaining chip here.
At the finale of the first part of the London comeptition, they had the girls of the losing team self eliminate two among themselves, if you rrecall these girls all had their suitcase in tote. I have to say for some who dress so skimpy that was a mighty huge suitcase.
If they are really artistically talented and have such aspiration, they can take the normal route to becoming an artist. Colleges and universities around the world have curriculum in this field leading to an academic degree.
I really hope that Roxanne does not win…
Haha, hope she wins that would be the last nail in the coffin for Miss HK 😀
Amy prolly the best choice left based solely on looks alone.
@Exiodus,
You think she looks the best from the contestants left?? I don’t think so..If that is the case then the contestants this year are of VERY low quality.
@HTS,
Hai ah I think so, since I can’t really stand any of the other 9 constestants.
MHK is not associated with beauty and intelligence anymore, but rather a tool for TVB to recruit gals to attend dinners with rich businessmen.
Too bad TVB like their series is doing a lousy job or perhaps those businessmen have weird taste, haha…
Why are you so against Roxanne to win the crown? I don’t know how well she will perform during the actual pageant, but by looking at the picture above, she’s prettier than half of the contestants.
We will find out at the Final if Roxanne performs well or not. We just don’t think she is a well-behaved and simple person.
I agree. We should give Roxanne a chance to prove herself
I personally don’t think she is pretty at all but this pageant should be based on more than just looks anyways. Also, the fact that she won the talent competition(was it??don’t remember) even though she forgot the lyrics to a song and did not even sing well… That shows me that this competition is rigged and unfair… They seem to favor her due to her connections and nothing else.
HTS, I was about to say the same thing LOL!
I think miss Hong Kong is probably the only pageant that requires/expect their winners to be actresses. I thought being a beauty pageant ia to represent ones country as an ambassador of some sort. Not to be reduced to some damsels who’d later be judged for their acting skills or followed by paparazos to reveal their secret boyfriends, etc.
I don’t know who to root for
If TVB really wants Roxanne to join them as an actress, they do not need her to win, some of the most promoted TVB actresses (Charmaine, Myolie etc.) were not crowned as Miss Hong Kong.
As of now, my favourite contestant is still Wingto, but for the crown, based on their etiquette, poise, figure, looks, height etc, I’ll put my bets on Cynthia or Amy for it.
Nicole:
It was TVB’s habit to promote Miss Hong Kong a year after crowning. They just changed their routines in the very last few years. Miss Hong Kong had to do a lot of things to promote Hong Kong’s image during the year after being crowned. Therefore, TVB usually promoted the runners up or even the pretty losers right away.
sandcherry, I understand that some of the “losers” in the 2012 pageant had signed to TVB already. For now, being star ladies for TVB, but still better than going home with nothing!
I don’t get it, apparently that Roxanne chick had plastic surgery but didn’t get a nose job. I mean she’s quite above average, you’ll think she’ll get a nose job.
Maybe she did but it did not turn out that well so left it as is??