The semi-finals for the 2003 Miss Hong Kong pageant will be held this evening (3rd Aug) in Tseung Kwan O Broadcast City, the twenty contestants were in rehearsal yesterday wearing their bikini swimsuits and as they cast their own votes for their opinions on “Miss Photogenic”, the results were that Number 2 Cho Man Li received 9 votes and was the most popular, as for Number 7 Wong Chung Hei who has seen much of the press limelight, she didn’t even receive one vote. However she is still full of confidence in herself and confidently says that she will definitely shine through in the semi-finals and enter the final.

Tonight’s show will select the top 12 contestants to move onto the next stage and also select the winners of “Miss Photogenic”, “Miss Talent” and “The Perfect Team”. The contestants have all been split into one of four groups who have been allocated drama, singing, martial arts and dance as their act for this team award. With the slogan “Autumn, Water, Beautiful Ladies – Rising from the Ordinary”, Hacken Lee and Ronald Cheng will be the MCs, Yumiko Cheng Hei Yee will be performing in the opening scene and there will be a presentation of Edison Chen and Shawn Yue’s location films in Thailand’s Phuket.

During the rehearsals, the girls all voted for their own choices for “Miss Photogenic”, Number 7 Wong Chung Hei was very confident and even though she didn’t receive any votes she didn’t feel disappointed. When asked whether she was worried that all her negative press would affect her chances of getting through, she replied confidently: “I have never thought that I would not get through, the opinion of the judges is clear and I know I have the ability.” Mama Wong has also returned to Hong Kong to look after her daughter and will be there to support her tonight.

Number 2 Cho Man Li was very happy to have the support of her fellow contestants and her choice for Miss Photogenic was number 14 Tang Yuen Wai, but she has confidence in herself. She seemed to have a husky voice on the day and it turns out that she has been working so hard in rehearsals that she is starting to lose her voice. She praises her teacher Louisa So greatly as she has gained a lot from the experience.

Already awarded the “Ambassador of Tourism” award, number 11 Yeung Lok Ting also chose number 14 as her favourite for Miss Photogenic because she feels that she looks better on camera than she does in person. As for herself, she is also confident and thinks that as long as she performs well, then getting through will not be a problem.

Number 3 Shui Ming Lo has been picked as a favourite to be in the top three already and she says that this has not affected her because this is just the opinion of the reporters. She agrees that her interview technique is quite weak and she is a little worried about that, so she will ask her big sister Shui Ming Kei to help her practice a bit more.

http://www.singpao.com/20030803/gossip/422177.html