Miss Chinese NY 2008
Since I haven’t blogged in a while, and since I’m sitting here at the final event of the Miss Chinese NY competition with an active internet competition, I mind as well try live blogging here.
Conflict of Interest Statement:
- I’ve been dating Contestant #1: Shali Zhang for 7 years.
- The opinions expressed here are purely mine, and do not express the views of Shali, or any organizations that I work / am affiliated with.
1:05 - All the girls are on stage doing a very odd dance routine in aerobics outfits.
1:15 - Wow, the emcees are very un-attractive. The guy’s name is actually amigo??!! They started speaking in English and Chinese, but then somehow decided to drop the English translations two sentences in.
1:20 - The Chinese emcee is going to sing? The program has switched from Cantonese to English to Cantonese to Mandarin. Wow, the bitch of an usher is ridiculous. She keeps moving people around well after the event has started.
1:25 - The contestants are now doing a cat walk.
1:30 - Thanking another group of sponsors… this is the third group of people they’ve thanked tonight.. and apparently they are all consultants.
1:32 - The 5 girls who won the talent show are now re-doing their bit. Contestant number 8 is first and is singing a Chinese song. Her singing’s actually quite good, though her hand motions are quite awkward. Contestant number 9, Stephanie Huang (sp?), apparently is going to sign a song? She actually looks quite graceful doing this “song” that very much resembles a dance. The next contestant will be doing a modern dance. The emcee is actually telling the audience that all the male will be having a good time? Contestant 11, Melody, is also doing a dance, spirit of the peacock. Her dancing is quite graceful and calming. So nothing much to add here. Contestant 13, Vicki Pon, is apparently also doing a dance. There is now a chair on stage.. so this should be quite hilarious. haha.. they even did the red light thing. This is totally a strip tease. She really really likes to swing her hair. This is like a shampoo commercial gone wrong. I totally fail to see how her dance is a talent whatsoever. She’s basically just walking and swinging her hair around… Wow, she left without taking a bow.. she just left..!! This reminds me of what I did in 6th grade…
Wow, this competition seem extremely rigged. Time for swimsuit competition! w00t.
1:51 - Swimsuit competition begins… with the Q&A at the same time. Shali is sporting her swimsuit quite well :-D They just asked Shali why bears hibernate and humans don’t? What kind of question is this for a beauty contest? wow. They just asked Contest #3 to pick an object to represent Chinese’s culture. Contestant #5 just did some of the weirdest laughing ever. They totally threw her a weird ass answer.
Apparently the beauty pageant has never reached black in all these years.. even with all the sponsors et al. That’s really quite sad….
Wow, Vicky just got asked whether she prefers taller or shorter guys. Instead she said I prefer money, and shorter guys like the em-cee. Why you ask? Apparently, if she’s mad at him, she can step on him. She can carry him around like an accessory. She can kick him around. She’s absolutely hysterical… omg.
2:21 - The special guest is now coming on stage. Some dude from HK who I’ve never heard of. He’s apparently causing quite a bit of excitement in the room. I wonder if this is the principle of scarcity at work.
2:36 - The presentation of the award begins now! How did Vicki manage to get a high score on the Q&A? Are you kidding me. This is totally rigged.
2008 Miss Congenality - Contestant 7, Loviena Liao
2008 Miss Photogenic - Contestant 3, Angie Chen
2008 Best Evening Gown - Contestant 13, Vicki Pon
2008 Miss Talent - Contestant 10, Shelly Yang
2008 Miss Popularity - Contestant 13, Vicki Pon
2:45 - Wow, they are doing some retarded shit. Each contestant gets an envelope stating whether they are in the top 5, and then they forced each contestant to reveal whether they are in the top 5 in real time on stage. This is some demeaning absurd shit.
So the top 5 contestants are apparently contestants 8, 9, 10, 11, 13. (Jessica Yang, Stephanie Huang, Shelly Yang, Melody He, Vicki Pon).
Hahahaha the skits they are doing with the top 5 contestants are so hysterically bad, but still hysterical.
Wow what a surprise. Vicki Pon won…
My response to the comments so far (07/23/2008)
I have nothing against Vicki Pon personally, and I think she’s quite gorgeous as well. However, I don’t believe her talent show was either appropriate or really a talent. Her answer in the Q&A portion was also quite inappropriate given her venue and position. Regardless of what she might think, she is being held up as a representative of the Chinese American community, and a potential role model for young girls. Her answer of “money” was entirely inappropriate.
I am particularly disappointed at the Miss Chinese NY Beauty Pageant organization and its CEO, Mr. William Yip. As one of the organizations that’s more prominent, and thus outwardly representative in the Chinese American community, they are in a position to generate a lot of good will for the community. Instead, it has bungled the opportunity and has instead generated a great deal of ill will from both inside and outside the community.
I understand that the goal of the pageant is to generate the best candidate possible for the Miss HK pageant. Having said that, they can better accomplish this goal by changing the rubric and format of the current Miss Chinese NY Beauty Pageant competition and still be fair the all the contestants. Instead, they have chosen to bury the process in deceit and corruption.
I am personally very active in Asian American political representation and it’s incredibly frustrating to see events like this undoing a lot of good will built overtime through the arduous work of many others.
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A guy said
am July 20 2008 @ 11:40 am
Hi
Yes. I completely agree. The entire competition was rigged. I had to stepped away from the show for a while after they announced the top 5 finalists as I couldn’t take this ridiculous show and I felt that the entire show insulted my intelligence.
I have friends who worked as the judge assistants and the stories they told me were completely absurd. Obviously the so called beauty pageant committee absolutely has no respect to these young ladies on the stage and treated the audience as idiots.
Ok, let me explain a bit about the judging system. Each judge has his/her own computerized scoring system. During each contestant’s routine, the system would prompt the judge to enter a score. After each session the system would calculate the score due to different multiples of each element of a contestant’s performance.
Here are the stories:
1. Prior to the actual show began, there was a dress rehearsal or run-down/trial, each judge would be present and be inputting a realistic score for each contestant’s performance. A male judge was giving Vicki and another contestant 90’s during this trial. However, during the actual show, Vicki continued to received 90’s while the another contestant was receiving 80’s from the same judge. Other female judges were giving consistent scores to every contestant throughout the rehearsal and the actual show. So, obviously it was not because the another contestant not performing well…
2. Another male judge would refer to a slip every time he input a score for each contestant… guess what is written on the slip?
3. As soon as the contestants arrived at Mohegan Sun, they would start practicing for the show. During the Q&A practices, every contestant received a different question every time except Vicki whom received the same question 4 times and this same question was the actual question used in the show. None of the other contestant received a repeated question. (Frankly, I found the questions for the contestants-ex Vicki were ridiculously hard and sometimes out-of-the-blue while Vicki’s question was childish, easy and shallow, but she managed to mess it up.. money?? what? and still won)
4. Each contestant was assigned a VIP seating section for her friends and relatives. For the Miss Popularity Award, supposedly all VIPs would get to vote. However, it turned out that only the front left section got to vote. Guess whose section that was? Vicki’s. So none of the other contestant’s friends and relatives who were also sitting in the VIP section got to vote. I was in the VIP section and I did not get to vote…
5. After the MCs were handed with the envelops containing PRINTED messages that reveal the top 5 finalists, the judging systems were still saying “Calculating…”
My comments:
To be honest, the committee made it way too blatant and they have overdone it. As soon as the first “live” scores popped up, I knew the entire competition was rigged. Every contestant received 88-90’s while Vicki received a 95. We are talking about 4 standard deviations here. Was her walk that exceptional? They really thought the audience were retards huh?
The committee made it so obvious to a point that it was disrespectful to the other contestants. As soon as the contestants arrived at Mohegan Sun and after seeing all those arrangement with no.13, they all knew that the show was rigged. But they still managed to finish the show. I truthfully admire their class.
Remember after the beauty queen was crowned the MCs asked all the other contestants to come out for a final walk, none of them showed up? They were all in the backstage balling not because of their losses but about their unfair and unjust experience. They were simply there to make up a show…
I agree with you that Vicki’s talent show did not quite qualify as a “talent” at all. Actually, another contestant has a very professional Latin dance routine but she was not picked to perform on the final night. I guess the committee prefers staging some teenager doing inappropriate moves instead.
Did you notice that the top 5 finalists were the 5 contestants who performed their talents on the final night? What a co-incidence. The committee had told the contestants that the talent performance would not count towards the score on the final night. Some of the contestants knew that the show was rigged right after the talent competition on july 11.
The envelop routine was absolutely humiliating! What the hell were they thinking? They do not think they had already made the contestants’ lives miserable enough by rigging the competition so blatantly? The committee had to capture each contestant’s reaction for “entertainment purpose”. I understand that the entertainment world is supposed to create excitement for the audience, but there is always a limit and bottom-line which this committee lacks.
This committee is completely absurd and has no respect for the contestants’ lives. Each of the contestant had to go through a 6-week training from 10am-6pm Monday through Friday. Some of which had to give up their jobs and some has to work before and after the training to keep their jobs. And all they were hoping for was a chance of a fair game and a pleasant memorable experience which they can cherish a life-time. After all the efforts and sacrifices, all they got was a staged, rigged, unprofessional, humiliating, and unfair “competition”.
I have never blogged before. What drives me to write this comment up is that I am so enraged by the acts of this Miss Chinese New York 2008 committee. I feel very sorry for all those hopeful ladies. So, I kindly urge you to forward my comment to other people.
A guy said
am July 20 2008 @ 12:12 pm
Just want to further my last point. If they were to rigged this competition, there is no need to have all the contestants to go through all these hard work and training and to create so much hardships in their lives just to put up a show like that. They could’ve just do a 1-day or even 1 hr cramped training session, whatever, the end result will be the same anyway.
Sorry for my long comment.
Another Guy said
am July 20 2008 @ 12:30 pm
Even the announcements of the individual awards must have been rigged. Contestant #9’s talent was a sign language dance dedicated to the memory of the Sichuan earthquake, a fact that the MCs conveniently left out, despite the fact that the MC assured the contestant she would make clear of the fact.
Another Guy said
am July 20 2008 @ 12:36 pm
Another puzzling point - Contestant #9 at least placed third in all the categories, while Contestant #10, who was awarded Best Talent and got 2nd runner up, placed fifth in her categories, YET STILL GOT 3RD PLACE. In all honesty, Contestant #9, like many of these girls, deserved better than what she got, even though she would be the best candidate for the win and HK.
Justin said
am July 20 2008 @ 1:45 pm
That’s enough. I know the winner and other girls and I am disgusted that you talk that way about them. Go Ahead talk badly about the competition and those who ran it, but DO NOT talk badly about the girls, especially Vicki Pon. Get a life guys, especially the original blogger.
A guy said
am July 20 2008 @ 3:08 pm
Justin:
You should re-read all the comments before telling each of us to get a life. If you read my comments carefully enough, you should see that my comments were directed to the committee instead of Vicki. She is part of the scheme but I did not accuse her of being the one who orchestrated it. I have nothing against her. I personally know some of the contestants too, and I will not talk badly about them. As expressed in my comments, I admire their professionalisms. The only negative comments I made on no.13 are the fact that she did not give out a well-thought-out and sophisticated answer in the Q&A session given her advantageous position and she did not quite answer the question (the question was regarding height, but her response was money and she should not score substantially higher than the other contestants if not less); maybe I should have used a different tone when addressing her talent performance, but what I was trying to say is that her talent show was performed as professionally as the other contestants and it was a bit inappropriate for the general audience, the committee could have other alternatives for example Latin dance, which takes years to master and is more suitable to different age groups. The committee tried too hard to give her more stage time. I believe my comments are fair and honest and reasonable, if the other contestants were given the same treatment, I believe the other contestants would perform much better than they did on the final night. No need to go all offensive about it. I guess what I and the another guy was trying to say is that the competition was not fair and each contestant was not given equal treatment. I was mainly attacking the committee for their biased scoring system and their negligence to other contestants’ feelings. Hope that you can get my point.
Justin said
am July 20 2008 @ 4:17 pm
I agree with you completely. Some things you explained were definitely not fair, so I understand how it is rude for the committee to be scheming behind the scenes. Gladly we are on the same page. And as for her comment, oh god haha all I can do is laugh, she knows better!
Spread the News Around said
am July 20 2008 @ 6:06 pm
I think We should post this link to the some of he NY news paper like the NY times. We have have a story about this.
Spread the News Around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“The Rainbow Runway,”
Spread the News Around said
am July 20 2008 @ 6:11 pm
http://epicanthus.net/2007/08/16/inside-the-miss-ny-chinese-beauty-pageant/
Spread the News Around said
am July 20 2008 @ 6:32 pm
Correction***
I think We should post this link to the some of the NY news paper like the NY times. We have a story about this.
Spread the News Around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“The Rainbow Runway,”
why so surprised? said
am July 21 2008 @ 2:00 am
This pageant has always been rigged. The winner was always decided beforehand, I was involved with last year’s pageant (a friend of the production crew), and it was definitely rigged. So not to my surprise, this year’s was rigged as well. However, I do think that if Vicki Pon learns a better talent and improves her speech, she would be a great candidate to represent new york for miss chinese international, because she is gorgeous.
Rebecca said
am July 21 2008 @ 2:33 pm
im one of vicki’s closest friends and i was at the show..having heard of all these rumors and stories, she’s expressed that she’s very upset and hurt…vicki didnt want to comment back because she wasnt quite sure how to respond to these accusations but i cant just sit back as her friend and let the public hear complete rumors and formulate wrongful opinions about someone who is innocent ..i just thought that you guys should know how she felt..
-first of all each and every girl endured the same amount of work and training..they were put through hard work to make the show more enjoyable even if it meant sacrificing food and sleep so yes, having to keep their composure and completing the show in its entirety with a smile on is indication that all the contestants had accomplished something that not many young girls could do. they were all exceptional…
-however, you should get some of your facts straight before you accuse anyone whether it be the committee or the contestants of playing a part in this supposed “scheme”..
whatever the judges chose to do was their choice…there was absolutely no communication between the contestants and the judges…all they could do was try to give a lasting impression on them during practices…in fact vicki was told that during these dress rehearsals that she was not giving it her best and if she were to impress the judges she had better start putting more effort into her stage presence..so if anything the judges only voted highly for vicki because of the change in her attitude during the final show.
-as far as the q and a, the girls were told that the question would be similar to their bio’s…number 11 was asked a similar question pertaining to her job as a lawyer, as well as number 4 and her traveling experiences…vicki, being 5′10, was often asked questions about her height, therefore her questions were not childish, just relevant in the comittees eyes. as for her answer, vicki was clearly making a joke when she answered the question…maybe it hurt her maybe it was appreciated.
-and most important..i didnt sit in the vip section so i couldnt vote but i know for a fact that, vicki’s mom, and her uncle were the only people who were there for her while other girls had brought 10, 15 people…so to say that the popularity vote was rigged is just comlpete bullshit….do 2 people out of over 100 in the section really make a difference?? and if the audience really thought the show was an INSULT TO THEIR INTELLIGENCE dont you think they woudve voted accordingly to their feelings and not voted for vicki then?
…
bottom line is from your point of view as bloggers and commentators, you might not think youre hurting anyone. even thoguh you might not be blatantly accusing these girls of directly participating in this scheme, it still is very hurtful to see their achievements being tainted, while making them feel very uneasy about their moment of happiness…especially if your rumors are true…theres no way the contestants had a say about how everything was run.
Chinese People said
am July 21 2008 @ 3:04 pm
Vicki’s dad works for the major sponsor of this pageant. They porously left out during announcements of the sponsors in the show.
Surprised Suspired……..
This show is run by bunch of Chinese peoples. That’s always expected with bribing and connections. Just like the same Shit in HK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8TUFYanY8E&feature=related
“great, a strip show for a talent show. well done future representatives of the chinese american community.”
They’re bunch of shit face that runs this show.
JOHN said
am July 21 2008 @ 3:30 pm
actually…her dad is retired.
Elliot Lee said
am July 21 2008 @ 3:39 pm
I was at the pageant show, and I thought the whole presentation was quite delicious. My three favorites were probably Vicki & Grace. To be quite truthful, I thought that Vicki’s answer to the question “would you… tall guy… short guy,” was to some extent genious. Its not that she couldn’t think of an answer but it was witty and the truthful on her behalf. I’m sure that everyone could’ve thought of a balogna answer like “I would like a masculant tall figure in my life… (you know, because of sex appeal and stuff like that… Tall guys, big shlongs),” but her coming out with an answer like money and short guys like the emcees is using her charisma and her surroundings.
And Angie on the other hand, God… you were Fierce. She was so well composed and her stage presence was absolutely amazing. If I were straight, I would’ve fucking banged her. She dressed so amazingly, and she literally looked about, as if the stage were hers. No wonder why this fab girl won miss photogenic, you hot piece of ass. Anywayz…
I’ve been reading the comments, you know up there. But I think you bitches are just hating on Vicki because she won. You obviously are upset because you lost, and blah blah blah you are in emotional distress and denial that your fabulous body didn’t win jack shit. But truthfully, its okay to be sad, but dont take it out on other people that really did deserve to win. I can’t possibly imagine how upset Vicki is, if she is actually reading this. And Vicki, you are one fine piece of ass, can I facebook you? I think I already sent a request but you denied it or some shit. And I also heard you were from NY, I’m from Boston, So I can show you a fabulous time. And I agree with the guy who said that there wouldn’t really be a contest if they rigged it to begin with. And if the contest were rigged, they would’ve obviously scored Vicki the same as the other girls during the trials, and given her 90s in the end. It was obviously because she had the snazzy-fizzae that was required for her to score so high. But cheers to everyone who competed in this pageant, you guys were the shit, not the actual doo doo, but the shizzae.
And for the guy who thought the contest insulted his intelligence. Fashion & Pageants dont care about your intelligence. Doesnt care, at All, so you can suck my penis (dare ya). I know for a fact that pageants have a lot of drama, but its only because bitches like you haters.
By the way, girls…Don’t forget to facebook me for those girls in the contest that are reading this (I’m shallow, if you weren’t in the pageant… no. But if you think you are the shit, message me. I have a new shoe line coming out, so maybe I need a few extra people). And i TOTALLY AGREE. RAINBOW RUNWAY, Horrah! We should have one for tranny ice queens. Hot, fierce, Christian I love you.
Elliot Lee said
am July 21 2008 @ 3:40 pm
My bad, its three in the first comment I made because Vicki and Angie just count as three people.
Pwnt. said
am July 21 2008 @ 4:23 pm
Lol.
Pwnt. said
am July 21 2008 @ 4:24 pm
Contestant #9 is a hottie. I’m a whitey.
Joe Black said
am July 22 2008 @ 12:16 am
Hey Mister A GUY, There is no judge during the dress rehearsal and there is no any scoring on rehearsal time. I was a crew and i can 100% assure that you are completely wrong on this. We don’t do just 2, we do 3 rehearsals. Yes, i agreed with you the questions been repeated but that nothing to do with the contestants and if the host couldn’t come up with any other questions then what they can do and they were just a dumb question.
fair? said
am July 22 2008 @ 6:23 pm
Joe Black,
I was a PA and I know for a fact that there were few dress rehearsals. The judges WERE there at the last dress rehearsal and the scores were given at that time. I was right behind the judges witnessed them inputting scores for each contestants
In terms of Q&A sections at the final, final questions were given by William Yip, the CEO of Miss NY Chinese. Did he come up with a dumb question for Vicki Pon, yet the questions were relatively harder for other contestants? It?s too obvious and unfair?.
fair? said
am July 22 2008 @ 6:25 pm
I believe all the stories A GUY said is true because I’ve heard the same thing as well.
Ridiculous said
am July 23 2008 @ 10:09 am
Having read all of your comments…I feel quite sorry for shali to have such an ill-opinioned and retarded boyfriend like you. she is such a smart and sweet girl, and I’m sure she’s learned so much from participating.
Accept the rules of the game.
Good luck to Shali with everything she does in he future.
interesting said
am July 24 2008 @ 12:52 am
We all kno chinese pageants are rigged. My best friend was in the competition last year.. and she told me from the start that they weren’t chosen because they were the best candidates. The committee told them that they were chosen for reasons “they can’t tell anyone”… no questions were allowed and they should just feel fortunate that they were even picked…the fact was that half of the girls had some special relations with a person or two that are sponsoring or working for the show. Remember Yin Zhang? the same girl who competed 2 years in a row? It wasn’t because they weren’t better girls to take her spot (especially the second year).. but her modeling manager worked “something” out with Eric to let her in… again.
Don’t be naive and join a beauty pageant (especially an Asian one) and expect fair game. No matter how hot or smart u are.. u’re nothing without some1 to back u up.
With that said.. I still support Vicki Pon in winning. Even with all the drama that goes on behind each year’s competitions.. i think they still manage to pick decent, deserving winners. Vicki will be the best candidate to represent the Chinese New York Community in Miss Chinese International that will be held in HK next Jan. With her height, body, look, and charisma, she will def be a hot door! NYU prideee!! And.. to the poster above me… what made u think it’s Shali’s bf? Im just curious.
jen said
am July 24 2008 @ 12:36 pm
erms, to the above comment. he stated that he have been dating #1 Shali for 7 years. okay anyways. having to read all these comment, I do agree that it was a bit weird. They said all VIP’s vote in the front. I was sitting in section 8 and I couldn’t see much. From the beginning, I already predicted that #13 Vicki Pon would’ve won. But, her attitude and her way of answering questions was a struggle. She is gorgeous and sexy but if it was just based upon looks why even give those questions out? I saw her in a restuaraunt and I said “congrats” it seemed like she gave me a glare and said thanks. I honestly thought it was fair, in the future to join too. Now having to read all these comments about all the connection, I’m unsure myself if it’s worth to pay a 100$ application fee just to join.
interesting said
am July 24 2008 @ 4:55 pm
O he didn’t mention that he dated Shali the first time i read the blog. I guess he must have updated since i last read it. I’ve only been checking back to read ppl’s comment. Ha i sounded so dumb XD. Thx ^
not-American-born Chinese girl said
am July 27 2008 @ 5:48 pm
It sounds pathetic that the winner who would represent Chinese
girls in NY is someone who ranks money #1. Definitely not an intelligent one, sigh. Someone who thinks that is a witty answer seems more pathetic though.
jen said
am July 29 2008 @ 11:22 am
^ to interesting, i come back to read the comments too! you’re not alone. and for not american born chinese, yes i agree with you too. for someone to think money is everything. pretty sad she is going to be repesenting newyork, but some say she got extra points for saying that because she made the audience laugh. i just dont find a point in these beauty contests if its not even fair when they judge on first appearance only.
curious said
am August 5 2008 @ 4:11 am
so… i’m actually curious about the breakdown/logistics of the competition. there wasn’t very much information on the website, so would it be possible to correspond with one of the contestants? ming jack po would it be possible to disclose your gf’s contact? i can be reached via email at yuknowhoo52@hotmail.com
thanks~
one of the contestants said
am August 5 2008 @ 7:51 pm
curious,
why so interested?
missy said
am August 6 2008 @ 10:06 pm
i’ve been in several pageants, including MNYC, and I can honestly say that, for the most part, the pageant is rigged. But whatever happens on stage on the night of the final (such as Q&A) can also determine how high you rank. I’ve seen girls get ridiculously high scores for certain categories out of the blue. I’ve also seen dark horses (meaning they were not predicted to win or even become top 3, but win the entire pageant). So it’s somewhat unpredictable when it really comes down to it.
But it is definitely true that judges already have their favorites based on the 1-on-1 interview contestants have a week prior to the finals, and rumors/gossip among judges and pageant CEOs.
A girl may be really beautiful and intelligent on stage, but off-stage, they may have the worst personalities and attitudes, which can also break them.
Pageantry is a tough industry. I can tell you that for sure.
Girls are treated like objects that players (aka audiences) like to bet their money on.
However, from a pageant girl’s POV, it can really change their entire outlook on life. You can learn to appreciate yourself and become more confident and assured of both inner and outer beauty. =)
I have seen the best and the worst sides of pageants (especially MNYC), but for the most part, it’s an empowering competition that I have taken a lot of fond and growing-of -age experiences from.
boss said
am September 30 2008 @ 11:06 pm
You feel like to jerk off because your girlfriend lost in the game, Oldman, if you can’t take it,please get up and jerk off behind your back……. this is a message from your boss.