he seventh annual Vietnam Supermodel contest was launched on August 31 to find young, new faces for the local modeling industry. It will go on until September 26 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vung Tau and Hanoi. According to the event organizers, HCMC Television, Thoi Trang Tre (Youth Fashion) magazine and Cat Tien Sa Company, the contestants, age 18 to 25, will model traditional ao dai, swimsuits, and evening gowns. Ten outstanding contestants will be selected during the Q&A session to be finalists and compete for prizes, including two gold cups for male and female winners. The finale will be held in HCMC at the Phan Dinh Phung Sports House and will be aired on HTV9. Over the course of the last six competitions, the Vietnam Supermodel pageant has launched the careers of many outstanding young models, including singer-actress Ho Ngoc Ha, Mr. International 2008 Tien Doan, and male model Quang Hoa (second runner up of World Supermodel 2006).
Vietnam Supermodel 2010 contest underway
Diamond studded Ao Dai marks 20 years in fashion
Diamond studded Ao Dai marks 20 years in fashion
By Huy Nguyen in HCMC
Miss Vietnam 2006 Mai Phuong Thuy wears special ao dai by designer Vo Viet Chung - Photo: The organizers To mark 20 years in fashion and welcome the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, Vietnamese designer Vo Viet Chung will introduce a special ao dai (Vietnamese long dress) at a live show at the White Palace Convention Center in HCMC’s Phu Nhuan District on October 4.
The dress has set a Vietnamese record as it has nine back-flaps that trail for 100 meters each, symbolizing the nine branches of Cuu Long River. The dress features 2,000 diamonds and gold decorative pieces and 1,000 meters of silk fabric from the three regions of Vietnam.
Zeta Company has sponsored a diamond crown worth over VND1 billion to compliment the dress. Miss Vietnam 2006 Mai Phuong Thuy will wear the dress and crown at the show.
At the show called Hoi Trung Duong , Chung will also present his latest collection in a fashion parade featuring Miss Grand Slam Asia 2009 Huong Giang, Chung Thuc Quyen, Vu Hoang Diep and about 30 other models.
Singers Thanh Lam, Ho Quynh Huong, Phuong Thanh and Trang Nhung will perform the music.
Hanoi’s grand anniversary to honor ao dai
A huge ao dai (Vietnamese long dress) festival will take place in the program “The fanciful night on Sword Lake” on the evening of October 1, kicking off the festival for the grand millennial anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, reports Vietnam News Agency.
Hanoi’s grand anniversary to honor ao dai
Models perform ao dai at a fashion show in HCMC - Photo: Kieu Giang A huge ao dai (Vietnamese long dress) festival will take place in the program “The fanciful night on Sword Lake” on the evening of October 1, kicking off the festival for the grand millennial anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, reports Vietnam News Agency.
Collections of ao dai from Vietnam’s three regions - the North, South and central -will be paraded by models from Ngoc Son Temple to The Huc Bridge and But Temple on Sword Lake. The dress collections will be displayed along a specially-built 350m catwalk decorated with woven mats, conical hats, and lively dioramas depicting Hanoi in ancient times.
The 45-minute ao dai performance, which will be broadcast live nationally on TV, will be followed by a 15-minute light festival and fireworks display.
Vietnamese designer Duc Hung will bring his four seasons collection to the festival.
“Hanoi has four seasons with distinctive characters which inspired me to create this collection,” said Hung.
Hung said he carefully selected made-in-Vietnam materials and colors for his collections, using brocade for spring, silk for summer, voile for autumn, and velvet for winter.
Hung’s ao dai collections will also present colors representing Vietnamese festivals of three regions such as pink for peach blossoms for Tet in the North, Hue purple for the Central and bright yellow representing the apricot blossoms of the South. Hung has designed 500 sets of ao dai as gifts for the festival to promote the Vietnamese long dress for international friends - Japan, France and Russia.
Hung’s ao dai collection will again be paraded to the sound of bronze drums in the program “Thang Long – the flying dragon city” on the evening of October 10 at the My Dinh National Stadium.
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Nguyen Ngoc Kieu Khanh represents Vietnam at Miss World 2010
The Department of Performing Arts under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism approved the first runner-up of Miss Vietnam World 2010, Nguyen Ngoc Kieu Khanh, to compete at Miss Word 2010 pageant, which will be held in Sanya, China from October 1 to 30.
Nguyen Ngoc Kieu Khanh represents Vietnam at Miss World 2010
By Kieu Giang in HCMC
Nguyen Ngoc Kieu Khanh will go to Hainan Island on October 1 for a month - Photo: Courtesy of the organizers The Department of Performing Arts under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism approved the first runner-up of Miss Vietnam World 2010, Nguyen Ngoc Kieu Khanh, to compete at Miss Word 2010 pageant, which will be held in Sanya, China from October 1 to 30.
At the final round of Miss Vietnam World 2010, Khanh received great support from the audience who liked her radiant smile. Khanh, who lives in Germany but still with Vietnamese citizenship, is 19 years old. She is 176cm, 53kg and her vital statistics are 85-63-94. Khanh also won the title for Miss Bikini at this year’s Miss Vietnam World.
Kieu Khanh has started to work with well-known designers including Hoang Hai, Elizabeth and Mitchell Ngo to make her costumes including ao dai (Vietnamese long dress), evening gowns, and casual wear. Khanh will also takes part in some training to prepare for the pageant. Then, she will attend the opening ceremony of the competition in Hainan Island and other programs including training courses and filming around China together with other contestants from 100 countries and territories.
It is expected that about 2.5 billion viewers will watch the crowning night of Miss World 2010 competition. This year’s Miss World pageant in its 60th year has attracted the largest number of contestants ever. With the main criterion, the competition aims to find “the most talented beautiful girl in the world” to be the UNESCO’s Peace Messenger for a year. Miss World will contribute her reputation and effort to helping the poor worldwide and consolidating the world peace.
Nguyen Ngoc Kieu Khanh
Nguyễn Ngọc Kiều Khanh is a beauty pageant contestant and student. Kiều Khanh was born 1991 in Munich, Germany and is of Vietnamese descent. She also holds a Vietnamese citizenship. She is the first runner-up of Miss Vietnam World 2010 pageant in Nha Trang, Vietnam. Kiều Khanh is the official representative of Vietnam in the Miss World 2010 pageant in Sanya, China. Kiều Khanh is the first runner-up in Miss Vietnam World 2010 Pageant. Earlier, Kiều Khanh won the tittle of Miss Vietnam in EU 2009. She also won the Miss Beach Beauty fast-track competition in Miss Vietnam World 2010. Kieu Khanh is fluent in Vietnamese, German & English.
Nguyễn Ngọc Kiều Khanh has been named as the representative of Vietnam in the Miss World official website.
New journey for Miss Vietnam-to-be
Judges of this year’s Miss Vietnam pageant have pledged to ensure that the girl crowned winner on August 14 will demonstrate qualities becoming a national beauty icon. Following her victory, she will be put through a six-month Personality Development Program at the John Robert Powers Center. The US$6,500 course is offered by the network of schools that run executive and “personality enhancement” training classes. The pledges were made in an effort to avoid a scandal similar to the dust up surrounding the discovery that Miss Vietnam 2008 Nguyen Thuy Dung had not yet graduated from high school at the time she won. This year’s organizers said they spent a lot of time selecting their finalists. The 37 girls who will enter the last round of the contest have all graduated from high schools or universities. According to the organizers, the winner’s educational level will play an important role in enhancing her capacity to give back to the community during her two-year reign. Among the 11 winners of previous pageants, Miss Vietnam 2006, Mai Phuong Thuy, is considered as the most successful due to her devotion to many charitable activities. Thuy’s development from a modest high-schooler to charming beauty queen was mostly built by her designer-turned-manager Viet Hung. Following her victory, Thuy and Hung continued to collaborate for four years and then separated to pursue their own goals. Apart from Thuy, most other queens like Nguyen Thi Huyen, Pham Thi Mai Phuong, Phan Thu Ngan and Ha Kieu Anh married soon after being crowned and went on to pursue their own projects. According to Long Kan (who has gained notoriety as a personal style consultant for numerous local celebrities), the crown is just like the ultimate feather in a beauty queen’s cap and is not linked to any social responsibility. “Beauty must be linked with a cause to enhance its value. Most of our beauty queens do not have a manager to support them in developing their sense of social responsibility like other nations’ beauty queens,” said Long. This year’s organizers spent nearly VND7 billion on designing the outdoor fountain stage at the Tuan Chau resort to accentuate this year’s theme: Nghin nam huong sac (Beauty of thousand years). In the event of rain, the coronation ceremony will be postponed. According to Viet Tu, the show will not include a series of variety performances like the previous ones. Tu hopes the new format will focus more attention on the girls’ presentation. All 37 finalists now have the chance to compete in the swimsuit and ao dai events; last year, only 20 had the chance. Twenty girls will be selected following the fashion events. This year’s top 20 will go headto-head in an evening-gown event which will narrow the selection pool to a lean top 10 which will also include Miss Talent Nguyen Pham Bich Tram and Miss Bikini Nguyen Thi Loan. After handing out the supporting awards, the judges will choose five finalists to face off in a Q&A session. Many local experts, designers and directors have expressed the difficulty in selecting a likely winner. The contestants, they say, are equal with specific strengths.
