The top 10 finalists for Miss Hong Kong 2013 cutting a cake none of them would dare eat. Photo: IC

"One night to be a star" sounds like the name of a movie, but that's exactly what happens in real life for contestants on various TV shows.

One such contest is the Miss Hong Kong Pageant, which has been going on for decades. Some pageant winners have gone on to become famous stars while others have married into a wealthy family and realized their own Cinderella dream.

But for years, in contrast to its former reputation in the last century as one of Hong Kong's biggest "star factories," the Miss Hong Kong Pageant has not been that influential and in fact has been criticized by the public.

Last year's pageant received a lot of public criticism for a failed attempt to use a "one person, one vote" system to select winners. This time, in an effort to give audiences a bit of a surprise, the program, which has already been underway for a month, chose a new path.

Five of the top 10 contestants were chosen by the viewing audience, and the other five were chosen by well-known entertainers in China and organizing committee members - Carol Cheng, Hacken Lee, Natalis Chan and Eric Tsang.

The top 10 contestants were announced on August 25, according to Hong Kong's wenweipo.com, and the final is scheduled for September 1.
Another innovation for 2013 was the use of pre-recorded video. The most popular segments - the swimwear competition and the Q&A session - were taped on August 24. Only the last half hour of the semi-final was broadcast live.

There were some problems during the taping and Eric Tsang blamed it on the new system, as everyone was still adapting. The taping didn't go well and was suspended for a few times, which made judges exhausted.

Tsang even swore and asked the director why they had to record this over and over since Miss Hong Kong has always been broadcast live.

He acknowledged that it was something fresh for the program and that both pros and cons coexisted in it. The real controversy was about whether it violates the Miss Hong Kong Pageant's rules.

Rise and fall

Miss Hong Kong was started in the 1950s, however in the post-war period, people could hardly live comfortably, so it did not attract much attention.

Until 1973, Hong Kong Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) started to hold the pageant annually. The slogan "Combination of Beauty and Intelligence" was proposed in that year and led to the selection of winners in those early years who displayed a certain poise and nobility.

The annual pageant launched by the entertainment circle gradually became a hot topic among Hong Kong citizens.

Some of the selected beauties entered the entertainment circle through the competition and became pop stars, while some were mere a flash in the pan.

In Hong Kong people's heart, Miss Hong Kong is one of the most representative elements of the beauty of Hong Kong.

The pageant created a brilliant history and injected consistent energy into the entertainment industry in Hong Kong. Many stars, including big names like Angie Chiu, Maggie Cheung, Anita Yuen, were Miss Hong Kong winners in the last century. They still hold a high status and are goddesses in audiences' hearts.

However, the big pageant became nearly forgotten about a decade ago. Even a list of "10 beauties and nine uglies" was made by audiences. Almost none has gone on to make contributions to the entertainment field and few names of recent Miss Hong Kong winners could be recalled.

Yet people still remember the fabulous faces on stage of those early Miss Hong Kong pageants even though they have already lost the blush of youth.

Time to change

"It is certain that Miss Hong Kong has gone downhill, because the entertainment methods are increasing," Chen Xiang, president of New Style Promotion Group in Sichuan Province, told the West China City Daily in 2012 that it was the time for Miss Hong Kong to change.

"Complaining about others is useless. Changing oneself is the only way, and a public referendum is a good way," Chen said.

He suggested that online voting may be the best way to mobilize the enthusiasm of all, and they could use the system of the popular program The Voice of China as a reference. Besides, he suggested that TVB can invite famous celebrities as judges and broadcast live of the final of the contest.

To stop the downhill slide, the organizer did reform the system of how the contest is run in 2012. Using mobile phones and networks, each viewer was allowed to vote once only for who should be in the top three. Because they had the right to vote, the people of Hong Kong showed great enthusiasm.

The unfortunate thing was that just before announcing the top three finalists, the host said the system had broken down due to the large number of votes pouring in. The program was not able to deliver its "one person, one vote" promise.

The embarrassing situation reached a new low point in the pageant's history. Some people even suggested that some shady deals must be going on behind the scenes.

Although the failure of the referendum embarrassed TVB, that year's pageant did attract more attention than before.

The gradually declining Miss Hong Kong Pageant has a hard time attracting attention simply as a contest, but by turning the supporting players into leading roles, they have a fighting chance, according to the West China City Daily.

For example, the panel of judges last year included big stars like Andy Lau and Carina Lau. Some viewers even expressed that they did not care about the result of the contest: They just wanted to see those big stars.