Miss Chinese ( Vancouver ) Pageant (Chinese: 溫哥華華裔小姐競選) or MCV for short is an annual beauty pageant organized by Fairchild Television that selects Vancouver's representative for the annual Miss Chinese International Pageant that is held in Hong Kong, organized by TVB. The pageant replaced the Miss Vancouver Chinatown Pageant, which selected the Vancouver representatives to the Miss Chinese International Pageant from 1988 to 1995.
History
The pageant began in 1995 with 13 delegates. The next year the number of delegates reduced to 12. And in the year 2000, the number reduced again to 10. These delegates are residents of Vancouver, Canada, must have some Chinese descent and be between the ages of 17 and 25. The pageant is held at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre in December of every year. However, in 2009 the location was moved to the theatre located inside River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, British Columbia.
There are several components and competitions that the pageant usually contains:-
Swimsuit Competition ( 1996 onwards, bikini from 2004 onwards )
Cheongsam Competition
Evening Wear Competition
Interview Round
Talent Competition ( 2002 onwards )
Casual Wear
Hosts & special guests
MCV is one of two major productions for Fairchild Television Vancouver ( the other being New Talent Singing Awards Vancouver Audition ) and has had many local and Asian celebrities and performing groups involved. The following is a list of past MCs and special performing guests.
The finals this year will be held on Friday, December 4, 2009 at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, British Columbia, marking the first year the pageant is not held at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre. The slogan for this year's contest is "浮光儷影 華麗登場" ( Floating Lights and Beautiful Shadows, Elegantly Appearing ). The Masters of Ceremonies this year include actor and former Mr. Hong Kong contestant Stephen Huynh from Hong Kong, Miss Chinese (Vancouver) First Runner-Up 2005 Lora Sun and Fairchild Radio DJ Brian Chan. The special performing guest is TVB actor and cantopop singer Steven Ma from Hong Kong.
Contestant list
Contestant Number
English Name
Chinese Name
Age
Placement
1
Jinting Zhu
朱津葶
23
2
Kelly Huang
黃凱琳
25
3
Jessica Yeung
楊慧冰
24
4
Alice Wong
黃安琪
23
5
Vicki Li
李子穎
22
6
Jenny Xue
薛雅靖
19
7
Eliza Sam
岑麗香
24
8
Carat Cheung
張名雅
21
9
Sara Lau
劉保儀
17
10
Pacifica Chen
陳采風
20
Contestant careers
1995 Winner Tracey Wong 黃月明 signed with TVB after competing in the Miss Chinese International Pageant 1996. She had many minor roles in TVB Dramas with her only notable role being "Sue" in the sitcom War of the Genders 男親女愛. She has not been active in TVB since 2005.
1995 Finalist Tracy Kam 甘翠思 became a Fairchild TV artist for the next couple of years and has hosted games shows and other programs.
1996 Second Runner-Up Joanne Yau 邱詩韻 hosted a few programs for Fairchild TV until 2001.
1997 Finalist Melissa Wu 胡錦濃 became a weather reporter for Fairchild TV for several years before becoming a flight attendant for Westjet airlines. She is currently a realtor in Vancouver.
1998 Winner Janice Lee 李孟潔 starred in Hong Kong superstar Andy Hui's music video for the song "Real Intentions (真心真意)".
1998 First Runner-Up Natalie Au 區念慈 became a presenter for Fairchild TV for the next 5 years, hosting What's On. She also had a supporting role in the Hong KongChristian film Life is a Miracle (生命因愛動聽) and has guest-starred in the CBC drama Da Vinci's Inquest. She also had a brief stint as a reporter for Global TV. She is now married and has settled in Winnipeg.
1999 Top 5 Finalist Yvonne Fong 方奕匡 became a presenter for Fairchild Television until 2003.
2000 Winner Bernice Liu 廖碧兒 represented Vancouver and won Miss Chinese International 2001. She is currently signed by TVB and is having a successful career as an actress.
2000 2nd Runner-Up Alice Chang 張淯茜 returned to Taiwan and is a member of the musical group "One Fifth (五分之一)". She has also starred in several Taiwanese television series, following her parents' footsteps in the entertainment industry.
2002 First Runner-Up Alice Kai 蓋鶴文 became a host with Fairchild Television's mandarin channel for half a year.
2003 Second Runner-Up Queenie Chung 鍾寶瑜 hosted What's On for Fairchild Television for a year before pursuing another career in Hong Kong. She has now returned to Vancouver.
2003 Miss Friendship Caroline Chang 張雅淇 hosted What's On for Fairchild Television in Vancouver. In 2005, she re-located to the East Coast to become a flight attendant and has hosted for What's On in Toronto as well. She is the only Fairchild TV artiste to have relocated and still remain a contract artist in the new city.
2004 Winner Leanne Li 李亞男 won Miss Chinese International 2005 and have signed with TVB as well. Because of her limited spoken Cantonese, she was first assigned to host on TVB's mandarin channel TVB8. However, Leanne has started to pick up supporting roles in TVB's Cantonese dramas lately.
2005 Winner Crystal Li 李培禎 returned to Taiwan and has signed with EeLin Modelling Agency to pursue a career as a model.
2005 First Runner-Up Lora Sun 孫青青 became a host with Fairchild Television's mandarin channel, Talentvision. She is currently a television actress in China and is the MC for MCV 2009.
2008 Winner Cici Chen 陳娜良子 is currently signed to Fairchild Television and appeared as the Master of Ceremonies in several events.
MCV at Miss Chinese International Pageant
Vancouver has generally been fairly successful at the Miss Chinese International Pageant (MCI) despite not placing in the top 3 until 2000, when Crystal Pan was 2nd runner up. In 2001, they produced Vancouver's first MCI winner, Bernice Liu. Liu later joined TVB and is currently an actress. She was succeeded by Shirley Zhou in 2002. Linda Chung and Leanne Li then both won the Miss Chinese International 2004 and 2005 titles, represectively. Vancouver has produced 4 winners and including two back-to-back wins (2001 and 2002; 2004 and 2005), a record no other city has yet to break.
Note: The winners from 1987 to 1994 (competing at Miss Chinese International 1988 to 1995) are Miss Vancouver Chinatown, the pageant that was replaced by MCV.
