Miss Universe: What chance for Hoang Yen?

Last year, Hoang Yen was on the same list as Miss Vietnam Universe 2008 Thuy Lam and second runner-up Thien Ly as nominees for the Miss World 2008 pageant but Thien Ly was given the nod.

This year, the road to Miss Universe is open wide for Hoang Yen. She has over two months to prepare for the pageant and Yen will not join the event late like some other Vietnamese entrants in the past.

Yen revealed that some famous designers are working on her clothes. In the past, all Vietnamese candidates brought ao dai to international pageants. However, Miss Universe aims to honour modern beauty so the question is, should Hoang Yen again wear ao dai at this year’s pageant?

In recent years, Chinese, Japanese and South Korea entrants appeared at international beauty contests without their traditional costumes of kimono, Hanbok or Shanghai gown, but they still won, for example Miss Universe 2007 Riyo Mori of Japan and Miss World 2007 Zhang Zilin of China.

Hoang Yen, 1.79m height, is now in the group of tallest contestants. As a supermodel in Vietnam, this advantage may become a disadvantage if she maintains her cold face, strong make-up and fast moves at the Miss Universe pageant.

Ines Ligron, a famous expert in training beauty queens in Japan, wrote on her blog: “Vo Hoang Yen is very special but she needs to try to become finer. I have seen many photos of her. She looks like a beautiful Miss Tiffany to me sometimes. Hoang Yen is a beautiful girl but she has to quickly build her own style. I wish her the best because I expect success for Asian girls. Good luck to Vietnam!”

Yen said she was not upset by Ligron’s comment because the comment was correct and frank, and not easy to recognize.

“There are some photos of me on the Internet in which I was captured at angles that make me look quite husky. I will learn from them for my next photo shows,” Yen said.

About Ligron’s suggestion of building her own style, Yen said: “I’ll try to develop my image as a supermodel, but not so cold. I’ll smile more and be more cheerful.”

Last year, Vietnam’s Thuy Lam entered the top 15 though she was not really outstanding in the forest of beautiful flowers. This year, with her advantage in height and being trained methodically, can Hoang Yen enter the top 10 or top 15?